Brown Pelicans and the Gulf Oil Spill
Ranked #18,730 in Culture & Society, #382,874 overall
Hope for an Endangered Bird
There is something about a Pelican I have always admired. The way they fly so gracefully, expressionless, yet somehow poetic too. When the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico news came out, I was immediately concerned about the birds. Having seen all the horrible slicked birds from the Exxon Valdeez oil spill years ago, I remembered how heartbreaking it is to see these beautiful animals so helpless.
The Brown Pelican was affected pretty harshly in the Gulf Oil Spill, and though their numbers have been improving, the bird already faces years of dwindling habitat from the erosion of the coastlines, especially in Louisiana where the oil hit the worst.
I was raised in South Mississippi and remember growing up the ongoing efforts to save coastal wildlife, namely the Least Tern nesting areas on the Gulf Coast beaches. It is not new to me to be concerned about ocean birds. What's new is the horror is more real with the latest oil spill hitting so close to home. My friends are affected. These are spots we all like to visit. It's not okay for tar balls to wash up on our beautiful beaches.
I am not really interested, however, in bashing anybody. It was an unfortunate accident and I hope we all learn from it. Here are ways to help our birds, and to help educate our future leaders so that they can make more informed decisions.
During the disaster, which seemed to go on forever, I wrote this about my poor Brown Pelican Friends:
I am Brown Pelican.
I live peacefully in southern coastal waters.
I hunt fish with my piercing eagle eyes and large bowl of a bill.
I can sit, stoic, on dock posts for hours. I am Digesting. I am Observing. I see quite a lot.
I see ships and boats and dolphins and planes.
I see storms and heat and magnanimous sunsets.
I am Brown Pelican.
I am key chains and T shirts and vacation packed memories.
I soar as I hunt, my great feathered wings hovering inches from water.
I feel the foam of the sea. I feel the mist in my face. I see my pray.
I dive.
I am Brown Pelican.
... I feel so heavy.
I sting. I sting!
I can barely move or breathe.
I am caught in something thick.
Now I cannot move.
I am hungry.
I am weak.
I am Brown Pelican.
I am Brown.
I am.
I.
The Brown Pelican was affected pretty harshly in the Gulf Oil Spill, and though their numbers have been improving, the bird already faces years of dwindling habitat from the erosion of the coastlines, especially in Louisiana where the oil hit the worst.
I was raised in South Mississippi and remember growing up the ongoing efforts to save coastal wildlife, namely the Least Tern nesting areas on the Gulf Coast beaches. It is not new to me to be concerned about ocean birds. What's new is the horror is more real with the latest oil spill hitting so close to home. My friends are affected. These are spots we all like to visit. It's not okay for tar balls to wash up on our beautiful beaches.
I am not really interested, however, in bashing anybody. It was an unfortunate accident and I hope we all learn from it. Here are ways to help our birds, and to help educate our future leaders so that they can make more informed decisions.
During the disaster, which seemed to go on forever, I wrote this about my poor Brown Pelican Friends:
I am Brown Pelican.
I live peacefully in southern coastal waters.
I hunt fish with my piercing eagle eyes and large bowl of a bill.
I can sit, stoic, on dock posts for hours. I am Digesting. I am Observing. I see quite a lot.
I see ships and boats and dolphins and planes.
I see storms and heat and magnanimous sunsets.
I am Brown Pelican.
I am key chains and T shirts and vacation packed memories.
I soar as I hunt, my great feathered wings hovering inches from water.
I feel the foam of the sea. I feel the mist in my face. I see my pray.
I dive.
I am Brown Pelican.
... I feel so heavy.
I sting. I sting!
I can barely move or breathe.
I am caught in something thick.
Now I cannot move.
I am hungry.
I am weak.
I am Brown Pelican.
I am Brown.
I am.
I.
