California Brown Pelican
PIs: Christine Fiorello & Michael Ziccardi (Oiled Wildlife Care Network), Patrick Jodice (South Carolina Cooperative Research Unit)
Graduate students: Juliet Lamb, PhD Candidate (Clemson University)
Collaborators: Kyra Mills-Parker(OWCN), Rick Golightly (Humboldt State University), Laird Henkel (Office of Spill Prevention and Response, CA Department of Fish & Wildlife)
Funding: Oiled Wildlife Care Network
This project was undertaken to better understand the fate of brown pelicans after being oiled and rehabilitated. In May 2015 a pipeline ruptured, spilling crude oil into the surf on Refugio Beach in Santa Barbara County. Many birds and marine mammals were affected by the spill, and an extensive response was mounted. Close to 70 oiled birds were captured, most of them brown pelicans. Twelve of the 42 brown pelicans that were released after oiling, washing, and rehabilitation were outfitted with satellite GPS tags, and an additional 8 unoiled pelicans were captured and tagged as controls. We'll be comparing the movements, distance traveled, and presence in breeding colonies of the rehabilitated and control birds over the next years.