Beach Operations Employees Help Rescue Pelican

Two Parks and Recreation employees recently helped save a young brown pelican, found hanging by its neck from a cable wire above Packery Channel.

The pelican became entangled in a fishing line caught in a cable wire that runs across the channel.

Packery Channel Boat Patrol Captain Steven Clark and his Boat Technician Angel Casas noticed the bird in distress. The bird was too high above the water for them to attempt a rescue, so they radioed Beach Operations Program Manager Melinda Rogers. Rogers arrived on the scene along with Gulf Beach and Natural Resources Superintendent Russell Armstrong. She contacted Director of Rehabilitation for the Texas Sealife Center Amanda Terry, who joined Clark and Casas in the boat.

“We knew we had to find someone to help us cut the pelican out of the fishing line, so I called AEP and an employee arrived with an extesnsion pole," Rogers said.

After several attempts, the AEP worker cut the fishing line off the cable wire and the pelican fell into the water. Terry used a net to pick up the pelican and bring it aboard the boat. 

“Everything simply aligned to help us save this pelican,” Rogers said.
The bird was traumatized after struggling to try and get free and received minor cuts to its beak and pouch. The pelican is recovering at the Texas Sealife Center and after it's rehabilitated, it will be released back into the wild.

See video of the rescue at https://www.dropbox.com/s/vy41bkpkurfagt1/Pelican%20Movie.mp4?dl=0