Pelicans and other Stuff
About the Gulf Oil Spill
What People are Saying
About the Oil Spill
Good Stuff Rising from a Troubled Sea
It is easy to allow myself to get emotionally tangled up in the plight of our beloved Brown Pelicans caught in the oil.
But now, thanks to some good people who remind me of the immense wonder in the world, I focus on healing, and new beginnings.
First, Joe Vitale and Pat O'Bryan, two of my favorite people on the planet, have teamed up to give away a beautiful audio with clearing music and statements to help us bring the change of healing to our troubled waters. I have listened to the audio several times already and can attest to its healing, calming, hopeful properties.
ClearTheGulf.com
Later, on the news I overheard John Tesh talking about a project he has started on Facebook: A program called "Adopt a Fisherman" to provide immediate assistance to families whose livelihood is in jeapardy due to the oil spill
Intelligent Kindness
There are people sending help from all corners of the earth. Not just cleaning my precious pelicans but sending real relief to real people who really need it.
I have known a few Cajuns in my lifetime, and they are not typically ones to let much get them down. However, this is a travesty most of them have never seen, and they can do very little about it.
Vanity Fair has some good suggestions on how we can help:
1. Visit Lousiana: Go to New Orleans and support Louisiana tourism.
2. Buy Lousiana seafood: The Louisiana Departments of Health, Fisheries, and Environmental Quality are continuously testing the waters and fishing supplies, and there has been no evidence that contaminated products have made their way to the market.
3.Support Catholic Charities' direct-assistance work: They are helping people now and your dollars will go directly to those in need. Click here.
4. Support Seedco Financial's work: The nonprofit provides guidance and resources to help small businesses recover their financial strength. Click here.
5. If you're on the Gulf Coast: Report oil on land to N.O.A.A. by calling 866-448-5816, and report oiled or injured wildlife to N.O.A.A. by calling 866-557-1401.
But now, thanks to some good people who remind me of the immense wonder in the world, I focus on healing, and new beginnings.
First, Joe Vitale and Pat O'Bryan, two of my favorite people on the planet, have teamed up to give away a beautiful audio with clearing music and statements to help us bring the change of healing to our troubled waters. I have listened to the audio several times already and can attest to its healing, calming, hopeful properties.
ClearTheGulf.com
Later, on the news I overheard John Tesh talking about a project he has started on Facebook: A program called "Adopt a Fisherman" to provide immediate assistance to families whose livelihood is in jeapardy due to the oil spill
Intelligent Kindness
There are people sending help from all corners of the earth. Not just cleaning my precious pelicans but sending real relief to real people who really need it.
I have known a few Cajuns in my lifetime, and they are not typically ones to let much get them down. However, this is a travesty most of them have never seen, and they can do very little about it.
Vanity Fair has some good suggestions on how we can help:
1. Visit Lousiana: Go to New Orleans and support Louisiana tourism.
2. Buy Lousiana seafood: The Louisiana Departments of Health, Fisheries, and Environmental Quality are continuously testing the waters and fishing supplies, and there has been no evidence that contaminated products have made their way to the market.
3.Support Catholic Charities' direct-assistance work: They are helping people now and your dollars will go directly to those in need. Click here.
4. Support Seedco Financial's work: The nonprofit provides guidance and resources to help small businesses recover their financial strength. Click here.
5. If you're on the Gulf Coast: Report oil on land to N.O.A.A. by calling 866-448-5816, and report oiled or injured wildlife to N.O.A.A. by calling 866-557-1401.
Brown Pelicans
In all their glory
Sometimes we have to see the tragedy to appreciate the beauty. Perhaps this crisis will bring us a better appreciation of this magnificent bird.
Oil Spill's Effect on Birds
- Gulf oil spill pollutants found in pelicans migrating to Minnesota
- About 34000 adult pelicans will raise some 17000 chicks this year on islands in Marsh Lake. The area is a perfect place to look for oil spill effects. Most of the birds spend winters in the Gulf of Mexico, from Cuba to Texas.
