A group of South Carolina scientists are calling on Gulf Coast residents and visitors to help track Brown Pelicans in a project designed to inform oil and gas industry developments in the region.

Rochelle Streker, a Clemson graduate student and research assistant, spent the '17 breeding season in and around Mobile Bay, Ala., collecting data on brown pelicans and tagging chicks with leg bands to track their movement after leaving the nest. Pelicans were also tagged in '14 and '15 - there are a total of 750. The green and blue plastic color bands are on the left leg and can be seen by the naked eye or with binoculars.

To do the needed tracking, Clemson's team needs the public's help with a citizen science opportunity to https://projectpelican.weebly.com/report-your-observation.html">report sightings of the banded pelicans, which will help make a real-world impact on the birds and the coastal environment they call home.

The work is part of a larger project funded by a $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) that began in 2012. Research efforts will also contribute to a larger effort, the Gulf of Mexico Avian Monitoring Network (GoMAMN), which aims to develop long-term monitoring plans for bird species of concern to provide relevant data to the restoration management community.


Learn more about the project at: http://newsstand.clemson.edu/mediarelations/clemson-researchers-seek-publics-help-in-spotting-gulf-pelicans/

Tara Romanella
Communications Strategist │University Relations
tromane@clemson.edu │ 864.656.0382 (o) │ 310.869.5530 (c)