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Brown pelican long a symbol of survival
By Wayne Drash, CNN
June 15, 2010 11:51 a.m. EDT
Photo: Oiled pelicans await treatment at the Fort Jackson Oiled Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Buras, Louisiana.
(CNN) -- Long before the brown pelican came to symbolize the tragedy of the Gulf oil spill, the giant bird stood for something much greater: survival against all odds.
The state bird of Louisiana was nearly wiped out by pesticides in the 1950s and 1960s. Yet after decades of conservation efforts, the brown pelican just last year was removed from the endangered species list.
"At a time when so many species of wildlife are threatened, we once in a while have an opportunity to celebrate an amazing success story," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar declared on November 11. "Today is such a day. The brown pelican is back."
Now, eight months later, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal stands on the deck of a boat near Pelican Island off the Louisiana coast. He's surveying efforts to protect the state's wetlands. He's ordered the National Guard to begin building barriers in the ocean to try to stop the oil from reaching shore.
Yet Jindal pauses to talk about the brown pelican. The recent images of pelicans, coated in BP oil like grotesque statues, have taken on the symbolism of the spill. Louisiana has long been known as the "Pelican State," with the bird gracing the state flag.
"Here's what's really sad," Jindal said. "For every one of those mother adult pelicans you're saving, there are many more back there that you can't get to. And for every mother pelican you're saving, there may be a nest, there may be eggs that can't be saved.
"And that's the tragedy in this: That for every animal we see, what's this oil doing to their young? What's this oil doing to their life cycles?"
The recovery of the pelicans, before the spill, was largely attributed to the ban of the toxic chemical DDT in 1972. The pesticide traveled down the Mississippi River and into the Gulf of Mexico.
Three species were most affected: the brown pelican, the bald eagle and peregrine falcon. A component of DDT accumulated in each of those birds and, as a result, it affected the strength of the eggs they laid.
"The result was that you had thinner egg shells in the nest. During incubation, all the species had the tendency to break the eggs more easily," said Dr. Doug Inkey, a senior scientist for the National Wildlife Federation. "This resulted in a huge population decline in all three species."
The bald eagle, peregrine falcon and brown pelican were all listed on the endangered species list. In the case of the brown pelican, wildlife officials in Louisiana and Florida teamed up to help save the bird over a 13-year period. A total of 1,276 young pelicans were captured in Florida and then released at three sites in southeastern Louisiana, according to the Interior Department.
"When their populations were low, we brought in those brown pelicans from Florida," Jindal said. "Now, when we capture them oiled, clean them up and rehabilitate them, we have to release them back in Florida to get away from this oil."
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has deployed more than 450 people across the Gulf to respond to the nation's worst environmental disaster. As of Monday, the oil threatened 36 National Wildlife Refuges. Nearly 1,200 birds have been saved, including 728 in Louisiana.
Ron Britton of the Fish and Wildlife Service gave a CNN crew a tour of the marsh islands near Grand Isle, Louisiana, a prime breeding ground where oiled pelicans have been spotted.
"What you're trying to do is get in and get those as quick as you can," Britton told CNN's Anderson Cooper. "But the ones you're missing have less chance each night you can't get back. And the ones we don't get back, we're pretty sure are going somewhere and not surviving."
Oil affects pelicans in various ways. The birds' feathers interlock in a way that helps regulate cooling and, when oil soaks their feathers, the birds lose the ability to do that, biologists say.
"Brown pelicans dive into the water for fish. As they break the water, that's one of the ways they contact the oil. Then, once it's on their feathers, the birds preen daily," said Jennifer Coulson, president of the Orleans Audubon Society.
"When they're preening, they ingest all the BP oil. And so, that's another way they get sick and die."
Inkey of the National Wildlife Federation added, "When they get back to their nests, then they rub some of the oil from their chests to their eggs -- and oil on eggs is not a good mix. It's usually deadly for the developing embryo."
Inkey recently visited a brown pelican-nesting habitat along the Louisiana coast. Hundreds of the birds lived together in nests about 6 feet high in mangrove trees along the shore. There were two layers of protective booms surrounding the island that were "close to being worthless."
"We saw more oil inside the booms than we saw outside the booms," he said. "It was surrounded by a bathtub ring of oil."
His first thought: What's going to happen to the pelicans this year?
What's this oil doing to their young? What's this oil doing to their life cycles?
--Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal
"This is the worst-case scenario: It's during breeding season," he said. "We're likely to lose a whole generation of young of many different species. ... It only takes once for a bird to really get messed up in oil for it to have an effect on the nesting success."
He and other biologists said it's far too early to know the full effect of the oil spill on the larger population of brown pelicans -- and whether the bird would ever make it back to the endangered species list. "It would be premature to suggest that," Inkey said.
