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Injured Pelican Knocks on NOAA Lab Door Seeking Help in Florida
Staff cut away fishing line, removed a hook and cactus spines, and released the patient bird after about 10 minutes.
- Biologists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's fisheries office in Panama City, Florida, discovered a brown pelican tapping on their door with a fishing line hook stuck in its wing.
- Entangled in heavy-duty fishing line, the bird had a double-barbed treble hook embedded in its right wing and cactus spines in its foot. These injuries restricted its ability to fly, prompting the desperate search for assistance.
- Biologist Hilton used scissors to cut the roughly 6-foot-long fishing line while a colleague stabilized the bird. Wire cutters removed the hook during a procedure taking about five minutes.
- Throughout the procedure, the bird remained patient, prompting Hilton to call it a "once-in a-lifetime experience." After treatment, the pelican stretched its wings and flew away from the Andrew Bay basin.
- Gerald Hough, a professor at Rowan University in New Jersey, suggests the pelican may have associated the lab with food. NOAA Fisheries recommends discarding fishing line in secure containers and switching to barbless hooks to prevent future incidents.
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35 Articles
The Washington PostReposted by 
The spokesman-Review
The spokesman-ReviewScientists heard a knock at the door. It was a pelican in need of help.
“This is kind of just a once-in a-lifetime experience,” said marine researcher Annsli Hilton.
·Washington, United States
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Scientists Heard A Knock At The Door — It Was A Pelican In Need Of Help
A quiet morning at a Florida marine research facility was interrupted by an unmistakable sound: tapping at the back door. When a biologist went to check, what he found waiting outside wasn’t a colleague or a delivery — it was an injured brown pelican. An Unexpected Visitor The pelican was standing at the door of […]
Coverage Details
Total News Sources35
Leaning Left3Leaning Right0Center29Last UpdatedBias Distribution91% Center
Bias Distribution
- 91% of the sources are Center
91% Center
C 91%
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