Natural World :: Photo Of The Day and Natural History Commentary

Revised December 2007, now in PDF form: Guide to Photographing Pelicans in La Jolla.

A morning visit to the cliffs of La Jolla to photograph seabirds is on the list of many California photographers. Note I did not say “bird photographers". This location is appealing because good seabird photographs are easily achieved here, to the extent that shooters like myself with modest bird photography skills can have really productive sessions and in a single visit can generate a variety of strong images to add to their collections. Bird photographers come from throughout the country to train their lenses on these special birds and the scenic coastline of La Jolla, and for good reason. I was reminded of this recently when I happened to share the cliff top with a large workshop group led by one of the world’s top bird photographers. The intensity of their efforts was apparent, as was their satisfaction with the photographic opportunities before them. I photograph primarily ocean subjects, including coastal birds. Among seabirds I find the California race of the brown pelican particularly attractive and fun to watch, so when I am in La Jolla shooting it is the pelican that gets most of my attention.

Brown pelican in flight. The wingspan of the brown pelican is over 7 feet wide. The California race of the brown pelican holds endangered species status. In winter months, breeding males assume a dramatic plumage. La Jolla, California, USA. Image: 15371   Species: Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus Location: La Jolla, California, USA

The best time to visit the La Jolla cliffs is during the winter months, sunrise through mid-morning. The California brown pelican displays it most colorful plumage from late December through February, punctuated by a dramatic red throat pouch. Typically, winter mornings in San Diego offer clear skies and good sunlight conditions for photography, and if you are fortunate the wind will also be in your favor (i.e., offshore) when you are there. If you can manage to time your visit during the week you will probably share the small cliff top area with fewer people than if you visit on the weekend. As you will see, the fewer photographers occupying the limited space on the cliffs, the better. Upon arriving you may not find many pelicans on the cliffs, or none at all, or a whole crowd of them. Regardless, move slowly so that the birds that are there can become used to your presence and are not shocked into taking flight. Pelicans that are on the cliffs are there to rest, and if they are flushed they will likely settle down on another cliff and not return for quite a while, if at all.

Brown pelican. This large seabird has a wingspan over 7 feet wide. The California race of the brown pelican holds endangered species status, due largely to predation in the early 1900s and to decades of poor reproduction caused by DDT poisoning. In winter months, breeding males assume a dramatic plumage with brown neck, yellow and white head and bright red-orange throat pouch. La Jolla, California, USA. Image: 15123   Species: Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus Location: La Jolla, California, USA

The waxing light before sunrise can offer pleasing pastel-colored backgrounds again which to frame up gulls and pelicans. I often see photographers combining pastel-colored ambient light with a bit of strobe fill. This is a delicate balance of light and is made difficult by the need for high ISO (e.g., 400) to freeze the wings with shutter speed. However, the high ISO means you must not underexpose to avoid excessive shadow noise. Don’t be afraid to meter so that the clear dawn sky, with the sun at your back, is at +2 or more stops, decreasing gradually as the sun rises. A Better Beamer can be helpful to increase the throw (distance) of your flash, and a bracket serves to position the flash off the axis of the lens to avoid.

Direct sun will light the reach cliffs and birds about 30 minutes after sunrise proper, being blocked for a while by La Jolla’s Mount Soledad behind you. You will find that you can frame up the resting and preening pelicans that are standing on the cliff edges with attractive frontlighting – the type of lighting I prefer – by ensuring that your shadow is pointed directly at the birds. As in portrait photography, front lighting with a long lens serves to flatten and simplify the subject in a flattering way. Pelicans are contrasty, with coloration ranging from pure white and hot yellow and red to deep gray and black; side lighting is just too harsh for my taste.

Brown pelican preening. This large seabird has a wingspan over 7 feet wide. The California race of the brown pelican holds endangered species status, due largely to predation in the early 1900s and to decades of poor reproduction caused by DDT poisoning. La Jolla, California, USA. Image: 18209   Species: Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus Location: La Jolla, California, USA

Framing individual birds against a distant, out of focus, pleasing blue or green ocean backdrop is dead easy. The key to creating a defocused background is to place a relatively uncomplicated background at a great distance relative to the subject. In La Jolla the pelicans are 15-50′ (5-15m) from you while the background cliffs, waves or blue ocean range from a hundred yards to a mile away or more. With distance ratios like that it is possible to stop down to f/8 or f/11 to hold depth of field on the subject with a 500mm lens and still achieve a defocused background, making the subject’s edges appear especially sharp. Take advantage of soft background and leave negative space in some of your vertical compositions to allow for that cover shot that will allow you to retire early. Before the sun climbs too high it is possible to put a catchlight from the sun in your pelican’s eye, or to maximize the visibility of water droplets on a pelican that has just returned from the water. To do this, position your subject so that the sun is directly behind you and low. If the shadow of your lens lies just to the side of your subject, you are in the right spot.

