Stories: The Problem With Pelicans

Fishermen and pelicans have been at odds on the pier in Naples, Fla. for as long as anyone can remember. The birds, which look so ungainly on land, try to steal the fishermen's catch as they reel it in and often find themselves tangled in the line or caught on the hook.

The Conservancy of Southwest Florida takes in more than 100 pelicans a year. Nearly 80 percent of the birds are victims of fishing lines, hooks or lures. The pelicans come in with tears to their pouches and feet caused by trying to free themselves.

Every year the fishermen come and the conservancy is left to mend the wounded of a battle that shows no signs of ending.

A brown pelican dives into the lines of fishermen as they cast off the Naples Pier. The conservancy has taken proactive steps to help fishermen and pelicans by installing signs that explain what to do if a pelican gets hooked.
  
Wielding a fish, Naples resident John Didonato chases away a brown pelican who tried to steal his catch during an afternoon fishing trip to the Naples Pier.
  
Luis Lopez, left, removes a fishing lure as Frank Rudolf holds down the pelican he hooked while fishing off the Naples Pier. After hooking a bird a fisherman has two options: cut the line or reel the bird in and retrieve the hook.
     
  
Conservancy intern Julia Montellese gathers up an injured bird at Residents Beach on Marco Island. Normally the conservancy staff do not pick up injured wildlife, rather they depend on volunteers and the general public to bring the animals to the conservancy.
  
Sarah Funck, left, holds a brown pelican still as Ilma Dancourt opens the bird's mouth so Wildlife Rehabilitation Specialist Jonee Miller can intubate it in preparation for surgery to repair a ripped pouch.
  
Miller stitches a hole in a brown pelican's pouch caused by a fishing lure. An overwhelming amount of the pelicans the conservancy receives come in with injuries caused by fish hooks and lure.
     
  
A brown pelican lays covered by a towel on the operating table after it died during surgery. The bird was rescued by conservancy workers after hearing it was entangled by fishing line in a cluster of mango trees near Marco Island.
  
Funck ducks her head as a brown pelican flies overhead in one of the conservancy's outdoor flight pens while Funck moves another brown pelican outside. It is in these pens that the birds will gain strength before being released.
   
The feet of a brown pelican at the conservancy tell the story of a fight with a fishing lure. Often, the birds will get the lures caught in their pouches and then try and remove them using their feet, creating tears in the delicate webbing.
     
  
Miller and conservancy intern Rebecca Steinberg watch as a group of newly released brown pelicans take flight at a release site near Marco Island. "It's always a good feeling to watch them take off," said Miller.