An injured pelican knocked on a NOAA lab door for help.
A brown pelican tangled in fishing line, with a treble hook in its wing and cactus spines in its foot, repeatedly tapped on NOAA’s Panama City Laboratory door. Biologists freed it in about 10 minutes, and it flew away.
THE PATIENT KNOCKED.
On September 8, staff at NOAA’s Panama City Laboratory answered tapping at the glass entrance and found an entangled brown pelican. They removed the hook and line in about 10 minutes and the bird flew away.
WHAT HAPPENED
On September 8, NOAA staff at the Southeast Fisheries Science Center’s Panama City Laboratory heard tapping at the glass entrance. A brown pelican was at the door, entangled in heavy fishing line, with a double-barbed treble hook embedded in its right wing and cactus spines in its left foot.
Staff restrained the bird, cut and removed the hook, unspooled several feet of line, and after about 10 minutes the pelican flew away.
NOAA published the account on September 15 and also used the story to remind anglers to recycle monofilament and not to cut the line when a seabird is hooked.
WHY THIS IS HOPESLOP
A wild bird effectively walked into a fisheries laboratory for help, and the people inside happened to have exactly the calm hands needed. Weird, specific, verifiable competence.
ORIGINAL SOURCENOAA FisheriesRead the original report
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