Focus on the eye! I try to put critical focus on my subject’s eye in all of my wildlife photographs, and pelicans are no exception. The eye of an animal, especially in a portrait composition, is an anchor for the viewer. Invariably and naturally, when first viewing a photograph a viewer’s glance is immediately drawn to the subject’s eye. For this reason the eye must be tack sharp and well-placed. Once that is achieved, use what depth of field is available (given the available light and choice of shutter speed and ISO) to try for sharp chest, head and neck details, knowing that depth of field with super-telephotos is notoriously small and that some near or far detail may be a bit soft.

Brown pelican in flight. The wingspan of the brown pelican is over 7 feet wide. The California race of the brown pelican holds endangered species status. In winter months, breeding males assume a dramatic plumage. La Jolla, California, USA. Image: 15122   Species: Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus Location: La Jolla, California, USA

For best flight shots I hope for a clear horizon and offshore morning breezes, so that the pelicans approach the cliffs upwind and are frontlit as they fly directly toward the lens. In this way their faces and undersides are illuminated as they spread those huge wings to soar and land. It is tempting to shoot frames as they fly past, and I have certainly shot my share of those. But back at the editing table I find that in nearly every case side lighting produces an image that is too harsh and gets tossed. If you do not have offshores don’t despair; often upon approach to the cliffs the pelicans will wheel and make a second pass before deciding where to set down, especially if the cliff is already crowded with pelicans or people. Take advantage of these loops to obtain the angle you need.

When shooting pelicans in flight in La Jolla the background will quickly change from bright sky to deep blue ocean water, whitewash and waves to brown sandstone cliffs. These situations will fool your light meter and, if you are shooting in one of the automatic modes, will often produce blown head and wing highlights or an underexposed bird. Metering with a handheld incident meter, or using your in-camera spot meter on a neutral area such as a grey guana-covered rock, is recommended. In a pinch I will set my exposure so that the palm of my (caucasian) hand is at +1.

California brown pelican spreads its wings wide as it slows before landing on seacliffs. La Jolla, California, USA. Image: 18228   Species: Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus Location: La Jolla, California, USA

Pelicans brake dramatically as they land, comically so. If you are standing back on the top of the cliffs and hoping to get a shot of a pelican with wings spread wide coming straight at you, you may want to step forward a bit and aim for the lower cliffs. I find the vantage point shooting down at the lower cliffs works better, since the pelicans landing there are rising up off the water at an angle that takes them straight at you and with undersides well illuminated. Also, compared to the pelicans that just suddenly appear from below the edge of the top cliffs, those landing on the lower cliffs are easier to track and focus as they approach over the water.

Brown pelican in flight. The wingspan of the brown pelican is over 7 feet wide. Long exposure shows motion as a blur. The California race of the brown pelican holds endangered species status. In winter months, breeding males assume a dramatic plumage. La Jolla, California, USA. Image: 15134   Species: Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus Location: La Jolla, California, USA

I have had a few mornings where the light is terrible. Overcast, spotty, drab. This is more typical of San Diego coastal mornings in May, June and July but it does happen in winter too. Don’t let it spoil your shooting. Just drop the ISO, set your aperature to f/16 or f/22 and shoot pan-blurs. Hopefully you will get a few where the head of the pelican is sharp and the wings and ocean background are blurry. The keeper rate is low but the results can be worth it.

Brown pelican head throw. During a bill throw, the pelican arches its neck back, lifting its large bill upward and stretching its throat pouch. La Jolla, California, USA. Image: 15124   Species: Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus Location: La Jolla, California, USA

Head throws, where your pelican stretches its throat and lifts it bill straight up in the air, are the most distinctive and amusing behaviors among these birds. It seems that most of the photographers I’ve talked with at the cliffs are keen to get a good shot of a pelican’s head throw. It’s not too hard, you’ll get it if you are willing to put in some time and stand ready. Any pelican that is standing and has its eyes open is a good candidate to throw its head back. I’ve seen a single individual do it five or six times in the course of just a few minutes. Head throws are as contagious as sneezes among a group of pelicans. If you see one do it be ready for his neighbor to do it too. Take a few test frames and check your histograms for blinkies ahead of time, so that it is simply a matter of framing it up when you see the pelican’s head drop down and back first, before being swung straight up in the air. Heck, with today’s ultra-fast motor drives and focusing systems, the camera practically takes the photo for you. Think about the right focal length for where you are standing. You’ll need to be wide enough to contain about twice the height of a standing pelican to include the entire bird when it is tossing its bill up.

Brown pelican head throw. During a bill throw, the pelican arches its neck back, lifting its large bill upward and stretching its throat pouch. La Jolla, California, USA. Image: 18044   Species: Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus Location: La Jolla, California, USA

Brown pelican. This large seabird has a wingspan over 7 feet wide. The California race of the brown pelican holds endangered species status, due largely to predation in the early 1900s and to decades of poor reproduction caused by DDT poisoning. In winter months, breeding males assume a dramatic plumage with brown neck, yellow and white head and bright red-orange throat pouch. La Jolla, California, USA. Image: 15153   Species: Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus Location: La Jolla, California, USA

Don’t forget to shoot some details of the birds, but don’t approach them so closely that you spook them off to do so …

California brown pelicans fly in formation. La Jolla, California, USA. Image: 18232   Species: Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus Location: La Jolla, California, USA

Brown pelicans rest and preen on seacliffs above the ocean, La Jolla, California. In winter months, breeding males assume a dramatic plumage with brown neck, yellow and white head and bright red-orange throat pouch. La Jolla, California, USA. Image: 18261   Species: Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus Location: La Jolla, California, USA

… and get some frames of the groups, if you can line them up.

