Brown pelicans return to Bahia Grande at critical moment

As oil threatens to destroy wetlands along the Louisiana coastline and dozens of rescued brown pelicans are being sent to Texas to make a new home, scientists in the Rio Grande Valley are celebrating a timely success: Wildlife is returning to the newly rehabilitated Bahia Grande wetlands.

Four brown pelican nests have been sighted on the small islands in the Bahia Grande, a stretch of once vibrant wetlands that dried up after Highway 48 was built and the Brownsville Ship Channel was dug out. For decades, what had been a water-covered bay became a dust bowl. Channels between the shipping channel and other neighboring bodies of water helped to bring water back into the Bahia Grande, while school children contributed by planting mangroves and university students studied the restoration for signs of success and failure. Brown pelican nests have not been spotted in the area in many years, and their existence is a sign that restoration efforts are working.

"They’re top feeders, so the fact that they’re making a home there shows that they have all that they need under them (on the food chain) to survive," said Jude Benavides, assistant professor of hydrology and water resources at The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College. Benavides and his colleague, associate professor Eric Linder, have been among the more than 60 partners who have collaborated to restore the once expansive wetlands and bring back the wildlife that used to populate the area.

The discovery of the nests coincides with the shipment of nearly 100 rescued brown pelicans to Texas. The birds were covered in crude oil from the ongoing BP oil spill, and were cleaned and cared for before they could again be released into the wild. The birds were set free at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge near Corpus Christi, but there’s no telling whether they will migrate elsewhere.

"They could be here tomorrow if they wanted to be," Benavides said. "They cover distance very fast."

The creation of a new wetland habitat for brown pelicans is no small matter: the birds were only taken off the endangered species list in November 2009.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Nancy Brown says there will be more brown pelicans freed in coming weeks, including at Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge.

About 1,000 dead birds and 770 live birds already have been collected from the oil spill. About 400 dead sea turtles have been collected, along with about 50 dead mammals, including dolphins.

Brown said that there are a number of pelican colonies along the Louisiana coastline, which is why pelicans represent a large part of the rescue effort.

"The pelicans get exposed to the oil three ways," Brown said. "They swim through it, they dive into it, and then they come up out of it."

Brown says it is gratifying to know that the Bahia Grande is now home to some brown pelicans, especially during a moment when so many are losing their homes and lives to the oil spill.

"The Bahia Grande is back to being productive at a really critical point," Brown said. "Thank goodness for that."

Benavides agreed.

"Wetlands are becoming more and more limited real estate in this country, so this restoration becomes even more important as a result," he said.