| Christine Fiorello; Oiled Wildlife Care Network, UC Davis; cvfiorello@ucdavis.edu; Patrick G. Jodice, Kyra Mills-Parker, Juliet S. Lamb, Richard T. Golightly, Yvan S. Satge, Laird A. Henkel, Robert McMorran, Michael Ziccardi |
| Despite the enormous amount of financial resources, personnel, and time devoted to oiled wildlife rehabilitation, there remains a paucity of information on post-release survival and behavior of most affected species. Brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) are near-shore seabirds that are frequently affected by oil spills. In a previously published study of brown pelicans that were oiled, rehabilitated, and released in California in 1990-91, oiled birds disappeared at a higher rate than control birds, showed movement patterns typical of nonbreeding birds, and did not demonstrate any evidence of breeding activity. In May 2015, Plains Pipeline 901 spilled >100,000 gallons of oil near Refugio State Beach, California. Fifty oiled pelicans were captured and subjected to rehabilitation efforts. Forty-six survived and were released following rehabilitation using established protocols. Of these, 12 adults (6M, 6F) were fitted with solar-powered GPS satellite transmitters and released in June. In early July, we captured 8 adult (3M, 4F, 1U), unoiled pelicans near Ventura CA. These were similarly instrumented and released immediately. Four months after release, transmitters from 11 of 12 oiled and all 8 control pelicans were still transmitting. One oiled bird disappeared abruptly in mid-September; despite multiple searches, no carcass was found. Oiled pelicans traveled >5000 km, ranging from the central Oregon coast to the western Mexican coast of the Gulf of California. Although our sample size is limited, these data demonstrate that pelicans can survive oiling and rehabilitation, and that their movements are similar to those of controls for at least 4 months post-release. |