Ventura Audubon Society November Speaker Program: Are California Brown Pelicans in Hot Water

Program Description: Just off the coast of Ventura, on the California Channel Islands, lies the only place in the United States where California Brown Pelicans nest. Half a century ago, these birds nearly vanished. Contamination from DDE, a breakdown product of the pesticide DDT, made their eggshells so thin that eggs broke under the weight of their own parents, and the colonies saw near-total reproductive failure. Thanks to a ban on DDT and decades of conservation work, pelicans made a remarkable comeback and were removed from the endangered species list in 2009. After breeding, pelicans travel the length of the Pacific coast, linking the Channel Islands to colonies in Mexico and feeding grounds as far north as the Pacific Northwest. Across that range, they face threats such as a warming ocean that disrupts their food supply and entanglement in fishing gear. In this program, the Pelican Science team will share the pelican's life history and population trends, as well as recent insights into movement patterns and survival from tracking data using the Motus Wildlife Tracking System. As pelicans weather back-to-back marine heatwaves and a strong El Niño this year, this research can help inform the next chapter of their conservation story.