When the call comes in, Nina Piacenza closes the door of the Pier Bait House behind her and heads out to the water's edge. She makes a careful scan of the dozens of pelicans who perch on posts poking from Tampa Bay about 10 feet away. She is looking for one that is in trouble.
Piacenza has been fielding phone calls about injured pelicans on the St. Petersburg, Fla., pier for six years. She is one of a growing number of people who have taken it upon themselves to protect a local icon.
As the number of people and fishing boats in the bay grows, so does the risk for the brown pelican.
|
ADDITIONAL CONTENT
|
Click here to see an informational graphic about the Eastern brown pelican.
Click here to see "Pelicans on the pier," a multimedia presentation about St. Pete's pelicans.
| |
Pelicans eat fish that are near the surface of the water and are unaware when a fish might be attached to a hook. The birds can get snagged on hooks or get tangled in fishing line. When pelicans do get caught, the fishermen will often cut the line to release the bird from the pole, sometimes with disastrous results. Pelicans can severely injure or strangle themselves trying get free.
Complications from fishing-related injuries are the greatest cause of death for brown pelicans in St. Petersburg, said Ralph Heath, founder and director of the
Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary.
Piacenza had never seen a pelican up close until she moved to St. Petersburg from the Los Angeles area 10 years ago. A casual visit led to a job at the Pier Bait House, which led to marriage to the owner, Joe Piacenza. Working at the bait shop gave her a front-row seat to the pelicans' plight.
Along with fishing supplies, the Bait House sells red thread herring to feed the brown pelicans that surround the shop. In the winter, the shop has had up to 50 pelicans swarming around a small feed platform.
"I started watching these birds and saw how amazing they are," Piacenza said. "They all have a distinct personality and way they interact with each other. They are so cool."
When she learned that the pelicans were dying because of the very supplies she sells in her shop, she resolved to do something to help.
"I think they deserve everyone's help -- at least my help," Piacenza said.
She did not have any formal training, so she began reading books, shadowing a friend who had a knack for rescuing the birds and talking to experts at the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary, a nonprofit wild bird hospital in Indian Shores, Fla.
Making a round of the pier each morning soon became part of her daily routine and she quickly realized she could do most of the work herself.
"It makes me feel like I'm doing my part to help and it frees up (volunteers from the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary) to take care of more pressing matters," she said. Now it is Piacenza who teaches others to carry on the work.
Bait shop employees are expected to keep an eye out for the pelicans as part of their jobs. Rob Slaughter, who began working at the Pier Bait House four months ago, has already mastered the art of pelican rescue with Piacenza's help.
Customers, as well, get a lesson in pelican safety before they are given their fishing gear.
"I'm there firsthand with the people that are hooking the pelicans," Piacenza said. "My situation gives me an opportunity to educate people first."
And if a problem arises the fishermen can't take care of themselves, they are instructed to call the bait shop.
Piacenza gazes up and down the pier but cannot find the pelican in need of help. She pauses for a long moment when she reaches the end of the dock before turning around and returning to the shop. The small "rescue kit" on the counter, which holds supplies to help Piacenza remove hooks and line, remains closed for the time being.
The kit is something Piacenza put together with the help of the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary. It consists of a pair of pliers, cutters, scissors and a squirt bottle filled with water. Also in the kit, Piacenza keeps a notebook where she records details of every bird she treats -- where it was injured, how it was injured, what she did to repair the injury and the markings of the bird.
Piacenza has helped nearly 60 pelicans since February, when she started keeping the log. Most of the pelicans she sees have superficial injuries -- a hook caught in the leg or wing -- and can be turned loose as soon as they are untangled from the line.
Piacenza dangles a fish in front of the birds to get them to come close enough to catch them. She grabs them by the beak, untangles the fishing line and removes the hooks.
"The biggest danger is falling in the water trying to catch them," Piacenza said.
She hasn't fallen yet.
If the injury requires more than cutting a hook, Piacenza calls on the pros at the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary.
"If it is even remotely out of my league, I send it off. I'm not a doctor and I don't pretend to be one," she said.
The Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary houses an average of 150 Eastern brown pelicans at any one time, Heath said. Each year, about 1,000 pelicans are brought to the sanctuary, 85 percent of which are treated for injuries sustained from fishing hooks and line.
Pelicans brought to the sanctuary stay anywhere from a couple of days to the rest of their lives. Most are there because fishing hooks have torn a ligament or have attached near or in the eye. Others have broken joints or severe gashes in their bodies.
The number of pelicans seen for these types of fishing-related injuries has increased dramatically in the past 50 years, a trend that is directly related to the increasing number of people moving to the area, Heath said.
"There is a growing concern for the pelicans," he said.
At the Pier Bait House, the pelicans have become much more than just creatures in need of saving. Some have names, and all have a range of personalities and quirks, just like people.
Henrietta has been a regular for many years. Piacenza estimates the pelican -- easily recognized by the large mole on her neck -- has been seeking shade within the shop's doors for nearly 30 years.
In that time, not only has she learned how to get the staff to give her fish, she also responds when called by name, following employees like a puppy. The short exchange ends with her dancing and bobbing, begging for a fish.
Ilene (as in "I lean") is another favorite. The crippled pelican got its nickname from its telltale missing foot, the result of a run-in with fishing line.
Although the pelicans do receive special attention, Piacenza is firm about their status as wild animals.
"None of the birds are pets," she said. "I am not here to hurt the pelicans. I love these birds. They are the most amazing animal I have ever seen. I will continue to rescue them even if I don't work here."
