Pelicans: Why They Creep Me Out, Now...

I watch a lot of BBC... like, A LOT. And I have recently been watching the shows like "Planet Earth" and "Life" and nature documentaries, like that. Well, on one of the episodes of "Planet Earth", they were covering birds off the coast of South Africa. And I was like, "Great! I think pelicans are pretty cool. I'll learn something new... I will keep watching this." (Because I could listen to David Attenborough read a grocery list---his voice is awesome.) Well, I REALLY LEARNED SOMETHING NEW!!! SO here is the deal.....

The white pelicans featured in the episode were a species that are native to the Island of Dassen, which is just off the coast of South Africa. Their normal diet---and that of nearly every other pelican species---consists of fish and mollusks and other oceanic, creepy-crawly things they find on the beach. BUT. In the last few years, the fishing near Africa's southern coast has been booming. Anchovies and sardines are rampant, down there, and also in high demand. So, the fisherman have been trolling that area much more, than usual. Which is great for pizza places and like, the two other places that actually serve anchovies and sardines. *YUCK* But not so good for the wildlife indigenous to that region. So, they have had to adapt.

(SIDENOTE: I understand that the pelicans had to change their food habits for the sake of their survival... I get that, but that does not make the following tidbit of information any less disturbing.)

There is another small island not too far from Dassen called Malgas Island. This isle is the nesting ground for a different species of bird; the cape gannet. And they are in the same, dwindling-food-supply boat that the white pelicans are in. BUT the pelicans are much bigger than the gannets and use this size advantage in their favor. NOW FOR WHY PELICANS CREEP ME OUT!

The white pelicans fly over to the neighboring island of Malgas, where the cape gannets have nesting chicks. Now, one of the parental pair of gannets almost always stays behind with the chick, while the other goes out and hunts for food. ALMOST always. However, because their food resources are dwindling, sometimes the desperate parents will both go in search of fish. To double the odds of finding some. Sounds great, but it leaves the young, defenseless chick all alone in the nest. And the white pelicans know this.

So, the pelicans wander through the massive colonies of gannet nests, looking for a vulnerable chick whose parents are no where to be found. Once they find what they are looking for, they seize the opportunity: they grab up the chicks in their giant, flexible beaks, trapping them in their mouths. If the chick that they have snatched is small enough, they will LITERALLY SWALLOW THEM WHOLE. Once the cannibalistic pack of pelicans (say THAT five times fast...) have all found a gannet chick, they fly back to their island home of Dassen. Those of the pelicans that have a live gannet chick in their beaks let them fall out, to be beaten to death by the hungry and waiting pelican chicks. The pelicans who chose smaller gannet chicks and swallowed them, regurgitate them now. The trip between the islands is so short, however, that the poor thing is STILL ALIVE. Albeit it is partially digested, the gannet chick is in pain and still alive. But super weak, because it has literally been in the pelican's stomach acid. And then the white pelican babies proceed to rip the poor little thing apart. *GAG* They say desperate times call for desperate measures... But that seems like it is crossing a certain line, to me. That is the nature of nature, I suppose.

Well, there you have it, ladies and gentlemen.... You now know about the cannibalistic routines of the great white pelicans of the Dassen Island. And why they creep me out, now. And you will never forget it... LOL

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