![]() Young said other people are pulling the lids off of the bins to pull fish out and deliberately feeding the pelicans. “We”re going to start enforcing our regulations about not throwing (scrap) fish in the water.” ”We put up fliers to try to educate people,” Young said. Trapdoor lids and signs were subsequently installed to make sure the bins weren”t left uncovered.Ĭrescent City Harbormaster Richard Young said the lids are still there, but that there are new fishermen in the harbor this year that are not necessarily up to speed on the fish waste issue. Sick pelicans have also been identified in the Crescent City harbor, where birds became contaminated in August 2011 from open fish waste totes at the harbor”s fish cleaning station. ”Like every other life form, including (human) teenagers, the easier meal is usually the one that”s gone for,” Merrick said. HUMBOLDT RESCUE BIRDS HOW TOHe said the young birds don”t know any better and eat the scraps, forgoing learning how to plunge dive. He said the pelicans, which are only a few months old, are likely being fed by people around the boat launch and charter boat fishermen. “They were in a pretty sad state.”Īs of Friday afternoon, Merrick said volunteers had captured 35 pelicans from the Trinidad area and are continuing to revisit the beach each day. ”They were completely soaking wet, trying to get this contaminant off of them,” Merrick said. He said he went to the Trinidad harbor and identified about 40 birds that are in need of help, about half of which were in the water. According to the center, the birds then die of exposure and starvation.īird Ally X Co-Director Monte Merrick said he initially started receiving calls Monday about ailing pelicans in Trinidad. When oil contaminates a pelican”s feathers, the birds lose their waterproofing ability and become vulnerable to the cold and can suffer from hypothermia. ![]() Last year, the center saw more than 50 pelicans which had been “Dumpster diving” in fish waste containers and fed by fishermen. This is the second time in two years that the center and the Arcata-based Bird Ally X organization have seen juvenile pelicans suffering from the same ailment. The nonprofit center is attempting to nurse the juvenile birds back to health, but has already been forced to euthanize three extremely ill pelicans. ![]() Juvenile brown pelicans are dying on the North Coast - not from a virus or bacteria - but from becoming covered in fish oil, a substance that harms the birds” feathers.Ī flock of pelicans - totaling 70 Friday - have taken up residence at the Humboldt Wildlife Care Center in Bayside after being rescued from Humboldt and Del Norte counties by volunteers. ![]()
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