Eight years ago today, tragedy struck the Gulf of Mexico. Eleven people were killed and our nation’s worst environmental disaster began to unfold when an oil rig exploded on April 20, 2010. The Deepwater Horizon Disaster endangered the economies of coastal communities, saturated marshes and wetlands in sludge, and smothered thousands of birds in oil. Despite millions of gallons of oil flooding into the Gulf of Mexico, two surviving pelicans from the disaster recently gave Audubon biologists new hope for the fate of rescued and treated bird victims. In 2010, both pelicans were rescued, cleaned, and safely released in Florida. Audubon biologists have since spotted these two survivors at the Richard T. Paul Alafia Bank Bird Sanctuary near Tampa, Florida. 

The first of the two rescued pelicans was spotted in April 2013 by Erik Johnson, Audubon Louisiana’s Director of Bird Conservation, on a visit to the Richard T. Paul Alafia Bank Bird Sanctuary, which is leased from and managed in collaboration with The Mosaic Company. The pelican was banded with the code R(red)0Z4. Peter Tuttle, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), reported R-0Z4 was an adult male rescued in Louisiana in June 2010 and transported to the nearby Fort Jackson Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. R0Z4 was moderately to heavily oiled and lethargic and weak when rescued. In addition, Dr. Erica Miller with Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research noted that once healthy enough, R0Z4 was banded and released on July 7, 2010 at Fort De Soto Park in St. Petersburg, Florida. Johnson's April 2013 sighting was the first of this bird in the 1,553 days after its release!

Audubon Sanctuary biologists have seen R0Z4 two more times at the Alafia Bank (in 2014 and 2015) and suspect he was one of the 800+ Brown Pelicans that nested at the Alafia Bank.

Another banded pelican sighting was recent - on February 20, 2018. Audubon Sanctuary biologists spotted R(red)92Z roosting on the breakwater at the Alafia Bank. Tuttle informed us that R92Z was a juvenile male pelican rescued in Louisiana in June 2010. R92Z was moderately oiled and also released at Fort De Soto Park after treatment. With delight, Miller noted Audubon's February 2018 resighting is the first sighting since R92Z's release in 2010! Audubon biologists estimate R92Z is at least nine years old, and he has been spotted a few more times at the Alafia Bank since first being spotted on February 20, 2018.

The Alafia Bank serves as a sanctuary for birds like these pelicans and thousands of others. It hosts the largest Brown Pelican colony in the Tampa region and is an important bird nesting island for the entire Gulf Coast bird population. Right now, the sanctuary is under threat of dangerous invasive trees that are crowding out the native plants birds need. Audubon Florida has secured a matching grant to remove these invasives, and 200 generous donors have given donations of all sizes to help Audubon secure the matching grant funds. We’re still short of our goal, but we’re taking today to say thank you to everyone. Eight years ago, disaster struck our beloved Gulf, and today reminds all of us why our work to protect birds and the places they need is still important. Thank you for everything you’ve done for natural Florida and the birds we all enjoy.