Brown pelican in flight. The wingspan of the brown pelican is over 7 feet wide. The California race of the brown pelican holds endangered species status. In winter months, breeding males assume a dramatic plumage. La Jolla, California, USA. Image: 15125   Species: Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus Location: La Jolla, California, USA

The cliffs are increasingly crowded with photographers (and visitors) each winter. When I would visit the cliffs after swimming the cove in the 80’s, I never saw another photographer there. In the 90’s there would be a few, and now it seems photographers, alone or in groups, are there most weekend mornings December through March. This is probably a good thing, as these birds are deserving of our appreciation, and for the most part the behavior of photographers alongside whom I have shot at the cliffs has been exemplary and respectful of these special birds. However, if the birds are disturbed and fly off, the photo opportunities for everyone are lessened (not to mention the the disruption that the birds experience). I’ve seen a few people flush the entire flock, only to watch as all the departing birds settled on another cliff for the rest of the morning. If you flush the flock you are certain to raise the ire of the others sharing the cliff with you!

You’ll want the longest lens you own for portraits and head throws. Some prefer to use shorter focal lengths and zooms (70-200, 100-400) for flight shots. Most of the better photos I have made the last two years at the cliffs were taken with a Canon 1Ds Mark II and 500 f/4 IS, on a Gitzo tripod with a Wimberley II head. The perspective-crunching nature of a 500mm or 600mm, combined with the defocused background, is a combination I just love. A 70-200 f/2.8 or 300 f/2.8 with a 1DIIN is a good combo too, but I just don’t want to give up the pixels of the 1DsII or the crazy sharpness of the Canon 500 f/4. Keep in mind that if there are onshore breezes and surf, you may get some spray on your gear even while you are well atop the cliffs. Consider bringing a towel in your hip sack just in case. Since I often shoot around surf I carry a full-length Aquatech spray cover for my camera and lens.

Had enough after a few hours at the cliffs? I should mention that in addition to brown pelicans I have photographed gray whales, several species of cormorant, gull and tern, at least one osprey and a few great blue herons at the La Jolla cliffs. If you have seen enough of them too and you are ready to move on, there are a few fun places nearby you might want to consider. If there are waves, walking down the hill to the large grass park at La Jolla Cove may give you opportunities to shoot pelicans at water level flying above and in front of the waves, a composition that would be difficult to line up at the cliffs. You’ll want to shoot from the sidewalk at the edge of the park, on the low bluff just above the waves. Children’s Pool (a pocket cove with seawall) is only a half mile south, just a two-minute drive, and your longer lens is perfect to photograph the harbor seals there. Walk down to the sand and shoot low for the most appealing perspective of the seals. The sun reaches the seals at Children’s Pool later in the morning than it does the pelicans at the cliffs, so you can generally shoot both spots in good light in winter months. To the north, close enough that you can see both from the cliffs, lie Stephen Birch SIO Aquarium (10 minutes) and Torrey Pines State Reserve (20 minutes).

A few handy links:

La Jolla Shores web cam (cliffs visible in the distance), courtesy Beach and Tennis Club

Google map showing cliffs, Prospect Blvd. and Coast Blvd.

Scripps Pier web cam (not very helpful)

Surfline.com’s Scripps Pier surf cam, including tides, sunrise/set – to see what the skies are like at the cliffs.

I had an interesting conversation with Nicole Nasby Lucas of the Pfleger Institute of Environmental Research yesterday. Ms. Lucas and PIER co-founder Michael Domeier PhD have been conducting a capture/recapture study on great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) at Guadalupe Island, Mexico, building a database of identification photos and video of white sharks that inhabit the island. To date PIER has 73 individual sharks in their database, and the count increases each season. PIER also places a small number of satellite tags on Guadalupe white sharks to learn where they are going once they leave the island. Interestingly, some of the sharks tagged at Guadalupe Island swim all the way to the Hawaiian islands, including two of the sharks tagged during the most recent season. By observing the white sharks in this way, the PIER researchers are able to collect evidence about how the sharks utilize the island habitat and their migrations to and from the island.

I have had the good fortune of naming five of the PIER sharks by virtue of being the first photographer to capture each of them on film. The three females are named after my two daughters and my mother (you don’t think I am stupid enough to name one after my wife do you?). The two males are named after the notorious bachelors on Sex in the City: Big and The Russian.

