Unique among the world’s seven species of pelicans, the Brown Pelican [pelecanus occidentalis] is found along the ocean shores only, not on inland lakes. It is the only dark pelican, and also the only one that plunges from the air into the water to catch its food, according to the Cornell Bird Guide.
Shooting it for its feathers and to “protect” fishing caused declines in pelican populations in the first half of the 20th century. Pesticide poisoning, especially by DDT, caused severe declines across the range in the late 1950′s. Populations were virtually extirpated from Louisiana, which still carries the moniker “the pelican state.”
Unlike most birds, which warm their eggs with the skin of their breasts, pelicans incubate their eggs with their feet. They hold the eggs under the webs that stretch from the front toes to the hind toe, essentially standing on the eggs to warm them. This peculiar incubation method made them vulnerable to the effects of the pesticide DDT. The DDT made the eggshells thin, and the incubating parents frequently cracked their eggs.
It was listed as Endangered throughout the range in 1970.
The ban on DDT led to a population recovery, and it was removed from the Endangered Species list in Atlantic Coast states in 1985, and in 2009, the State Bird of Louisiana was removed from Endangered Species List entirely, a major success story for the law.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a bureau of the U.S. Department of Commerce, is restricting fishing for a minimum of 10 days in federal waters most affected by the BP oil spill, largely between Louisiana state waters at the mouth of the Mississippi River to waters off Florida’s Pensacola Bay.
The closure is effective immediately, the agency reports. Details can be found on NOAA’s Website.
“NOAA scientists are on the ground in the area of the oil spill taking water and seafood samples in an effort to ensure the safety of the seafood and fishing activities,” said Dr. Jane Lubchenco, NOAA Administrator, who met with more than 100 fishermen in Louisiana’s Plaquemines Parish on Friday night.
“I heard the concerns of the Plaquemines Parish fishermen as well other fishermen and state fishery managers about potential economic impacts of a closure. Balancing economic and health concerns, this order closes just those areas that are affected by oil. There should be no health risk in seafood currently in the marketplace,” he said.
“We stand with America’s fisherman, their families and businesses in impacted coastal communities during this very challenging time. Fishing is vital to our economy and our quality of life and we will work tirelessly to protect it,” said Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke.
This animation of the Gulf of Mexico oil spil was created using actual overflight information and forecast models from the NOAA and Unified Command.
The red dot is the location of the Deepwater Horizon oil well, which exploded on April 20, releasing oil into the Gulf near the Louisiana coast that has yet to be contained. Eleven rig workers died in the explosion.
The animation begins Aprill 22, the day the first image of the spill via flyover was released, and goes through Monday, May 3. It is not showing landfall in Alabama, yet. Hopefully there will be an update Monday morning.
People, Businesses Offered $5,000 NOT to Sue Over Oil Spill
BAYOU LA BATRE, Ala. – As the unprecedented oil spill continued to work its way onto the northern Gulf Coast on Saturday, the oil giant BP held what it had said would be a public information meeting in the south Alabama fishing town of Bayou La Batre.
Town leaders, fishermen, local business owners and townspeople were invited and a number of them showed up, many of them certain to suffer economical damage from the impact of the oil slick bearing down on the coastline.
The company, however, converted the public meeting into a public relations and litigation ploy, according to local attorneys, including Mobile lawyers with the firm of Cunningham Bounds.
BP told the fishermen, business owners and local officials it will be unnecessary for them to hire their own legal counsel — if they would simply call a BP 1-800 telephone number and claim total damages for themselves and their businesses of less than $5,000 dollars.
In order to try and escape what could be millions of dollars in legal liability, BP offered to buy off people in the town for less than $5,000.
During the Bush years, we specialized in covering the politicization of the U.S. justice system as much as any news organization. Our archives are about the most comprehensive for anyone researching the prosecution of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, and the original case against Richard Scrushy, which Glynn Wilson covered for The New York Times.
