Saturday, March 3, 2012

West Anacapa Brown Pelican

                The brown pelicans is a survivor. The largest nesting colony was down to one…I repeat, one surviving chick in 1970 on West Anacapa Island which is the closest of the Channel Islands to shore. Their demise was brought on by DDT being dumped into the sewers and the pelicans eating the fish with the poison in them. The DDT caused very thin shells and most chicks did not survive past the embryo period. Because of Rachel Carson and the ban on DDT in 1972 the pelican has made a come back.
                  Evening before was especially beautiful watch the sun go down behind West Anacapa.

Pelicans are so relaxing to watch as they skim the water.


Point Mugu rock


I like this one because it shows the strong backbone of the brown pelican.


It's a free for all when bait fish are found.


                                              A group of Brandt's Cormorants riding the surf.








1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Good story on the brown pelican. didn't know it came down to just one bird. Do know that there are some who still think the EPA and it's ban on PCB was a bad decision.
Thanks for the bit of education.