In this case Ms. Lucas was able to link the right side and left side photographs by finding a common element between them: a notched tip on the left side ventral fin. Here she is, Guadalupe Island great white shark #57, “Leslie":

For more information about PIER’s white shark research at Guadalupe Island, how the identification process works and what scientific publications have resulted from the study, visit the PIER website and see the online catalog.

Keywords: great white shark photos, Carcharodon carcharias photos, Pfleger Institute of Environmental Research

Click here to see all of our elephant seal photographs from Piedras Blancas.

We have been visiting the Piedras Blancas rookery of northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris) since early 1991, when it was newly colonized by animals from the San Miguel, San Nicholas and Ano Nuevo rookeries, and have watched it grow to its current size. We have had the good fortune to witness many marvelous animal behavior spectacles in our travels, and the breeding activities at the Piedras Blancas colony rank right up there with the finest wildlife viewing anywhere in the world, especially now that the colony is so large. The fact that it is a short drive from San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay, only yards from Highway One, and affords one a visit to Big Sur or Hearst Castle in the same day, make it really special.

Elephant seals are the largest of pinnipeds, reaching 16 feet in length and 2.5 tons. The southern elephant seal is just slightly larger than the northern species. They are phocids, true seals, characterized by the lack of external ear flap and moving on the beach by flopping along on its belly. They propel themselves in the water with their hind flippers and use their foreflippers primarily for steering and crude dexterity. The elephant seal is notably characterized by its enormous proboscis (enlarged nose), which in adult males grows about a foot in length and hangs over its mouth. Adult elephant seals generally live to about 12 years. Mortality is high among young elephant seals, due to trampling and separation while young, and due to the rigors of weaning and learning to survive independently. The only significant predation upon elephant seals is by great white sharks and orca (killer whales).

Range. Northern elephant seals range from the Gulf of Alaska and the Aleutian islands south through California and into Baja California. In general they are oceanic animals, spending 90% of their lives in the ocean, living up to 5000 miles offshore and diving to depths in excess of 5000 feet in pursuit of deep water prey such as squid and bottom fish, generally spending only 4-5 minutes at the surface between foraging dives. Males, who have higher nutritional needs than females to sustain the several month fast they maintain during the breeding season, forage closer to shore along the continental shelf and have a more varied diet than the females to account for it. Females tend to forage beyond the edge of the continental shelf in deeper water. They are one of nature’s champion divers, exceeded perhaps only by the sperm whale.

History of the Northern Elephant Seal. Elephant seals were hunted heavily in the 1800’s for their fatty blubber which was rendered into high quality oil for machinery, lamp oil and paint. They were driven onto beaches and beaten. By the late 1880’s they were nearly extinct, so much so that sealers could no longer locate them and switched to hunting other species. A small holdout colony at remote Guadalupe Island off Baja California, Mexico remained, from which all northern elephant seals today are descended. (A similar survival situation was observed in Guadalupe fur seals, whose numbers were even fewer and who today are recovering but at a slower pace.) This genetic bottleneck is a concern since the entire population has only the genetic variation (and potential weaknesses) of a few dozen animals. The species is recovering, growing about 6% each year and moving northward to reoccupy historical colonies and create new ones along the Pacific coast of the United States. It is estimated that their population is now between 120,000 and 150,000 individuals.

History of the Piedras Blancas Colony of Elephant Seals. Historically, elephant seals have not colonized the Piedras Blancas coast, so the formation of this significant rookery is a relatively new and notable development. The growth of the Piedras Blancas rookery has been quite strong, to the point where it now stretches for almost four miles from its northernmost to southernmost points and hosts over 15,000 northern elephant seals during the course of the year. It began in late 1990 when a few dozen elephant seals were observed on the brown sand beach south of the Piedras Blancas lighthouse. The following spring, several hundred were observed to come ashore for their annual molt. It is felt that these animals colonized the Piedras Blancas coast because of overcrowding and failure to reproduce successfully at other locations. Remember, the northern elephant seal population has been on a steady increase since it was nearly wiped out in the late 1800’s, so it is natural for existing colonies to exceed their capacity and for new colonies to arise.

During the mid-1990’s, individual elephant seals had begun to move up the bluffs and onto nearby Highway One, creating a traffic hazard. Visitors would pull off the road for a better view of the elephant seals, causing a parking problem and trampling the vegetation of the coastal bluffs and sand dunes. In recent years Highway One has been realigned away from the elephant seals, parking has been made available to visitors, and through the generous work of the Friends of the Elephant Seal a large boardwalk and interpretive exhibit was built offering superb viewing of the elephant seals just yards away. Most recently, a land trade was made between the Hearst Ranch and the State of California to place sensitive lands west of Highway One in public trust, including the entire Piedras Blancas elephant seal colony.

Seasons of the Northern Elephant Seal. Although Northern elephant seals are oceanic animals and as individuals spend the majority of their life at sea, as a population elephant seals utilize the Piedras Blancas colony nearly year round. There are two principal reasons elephant seals come ashore: molting (shedding their fur coat) and birthing/breeding. From April through August the elephant seals return to shore to molt, with females and juveniles molting first followed by subadult males and finally adult males. By August they are gone, back at sea with a new coat of a fur. In fall, immature animals will haul out to rest, younger animals appearing in September and older animals later. However, in general these immature elephant seals, typically weaners, yearlings and subadults, do not stay into the breeding season, generally leaving by late November to make way for the older animals.

