A juvenile Brown Pelican was brought into the IBRRC with a pretty nasty injury. He had a huge chunk taken out of his chest. This was probably the result of a seal bite. Seals feed on birds that are out in
the ocean. He was probably floating out there and was taken by surprise from below. Pelicans are so cute. I felt bad that he was hurt. The wound looks pretty horrific, but it’s stable and healing. It was disinfected and he is being treated with antibiotics to prevent infection. It’s hard to believe, but he was actually lucky to have bitten on his chest. Had the bite been to his wing or his leg, he would not have been able to recover. It seems so strange that last week I was helping to care for an Elephant Seal that was attacked by a shark. This week, I am helping to care for a pelican that was bitten by a seal! I guess this is a good example of the circle of life.
At any given time, a large portion of the patients at the IBRRC is made up of California Brown Pelicans. In the past, numbers of Brown Pelicans were greatly reduced because of pesticide overuse, mainly DDT. DDT reached the water through runoff and then contaminated the fish. When the pelicans ate the fish, the DDT caused their eggs to have thin shells. This greatly reduced their numbers of viable offspring. DDT is now banned in the US, but it is still used in other countries.
Due to conservation efforts, the Brown Pelican is making a comeback. Just going to the beach out here, you can see alot of pelicans. In the past, this was not the case. They were pretty rare. It's encouraging to hear about conservation efforts paying off. It makes me feel that there is hope for the future and that people really can make a difference.
Posted by Christy Buckley on Oct 28, 2006
