Brown Pelicans mired in oil
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Louisiana's official nickname is 'The Pelican State' and the Brown Pelican appears on Louisiana's state flag and seal. It was once nearly driven to extinction by pollution, and is now in danger again.
A Brown Pelican is seen on the beach at East Grand Terre Island along the Louisiana coast after being drenched in oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill Thursday, June 3, 2010.
AP Photo/Charlie Riedel
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The estimated Brown Pelican population in the northern Gulf region is about 40,000. "They're still just clinging to existence," a National Audubon Society spokesman said.
A bird is mired in oil on the beach at East Grand Terre Island along the Louisiana coast on Thursday, June 3, 2010.
AP Photo/Charlie Riedel
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Ingesting oil is a prime concern, but oil also causes matted plumage, making it harder for the birds to stay afloat when they rest on the water's surface.
A bird flies above oil on the Gulf of Mexico off of East Grand Terre Island along the Louisiana coast Thursday, June 3, 2010.
AP Photo/Charlie Riedel
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Also at risk in the oil spill disaster are about a dozen other species listed by the government as endangered or threatened, including birds, sea turtles and the sperm whale.
A bird flies above oil on the Gulf of Mexico off of East Grand Terre Island along the Louisiana coast Thursday, June 3, 2010.
AP Photo/Charlie Riedel
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The number of oiled animals plucked from the Gulf has been small: about 140 birds and 26 turtles by Thursday.
A boat approaches a Brown Pelican floating on oily water off of East Grand Terre Island along the Louisiana coast on Thursday, June 3, 2010.
AP Photo/Charlie Riedel
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But environmental officials are bracing for a rise in animal casualties as the impact of the oil continues to make its way through the region.
A Brown Pelican is mired in oil on the beach at East Grand Terre Island along the Louisiana coast after being drenched in oil Thursday, June 3, 2010
AP Photo/Charlie Riedel
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A Brown Pelican is seen on the beach at East Grand Terre Island along the Louisiana coast after being drenched in oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill Thursday, June 3, 2010.
AP Photo/Charlie Riedel
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Even as wildlife workers clean up some of the pelicans that were fouled by oil in the water, there is another concern. Oil is killing off grass in the birds' marsh habitats.
Oil is seen on the inside of a pelican's pouch as animal rehab specialists clean the oil covered pelican impacted from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in Buras, La., Thursday, June 3, 2010
AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
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Danene Birtell, of Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research, holds the wing of an oiled pelican, impacted from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, as she cleans the bird at a triage facility at Fort Jackson in Buras, La., Thursday, June 3, 2010.
AP Photo/Gerald Herbert
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Rescuers are using dishwashing soap to attack the oil on birds.
Animal rehab specialists clean an oiled pelican from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill at a temporary triage facility at Fort Jackson in Buras, La., Thursday, June 3, 2010
AP Photo/Gerald Herbert
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A cattle egret found moderately oiled by the BP oil spill is released by Robert Love, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Coastal and Non-game Resources Division administrator, left, Dr. Sharon Taylor, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service veterinarian, centre, and Rowan Gould, acting director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Thursday, June 3, 2010, on the south side of the in the Atchafalaya Basin near Lafyatte, La.
The Lafayette Daily Advertiser/Leslie Westbrook
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Members of the media photograph and interview U.S. Fish and Wildlife veterinarian Sharon Taylor as she holds two birds found moderately oiled by the BP oil spill Thursday, June 3, 2010, in Lafayette, La. The birds, a Least Bittern and a Cattle Egret, were cleaned about 10 days ago at the Fort Jackson Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Buras, La., and were released Thursday on the south side of the Sherburne Wildlife Management Area in the Atchafalaya Basin, La.
The Lafayette Daily Advertiser/Leslie Westbrook
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A Least Bittern quickly flies away after being released by members of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Thursday, June 3, 2010, on the south side of the Sherburne Wildlife Management Area in the Atchafalaya Basin near Lafayette, La. The Least Bittern, along with a Cattle Egret, was cleaned of moderate oiling about 10 days ago at the Fort Jackson Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Buras, La.
The Lafayette Daily Advertiser/Leslie Westbrook
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Environmentalists are also worried about unseen fish and marine life, lower down on the food chain and closer to the bottom of the sea.
A dragonfly tries to clean itself as it is stuck to marsh grass covered in oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, in Garden Island Bay on the Gulf Coast of Louisiana near Venice, Tuesday, May 18, 2010.
AP Photo/Gerald Herbert
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An Atlantic bottlenose dolphin swims in a lagoon behind yellow protective booming erected by the U.S. Coast Guard, Thursday. June 3, 2010 in Grassy Key, Fla. No oil has arrived, but officials installed hundreds of feet of booms at the Dolphin Research Center as a precaution.
AP Photo/Tony Winton
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