Breeding. Elephant seals are polygynous, meaning that males will attempt to have more than one female mate at a time. Sexually mature male elephant seals return to the colony in late November and December. These include the huge beachmasters, up to 16 feet long and 2.5 tons, powerful individuals who will compete among themselves to establish beachhold territories for harems of females. Bull elephant seals will rear up, bellow and try to intimidate one another. Often one of the bulls will back down or move out of the territory, and they both resume resting. However, if neither backs down they will approach each other and rip into each other with massive, savage bites. These spectacles are fierce and brutal battles, resulting in massive scarring of the bull elephant chest to the point that you can easily identify a beachmaster bull elephant seal by its bloody and scarred neck and chest. Ultimately, each of the victorious bulls will have established a territory within which he may assemble a harem of 30-40 females. The males will fast during the breeding season, remaining ashore to protect their territory, and will attempt to conserve energy by not fighting whenever it is politically possible. Competition continues through the season while the sexually mature male elephant seals are in residence, ebbing and flowing with natural shifts in territory and harem composition and with newcomers displacing tired beachmasters if the opportunity presents itself.

Birthing and Pups. In December females return to the colony and form harems around the males. Elephant seals are highly sexually dimorphic, meaning the males and females differ in size considerably. Female elephant seals are much smaller than the males, up to 10 feet in length and weighing one ton. Generally within five days of their arrival at the colony from eight months at sea, the females give birth to a single pup that they have been carrying since the previous breeding season. Births are usually first observed in late December and continue increasingly through February, peaking near mid-February. Often seagulls will be the first to detect a new birth, flocking to the birth to feast on the discarded placenta. Vocal bonding between the pup and mother is critical and takes place immediately as this is the only certain way the mother and pup can identify one another if they are separated, which is a common occurrence on a crowded beach and beside 5000 pound males that do not hesitate to trample and push the pups aside while mating or fighting. Orphaned pups are commonly observed, usually through separation with their mothers or by virtue of a mother than is insufficiently mature to understand how to care for its pup. Some mothers who have lost their pup will attempt to steal another female’s pup. Some mothers will also tolerate an orphaned pup nursing, although this may actually doom both pups as it is thought that a mother only has enough milk supply to properly nourish a single pup each season, since for each pound that a pup gains its mother will have lost two. It is estimated that about 3500 pups were born at the Piedras Blancas rookery in 2005. Pups weigh up to 75 lbs. at birth and may be four feet long. When they are first born they carry a striking dark black, smooth coat which will gradually fade to brown as the pup matures.

Weaning. Females nurse their pups on fat-rich milk for only 28 days. Shortly before she weans her pup, the female will mate with one or more of the mature bull elephant seals. She will then return to the ocean leaving the pup to fend for itself. At this point the 300 pound pup is called a weaner and its existence is quite precarious. It must learn to swim and forage for itself, living off its fat reserves as it does so. For two months a weaner will remain at the rookery, gradually gaining swimming and foraging skills. If it is successful and survives, it will adopt a diet of squid, fish, rays and small sharks.

See our Guide to Photographing Pelicans in La Jolla.

Bird photography seems like a rather sendentary pursuit. Compared to photographing tiger sharks or ocean sunfish, there is not much action during a bird photo shoot; what activity there is consists mostly of fooling with the tripod, applying sunscreen and chatting about equipment, travel, the quality of the light and where to get coffee once the birds have flown. Now that I have insulted a large number of photographers out there, let me add that good bird photography is in reality a hideously difficult pursuit. The masters of bird photography are some of the most skilled photographers around, with the patience of Job. Since I dive with seabirds and often have fine opportunities to observe them in and under the water, photography of seabirds in particular holds a certain appeal and I do pursue it from time to time. However, there is really only one bird that I have been able to photograph well, primarily because it is big, slow and I can get close to it: the pelican. Lately I have been testing the sharpness of a new 500mm lens, and since the surf has been flat the last few weeks my focus has had to shift from waves to seabirds (and elephant seals, more on that soon). In particular, I’ve been out shooting California brown pelicans in La Jolla. These birds are magnificient flyers found in a beautiful setting (La Jolla is the jewel of San Diego), have photogenic details, and honestly acquiring good photos of them is quite simple for any halfway experienced wildlife photographer.

