Fishing Tackle    
     The vast majority of injuries we treat are attributed to fishing tackle. Typically, these injuries fall into two sub categories of (1) injuries with tackle present on/in the patient or (2) injuries attributed to tackle with no tackle present. We recover many seabirds with hooks engaged in, or fishing line wrapped around, their body. These injuries can result in infection or injury to the body and major organs. Birds entangled in fishing line may become entangled in trees, or the line may pull tight and constrict blood flow to an extremity. The second subcategory of injuries includes injuries that are caused when fishing tackle tears away from the bird or is improperly removed by the public. This includes torn pouches, deep penetrating wounds, ligature wounds, broken wings or legs and nerve damage.
     Seabirds sometimes dive on baited hooks and swallow the fishing tackle whole. Roughly a quarter of the pelicans we treat have ingested fishing tackle. The radiograph at left shows a pelican that ingested one hook, a swivel and several inches of wire leader. These fishing tackle injuries are fairly common in densely populated area like Miami where seabird are in close physical competition with anglers.

     While we only treat a handful of oiled seabirds each year, the number we treat is slowly increasing. Oil contaminates the feathers and ruins their ability to repel water and retain body heat. Oil also damages the eyes, irritates the skin and damages the vital organs if ingested. Caring for oiled seabirds is extremely difficult. It requires quick response and extensive training. In South Florida, we typically see handfuls of oiled birds immediately following large tropical weather systems. Many of the sunken ships off the coast of Florida still contain oil and fuel. Tropical storms and hurricanes sometimes disturb these wrecks and release small amounts of trapped oil. This produces oil slicks that pose a serious risk to seabirds like the Brown Booby pictured at left.

     Botulism is an illness caused when a seabird ingests food (usually fish) that is infected with the bacteria Clostridium Botulinum. Outbreaks of C. Botulinum occur in open water when algal blooms reduce the level of dissolved oxygen in the water enough to allow this bacteria to multiply rapidly. Botulism causes muscle paralysis and acts within hours of exposure.

Transfer Patients    

     Caring for seabirds in captivity is very difficult because of their nutritional and physical needs. We therefore receive seabirds that are transferred to us from other facilities for prolonged treatment. We have received patients from other parts of Florida, North and South Carolina and Louisiana. The pelican pictured here with Harry and Wendy was transferred to our facility from Newfoundland. He was the longest distance transfer we've ever had. He's seen here just before his release.