Biologists said the pelican -- known for its long beak with a hooked tip and its 6-foot wingspan -- is better equipped to survive than smaller birds that ingest oil in greater proportion to their size. In addition, there are five species of sea turtles in the Gulf, and all are endangered or threatened.
"A sea turtle hatchling does not stand a chance," Inkey said.
Regardless, it's a dire situation for all types of wildlife in the region, biologists said.
Yet it was the images of the oil-soaked pelicans that brought home the scope of the disaster -- and its potential devastating consequences. The birds survived DDT, the constant erosion of Louisiana wetlands and Hurricane Katrina.
Inkey already had returned from his visit when the photos first appeared. "I got sick in my stomach," he said. "I had seen oiled pelicans, but not like that. The ones I saw were simply gray. These were just heartbreaking."
He paused. "How do you explain a picture like that to young children and get them to understand that this is something, although unintentional, that man caused?"
CNN's Dugald McConnell and Brian Todd contributed to this report.Brown pelican long a symbol of survival
By Wayne Drash, CNN
June 15, 2010 11:51 a.m.... more
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Some people claim that we should euthanize all oiled birds immediately upon recovering them. But I argue it is our ethical responsibility to protect, clean and save these birds, even after they've been oiled, just as we should preserve and clean their habitatsSome people claim that we should euthanize all oiled birds immediately upon recovering... more
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Day 15: From the center of Gulf oiled bird care
After a very small break this weekend in Louisiana, Jay Holcomb is back with his daily updates from the BP Deepwater Horizon Gulf Oil Spill response:
Louisiana - On Saturday we had a visit from Ken Salazar, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior. Rebecca Dunne from Tri-State Bird Rescue and I gave him a tour through the Fort Jackson Center and allowed him to get a close up view of our team washing the latest oiled Brown Pelican that we received. The female pelican is a two year old that is a very sweet bird found in Grand Isle to the west of us. She is now outside with the other pelican and doing well, both are eating a lot of fish. Media report: AP video: Cleaning Oiled Pelican in Louisiana
For the last two days our capture teams in Louisiana were mostly grounded due to intense thunderstorms and lightning strikes on the water. Not safe! We took this time to check out land based pelican and tern roosting areas but no oiled birds were spotted.
The reports we are getting now are about birds out in the deep water oiled areas and on some of the islands but you have to have safe access to those areas. We are wading through politics and weather to get to those places to assess and capture oiled birds.
Yesterday afternoon we did receive an oiled Gannet that was luckily plucked out of the water by a fishing boat that was coming back to the harbor. Its an adult Northern Gannet, heavily oiled and will be washed today. (Photo, above, oiled Northern Gannet)
Alabama - Our oiled bird rehabilitation center in Alabama received 7 sick non-oiled, lethargic brown pelicans and 1 laughing gull from that area. They were discovered soon after a fish die off in the area and there are concerns that they may have botulism and it may be connected to the fish die off. 5 pelicans and the gull are still alive and they are temporarily being cared for at that facility until plans for their transfer to a rehab facility are completed.
Mississippi – Our center in Gulfport received an oiled Gannet on Saturday and it is doing well. The bird will be washed soon. The center development and problem solving is coming along well.
Florida - Our center in Pensacola received an oiled gannet on Saturday also and it is doing well. The bird will also be washed soon.
Back at Home at our California Bird Rescue centers- It has taken a few weeks for us to get the wildlife centers on line here in the Gulf states and get a handle on this program and to understand and infiltrate ourselves into how its all working in this spill. In the mean time our centers at the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas are in spring mode and getting busier by the day. In that sense this spill could not have come at a worse time.
In order to support our staff and volunteers back at home in Cordelia (Northern California) and San Pedro (Southern California) we are hiring on extra summer help at both centers to make sure that the clinics are supported and run as smoothly as possible.
Also, we will probably be shifting our main clinic rehabilitation staff out to give each of them opportunities to work in the Gulf. We will be evaluating and are developing this plan daily as things progress here in the Gulf and we gain a better idea as to how long we may be staying. I will post more on how we are managing the spill, the centers back home as I have something to more to report.
Thanks for your continued support and words of encouragement,
– Jay Holcomb, IBRRC Executive Director
http://wbx.me/l/?p=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fintbirdrescue.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F05%2Fday-15-from-center-of-gulf-oiled-bird.htmlhttp://wbx.me/l/?p=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fintbirdrescue.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F05%2Fday-15... more
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On day 11 of IBRRC's Gulf Oil Spill response, Executive Director Jay Holcomb, has his daily update:
On Tuesday we received an oiled northern gannet from the Grande Isle area to the west and an oiled laughing gull from one of the offshore islands. Unfortunately the gannet died overnight but the gull is doing well as it is lightly oiled.