Brown pelican in flight. The wingspan of the brown pelican is over 7 feet wide. The California race of the brown pelican holds endangered species status. In winter months, breeding males assume a dramatic plumage. La Jolla, California, USA. Image: 15122   Species: Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus	Brown pelican. This large seabird has a wingspan over 7 feet wide. The California race of the brown pelican holds endangered species status, due largely to predation in the early 1900s and to decades of poor reproduction caused by DDT poisoning. In winter months, breeding males assume a dramatic plumage with brown neck, yellow and white head and bright red-orange throat pouch. La Jolla, California, USA. Image: 15123   Species: Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus	Brown pelican head throw. During a bill throw, the pelican arches its neck back, lifting its large bill upward and stretching its throat pouch. La Jolla, California, USA. Image: 15124   Species: Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus

La Jolla, California is a superb location to observe and photograph the California race of the brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis californicus). The cliffs above the La Jolla caves, also known as Goldfish Point, are currently an established resting place for brown pelicans. In the 80’s and 90’s when I would visit La Jolla for a morning dive or swim but found the water conditions not to my liking, I would instead pay the pelicans a visit and spend time photographing them. In those days I would be the only person watching them, to the point that if I was patient and moved carefully I would eventually find myself among them, surrounded, with great ops using only an 80-200mm lens. In fact, I never encountered another photographer. These days, however, the word is apparently out on this opportunity among the bird lovers, since it is now typical to find groups of serious bird photographers lined up with huge lenses trained on the birds, some of which appear to be workshops or photography classes. Winter is a particularly good time to photograph brown pelicans as the males assume their breeding plumage: a striking dark brown neck to contrast with white and yellow head feathers and deep red-orange throat pouch below the bill. Mornings work well, since the pelicans can be photographed in flight, arriving from their morning flights to land on the rock, as well as resting and preening on the guano-covered knobs of rock at the top of the cliffs.

Brown pelican in flight. The wingspan of the brown pelican is over 7 feet wide. The California race of the brown pelican holds endangered species status. In winter months, breeding males assume a dramatic plumage. La Jolla, California, USA. Image: 15125   Species: Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus	Brown pelican. This large seabird has a wingspan over 7 feet wide. The California race of the brown pelican holds endangered species status, due largely to predation in the early 1900s and to decades of poor reproduction caused by DDT poisoning. In winter months, breeding males assume a dramatic plumage with brown neck, yellow and white head and bright red-orange throat pouch. La Jolla, California, USA. Image: 15128   Species: Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus	Brown pelican in flight. The wingspan of the brown pelican is over 7 feet wide. Long exposure shows motion as a blur. The California race of the brown pelican holds endangered species status. In winter months, breeding males assume a dramatic plumage. La Jolla, California, USA. Image: 15134   Species: Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus

Brown pelicans inhabit coastal areas of North and South America, frequenting lagoons, sand flats, cliffs, marinas, piers and waterfronts. While they were classified as endangered throughout their range in 1970, the Atlantic coast population status was no longer considered endangered by 1985 (although the other regions are still.) Brown pelicans are rarely seen inland. The brown pelican is a large bird, reaching 4 ft. in length, weighs about 9 lbs. and has a wingspan over 7 ft. It is characterized by an enormous bill, longer than its head. Pelicans are superb divers, plummeting into the sea to grasp mouthfuls of small fish, requiring about 4 lbs. of fish each day to thrive. The skin pouch suspended from the lower bill holds as much as 3 gallons of water, and is used to trap and hold prey until the water can be released through the side of the mouth, at which time the bill is tipped up and the prey is swallowed. (The skin pouch also offers a way for the pelican to thermoregulate, in other words, cool itself during hot spells.) It should be noted that scientific studies show that pelicans do not compete with commercial fishing interests, in fact pelicans pursue species of fish not desired by the commercial fishing industry.

Brown pelican in flight. The wingspan of the brown pelican is over 7 feet wide. The California race of the brown pelican holds endangered species status. In winter months, breeding males assume a dramatic plumage. La Jolla, California, USA. Image: 15139   Species: Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus	Brown pelican. This large seabird has a wingspan over 7 feet wide. The California race of the brown pelican holds endangered species status, due largely to predation in the early 1900s and to decades of poor reproduction caused by DDT poisoning. In winter months, breeding males assume a dramatic plumage with brown neck, yellow and white head and bright red-orange throat pouch. La Jolla, California, USA. Image: 15140   Species: Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus	Brown pelican in flight. The wingspan of the brown pelican is over 7 feet wide. The California race of the brown pelican holds endangered species status. In winter months, breeding males assume a dramatic plumage. La Jolla, California, USA. Image: 15148   Species: Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus

Socially, brown pelicans roost together (male and female) and fly in dramatic single file or V formations, hunting during the day. Brown pelicans often perform an odd behaviour known as a head-throw, in which they crank their large bill up and backward, stretching out the skin pouch and straightening their neck. It looks quite painful. Brown pelicans create low, broad nests in which the females will lay 2-3 eggs each year. (I have not observed nests atop the La Jolla cliffs, probably due to human presence, but have seen many nests in neighboring islands and coastal areas of Baja California just to the south.) In the 1960’s, brown pelican populations dropped precariously due to DDT and other toxic pesticides that reached the pelicans through coastal runoff that was then absorbed through the food chain by plankton and small teleost fishes. The DDT caused pelican eggs to be so thin that the young would not survive. (Other bird species were affected by DDT in the same way.)

