Pelicans back in the wild after Pinellas sanctuary’s first release since devastating hurricanes

Joan Wylie had never carried a pelican under her arm, but on Tuesday, she carried at least eight or ten of them from the Seaside Seabird Sanctuary around 75 yards to the beach at Indian Shores. 

"They're not as heavy as I expected," laughed Wylie, who is a volunteer at the sanctuary. 

Wylie carrying a pelican to the water under her arm.

Wylie was carrying a pelican to the water.

Wylie clamped their beaks with her hand, saying, "Some of them are a little bit feistier than others."

Rehabilitating birds

The backstory:

Wylie was part of what you could call a Pelican Parade of volunteers and 46 birds rehabilitated from injuries, mostly from fishing lines and hooks. 

It was the first release of rehabilitated birds since destructive hurricanes ravaged the sanctuary last Fall. The birds had been evacuated before the storms, but work to fix the damage has taken weeks and is still not complete. 

"We had water in all of our buildings. Luckily, we were able to reopen the hospital after about 30 days being closed," said Melissa Edwards, one of the managers at the sanctuary.

Volunteers walking rehabilitated birds to the ocean.

Volunteers walking rehabilitated birds for their release on the beach.

Audubon put bands on the birds to be released and asked the public to be careful. 

"If you accidentally hook a pelican, make sure that you reel it in and remove the hook rather than cutting the line. If you cut the line, that can often be a death sentence for that bird," said Jeff Liechty of Audubon Florida. 

How the hurricanes affected bird rehabilitation

Dig deeper:

Months after the hurricanes, there is still damage to homes and businesses up and down Bay Area beaches. 

Cindy and Doug Parrot, who are snowbirds from Cincinnati, Ohio, love pelicans and all the birds at the sanctuary. When they returned to their Florida home at Feather Sound, they were shocked by the damage.

"As I told him today, it looks really rough. There's sand everywhere. There are dumpsters everywhere," said Cindy. 

They were impressed with all the work that was going on to rebuild the sanctuary.  

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Hurricane damage to Seacoast Seabird Sanctuary.

"The volunteers are all hands on deck. It's hopeful," said Doug. 

Work left to be done

What's next:

The Seaside Seabird Sanctuary still needs $100,000 to finish the repairs, and they said donations are appreciated.

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