Harbormaster

'Harbormaster' 16 x 20, Port Canaveral Stewardship Series

Brown Pelican

Pelecanus occidentalis

These  pelicans are coastal birds, found in Florida and California, and are the state bird in Louisiana.  They fold up their six and a half foot wingspan as they high dive for fish in bait schools.  The first national Wildlife Refuge was established by Teddy Roosevelt, on Pelican Island in the Indian River Lagoon near Vero Beach, in the early 1900's.  That was accomplished through the persistent advocacy of the man who would become the first refuge ranger, Paul Krogel, a local fisherman who used to put himself at great risk by defending the vulnerable birds with his shotgun,  camped out on their tiny rookery island.