- BP oil spill effects on Minnesota loons under study
- The April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which released about 4.9 million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico, had many Minnesota biologists, hunters and bird watchers worried about the biological impacts the disaster would have on ...
- Scientists study oil's impact on birds
- Two years later, many of these grounds appear clean and birds have returned to them in large numbers to brood. But scientists say some of the effects of the oil spill on coastal birds may not be visible for years. ?There are some basic things that we ...
- Ship's captain jailed over New Zealand oil spill
- The October 2011 oil spill released over 300 tons of fuel that arrived on beaches and coated birds in a thick black sludge. By Agence France-PresseFri, May 25 2012 at 2:50 AM EST LEAKY: The Liberian-flagged container ship Rena, stuck on Astrolabe Reef ...
Brown Pelican
Blogged
- Tilden Park's art exhibit celebrates good news
- By Marta Yamamoto Jain Martin's dramatic silhouette of a brown pelican is one of the pieces of art featured at Tilden Park's Environmental Education Center 'Conservation Success Stoires,' which runs through Aug. 31. Contrary to what often seems ...
- Wildlife officials probe mysterious brown pelican deaths in Brevard
- Local officials have reported about a dozen brown pelican deaths in the region during the past month. / Jim Waymer, FLORIDA TODAY PALM SHORES ? State wildlife officials are investigating a spate of sudden brown pelican deaths along the Indian River ...
- 11 Things You Didn't Know About Birds (PHOTOS)
- Harmful chemicals nearly wiped out the Brown Pelican. In the early 1970s, only a small population remained. Thanks to the banning of DDT and other chemicals, Brown Pelicans have made a strong recovery. One of the Turkey Vulture's defenses is to puke on ...
- Monofilament fishing line a danger for pelicans
- One of the species we see locally that is greatly impacted is the brown pelican, a bird type that is still struggling to come back from being endangered. You can typically see these birds hanging out in spots such as piers and fishing hotspots, ...
Saving Pelican 895
- HBO Documentary Films's Photos - HBO Documentary Films | Facebook
- Facebook is a social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them. People use Facebook to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, post links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet.
Saving Queen Bess Island
Favored Habitat of Louisiana's State Bird
Brown Pelican
You make us smile
Solutions
To the Oil Spill Disaster
From the headlines
Perched
So wise
Thank you, Brown Pelican, for blessing us
Brown Pelicans
A Symbol of Good Times
One man's solution
What is yours?
The Louisiana Barrier Islands
Gulf Of Mexico
Barrier Islands
Habitats for many species
Not just Pelicans
Other Marine Life is affected
- Nearly 4 times as much sea life in Alabama, Mississippi coastal waters since ...
- (Ben Raines/Press-Register) MOBILE, Alabama -- There were nearly four times as many fish, shrimp and crabs in Alabama waters in the fall of 2011 as there were before the BP's Gulf of Mexico oil spill, according to scientific data collected by the ...
- Devastated marine life shown in Greenpeace's BP oil spill photos
- New photos released Monday offer a vivid view of the damage wrought on marine life in the Gulf of Mexico following the colossal BP oil spill two years ago. The images, provided by the federal government to Greenpeace, include sea turtles covered in ...
- Elastec/American Marine Builds Rapid Response Workboats
- By Anonymous Elastec/American Marine (E/AM) builds and markets aluminum workboats ideal for use in oil spill response. That should surprise no one, for the Carmi-based company is North America's largest manufacturer of oil spill recovery equipment-and ...
- Regulators to test anti-spill equipment in Gulf
- Winning numbers More than 300 men and women with ties to Florida have given their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Associated Press NEW ORLEANS ? An oil spill consortium set up after the BP spill to develop methods for containing deep sea spills ...
by KarenKay
Hi Everyone!
My name is Karen Kay, but everyone calls me "KK"...so you do too, Okay?
I was born and raised in the south (GA,TX,MS) and currently reside...
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