Brown pelican in flight. The wingspan of the brown pelican is over 7 feet wide. Long exposure shows motion as a blur. The California race of the brown pelican holds endangered species status. In winter months, breeding males assume a dramatic plumage. La Jolla, California, USA. Image: 15136   Species: Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus	Brown pelican in flight. The wingspan of the brown pelican is over 7 feet wide. The California race of the brown pelican holds endangered species status. In winter months, breeding males assume a dramatic plumage. La Jolla, California, USA. Image: 15126   Species: Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus	Brown pelican head throw. During a bill throw, the pelican arches its neck back, lifting its large bill upward and stretching its throat pouch. La Jolla, California, USA. Image: 15131   Species: Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus

There are many web pages about brown pelicans, but I think the Audobon one is the most informative.

Part I Part II

Brown booby, Rose Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, American Samoa. Image: 00914   Species: Sula leucogaster	White (or fairy) tern, Rose Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, American Samoa. Image: 00872   Species: Gygis alba	Brown boobies, Rose Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, American Samoa. Image: 00908   Species: Sula leucogaster

Since we originally joined the science team to assist with underwater surveys of the wreck site, neither of us was prepared for what we would witness during our visits ashore, a spectacle of wildlife that emphasizes the critical importance of the atoll for nesting and roosting seabirds. While essentially only twenty acres of compacted coral rubble, tiny Rose Island manages to support a small forest of rare Pisonia trees and a rich assemblage of wheeling, diving, nesting, hatching and crying seabirds. Chicks and eggs seem to be under every bush and tree while juveniles walk openly about, fearless. Inquisitive boobies – red-footed, masked and brown – hover above the shoreline in large groups, crying incessantly. Brown noddies and sooty terns flush from the cover of Pisonia, soon to return to their stumbling chicks and nests laid on the barren coral rubble. Red-throated frigate birds hover high above, sky-borne pirates poised to steal a lesser bird’s catch. Diminutive white terns gracefully flutter about among the trees, pure alabaster but for their large black eyes and exotic blue beaks – could there be more delicate and enchanting creatures?

Such magical visits ashore afforded us time not only to intimately observe these captivating and naïve birds but also to contemplate a sobering thought that is at the heart of our team’s work at Rose Atoll: This solitary speck of land atop the atoll, cradling a unique abundance of life, is nothing more than a fragile rubble aggregate, subject to the whim of tides and currents that may have already begun to change in the wake of the grounding.

Paul W. Gabrielson, Ph.D., collecting algae and coral samples, Rose Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, American Samoa. Image: 00824	Wreck of F/V Jin Shiang Fa, Rose Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, American Samoa. Image: 00709	Debris from wreck of F/V Jin Shiang Fa, lagoon talus slope, Rose Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, American Samoa. Image: 00789

Rose Atoll’s coralline algae reefs have managed to withstand natural disturbances such as hurricanes, varying salinity and changes in sea level. Can they also adapt to the unnatural changes caused by the Jin Shiang Fa? Of greatest concern is the death of the slow-growing, reef-building coralline algae through local structural reef injury and widespread toxin-induced die-off and replacement. The disappearance of these coralline algae may lead to long-term bioerosion that ultimately weakens the reef, altering current patterns and threatening the existence of Rose Island, its forest and its avian inhabitants.

Rose Atoll’s misfortune may ultimately serve to illustrate how delicate the link is between reef welfare and the existence of remote seabird and turtle nesting sites, and how vulnerable such ecosystems are worldwide. Groundings such as that of the Jin Shiang Fa injure tropical reefs and atolls, yet few such incidents occur in countries with the means and interest to carry out damage assessments, sponsor follow-up research efforts, or attempt to mitigate injury to the reef. By chance, had the Jin Shiang Fa ran aground elsewhere, would anyone have heard about it?

Part I

Debris, wreck of F/V Jin Shiang Fa, Rose Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, American Samoa. Image: 00807	Debris, wreck of F/V Jin Shiang Fa, Rose Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, American Samoa. Image: 00827	Propellor and debris, wreck of F/V Jin Shiang Fa, Rose Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, American Samoa. Image: 00810

Structural reef injury to the southwest arm of the atoll was extensive. The Jin Shiang Fa hit the reef obliquely, plowing a deep trench through several reef spurs before coming to rest hard aground. Debris washed overboard, including fishing line, nets, garbage and plastics, snagging on coral heads at the wreck site and in the lagoon. For months, major hull sections remained perched on the reef ledge against the forereef and gradually broke apart in pounding waves, slamming into the forereef wall and carving deep gouges in the brittle coralline reef structure before being towed off the ledge and dumped into deep water by a salvage tug. Remaining are many fragments of the boat that may never be removed. Mangled refrigeration pipes and balls of line are wedged in the reef ledge and the forereef wall. Thirty-foot long hull plates, boiler tanks and much of the vessel’s superstructure slid in pieces down the outer slope of the atoll, leaving behind a swath of crushed reef. In 1994 many of these massive fragments returned to the shallow reef ledge, lifted by hurricane waves, while some pieces came to rest on the reef flat or all the way into the lagoon. Virtually all of the hull debris is still subject to wave movement and continues to erode and weaken the protective forereef, sending a smothering layer of sand up onto the reef flat.