We continue to send out our search and collection teams in search of oiled birds. They attempted capture on a few oiled brown pelicans yesterday but the birds were flighted and strong.
Here are the latest bird numbers:
Fort Jackson, Louisiana Oiled Bird Rehabilitation Center
4 live oiled birds in care
(6 intakes in LA since beginning of the spill)
2 Brown Pelicans
2 Northern Gannet
1 Green Heron
1 Laughing Gull
(one of the live gannets died)
Dead on arrival oiled birds (intakes at LA since beginning of the spill)
2 Northern gannets
1 Magnificent Frigatebird
Pensacola, Floria Oiled Bird Rehabilitation Center
1 live oiled bird: Northern Gannet
Total birds Released: 2 (1 Brown Pelican, 1 Northern Gannet)
Thanks again for your continued interest in our efforts,
– Jay Holcomb, IBRRC
http://intbirdrescue.blogspot.com/2010_05_01_archive.htmlOn day 11 of IBRRC's Gulf Oil Spill response, Executive Director Jay Holcomb, has... more
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Update: Joining forces for oil spill rescue effort in the Gulf
May 10, 2010
Staff from IBRRC and Tri-State exam an oiled Brown Pelican at Fort Jackson Oiled Bird Center in Louisiana
Dear Friends and Supporters,
As oil begins washing ashore at Louisiana’s Chandeleur Islands, a 16-person response team from International Bird Rescue Research Center is working with our partners at Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research to prepare temporary rescue facilities in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida, while also assisting the search and rescue effort led by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Many people have asked how we organize a response to a spill of this magnitude. In our experience it’s impossible for one organization to manage a rescue effort this large—one that comprises four states, large quantities of oil and vast areas of shoreline. Because of this, Tri-State and IBRRC have once again joined forces and combined our oiled wildlife response teams into one larger team capable of handling a spill such as this.
Between the two organizations, we have responded to about 400 oil spills over the past 30 to 40 years. For this effort Tri-State is taking the lead role, and IBRRC is working in tandem to help provide oversight for the rehabilitation program. We are extremely proud of our long-standing friendship with the Tri-State team and we are honored to work alongside them here in the Gulf of Mexico.
Yesterday we had five capture teams in the field working with U.S. Fish and Wildlife. They were able to make it as far east as the Breton Islands and some of the Chandeleur Islands off the coast of Louisiana. A few oiled gulls and pelicans were sighted, but those birds had only spots of oil on their bellies. They were capable of flying and appeared to be in good condition. Six teams are out again today looking in different areas for oiled birds.
To date, the Louisiana Center has received four birds. The first two birds have been washed and are soon to be released in Florida. One oiled Gannet arrived at the Florida facility and is also stable. As has been said often in this response effort, we are continuing to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
Thank you for all your support and well wishes for our ongoing rescue effort. We truly appreciate it.
Sincerely,
Jay Holcomb, Executive Director
International Bird Rescue Research Center (IBRRC)
http://www.ibrrc.org/update/Gulf-Oil-Spill-update-05-10-2010.htmlUpdate: Joining forces for oil spill rescue effort in the Gulf
May 10, 2010... more
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On the ninth day of the Gulf Oil Spill wildlife response, International Bird Rescue continues to work with Tri-State Bird Rescue, the lead oiled wildlife organization, to staff rehabilitation centers in Louisiana, Alabama Mississippi and Florida. IBRRC's Jay Holcomb checks in with his daily update on the wildlife response:
On May 8 we sent out 6 field teams, under the direction of the US Fish & Wildlife Service, to continue to look for oiled birds. Only some spotty oiled gulls have been sighted so far. No new oiled birds have been recovered. The 4 live birds in care at Ft. Jackson, LA and the one live bird in Pensacola, FL are all doing well.
Here are the latest bird numbers:
Fort Jackson, Louisiana Oiled Bird Rehabilitation Center
4 live oiled birds
* 2 brown pelicans
* 1 northern gannet
* 1 green heron
3 dead oiled birds
* 2 northern gannets
* 1 magnificent frigatebird
Pensacola, Floria Oiled Bird Rehabilitation Center
1 live oiled bird
* 1 northern gannet
Thanks again for your continued interest in our efforts,
– Jay Holcomb, Executive Director, International IBRRC
http://intbirdrescue.blogspot.com/2010/05/day-nine-gulf-spill-wildlife-update-5.htmlOn the ninth day of the Gulf Oil Spill wildlife response, International Bird Rescue... more
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