This nice portrait shot was taken of a wild Brown Pelican who appears to have been suffering mild
Domoic Acid Poisoning. He was lethargic and a little slow to respond to people coming up close to
him, hence the nice shot. This poisoning was brought to my attention by a Fish and Game Warden who
was checking on seabird deaths in the area and he mentioned the symptoms that pelicans usually
show. This guy appeared to only be midly affected and flew to safety on the other side shortly
after this shot. The poison is a nuerotoxin and is the result of a natural algae bloom, (similar to
red tide) and after having been made aware of it I noticed several birds in a large rookeries
suffering.