Changes to the atoll precipitated by the release of toxic chemicals may ultimately prove to be more devastating than the grounding itself. The Jin Shiang Fa’s fuel tanks broke open along with a refrigeration system, spilling approximately 100,000 gallons of diesel, 500 gallons of lube oil and 2,500 pounds of ammonia that eventually spread over portions of the outer reef, reef flat, lagoon and ava. A survey conducted two weeks after the grounding, while the vessel was still leaking oil, found evidence of extensive die-off of reef invertebrates (including Tridacna clams and Echinometra urchins) and major reef-building coralline algae (Lithophyllum and Porolithon). Five months later, most of the southwest reef was covered with invasive filamentous cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) which overgrew the reef-building coralline algae. These patches of cyanobacteria marked areas of stressed or dead coralline algae since, for healthy coralline algae, growth occurs just below a thin surface layer that is constantly sloughed off as a natural defense.

Paul W. Gabrielson, Ph.D., collecting algae and coral samples, Rose Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, American Samoa. Image: 00824	Debris from wreck of F/V Jin Shiang Fa, Lagoon at Rose Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, American Samoa. Image: 00793	Debris, wreck of F/V Jin Shiang Fa, Rose Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, American Samoa. Image: 00814

Our survey dives at Rose Atoll were superb. Along the outer reef we could constantly hear the vocalizations of the South Pacific humpbacks that swam near us several times. Well away from the wreck site, vast tracts of pastel pink coralline algae and clear water dominate the underwater landscape, a canvas across which is painted a menagerie of wary gray and black-tip reef sharks, swirling blue-spotted jacks and parrotfish schooling by the hundreds. Near the ava sea turtles cruise the reef, soon to mate in the lagoon and nest on either Rose Island or a small sandbar generously named Sand Island. Sixty-foot coralline towers in the lagoon are home to dense communities of Tridacna clams and strange clusters of procreating nudibranchs.

Yet each dive brought us a measure of dismay to temper our sense of wonder. The physical damage from the Jin Shiang Fa is stunning and contrasts harshly with the sections of pristine reef that we had seen earlier. A deep hull scar leads directly to the grounding site where the engine block and propellers, massive enough to resist hurricane waves, sit in the deep bowls that they have gouged out of the shallow reef ledge. Along the forereef and ledge, thick coralline algae structures lie broken underneath the pipes, hull plating and antenna tower that litter the wreck site. Coral heads are wrapped in balls of fishing line replete with steel hooks poised to snag passersby. Chinese videotapes, hip waders, plastic tarps, storm boots and large metal tanks are spread across the sandy floor and the coral rubble slope inside the lagoon.

Most troubling were our reef flat observations. It seemed that the chemical spill injured the coralline algae, as well as the community of invertebrates that normally graze on cyanobacteria, enough to unnaturally trigger a succession of species that are replacing or smothering the reef-building Porolithon. Cyanobacteria, although ephemeral, was first to recruit and overgrow the reef flat. By our visit it had given way to the finely-branched, non-reef-building coralline alga Jania, which had spread to include about one-third of the entire reef flat, well beyond the wreck site. We found that, although earlier aerial surveys provided useful information on the gross effects of the ship wreck, ground-based and underwater field work is the best way to investigate the temporal dynamics of this tragedy. Unfortunately the remote location of Rose Atoll, which so long kept it pristine, may now hamper scientists who try to monitor its future.

Continued…

by Phillip Colla and Harrison “Skip” Stubbs, Ph.D.

This article originally appeared in the Spring 1997 issue of Ocean Realm magazine.

In August 1995 a thirteen-member inter-agency scientific team visited Rose Atoll National Wildlife Refuge to assess injury caused by the 1993 grounding of a Taiwanese fishing vessel.

While the specific injuries to Rose Atoll are unique and the coralline algae composition of the atoll is uncommon, many other isolated atolls worldwide face similar dangers. It is their remote nature, and the unique assemblages of life that they often support, that make such atolls special. Yet their isolation also means that little, if any, enforcement to protect them from damage by fishing and shipping activities exists.

The authors collected photographic and videotape evidence in support of litigation and ongoing injury assessment and research efforts. Rose Atoll NWR is jointly managed by the United States and American Samoa governments.

Rose Islet. Rose Atoll National Wildlife Sanctuary, American Samoa, USA. Image: 00839	Rose islet and Pisonia trees. Rose Atoll National Wildlife Sanctuary, American Samoa, USA. Image: 00830

Remote, tiny and unprotected, Rose Atoll stands alone at the eastern extreme of the Samoan archipelago, 14 degrees south of the equator and southernmost among National Wildlife Refuges. Among the world’s smallest and most pristine atolls, Rose is a nearly square reef surrounding an azure lagoon dotted with coralline bommie towers. Tiny Ro