Pets

Pelicans Breed For First Time In Chesapeake

DORCHESTER COUNTY, Md. (WJZ) ― For the first time in recorded history, pelicans are breeding in the Chesapeake, and their numbers are quickly growing.

As Alex DeMetrick reports, biologists see it as a positive sign for pelicans, and a growing sign of global warming.

The pelicans are appearing in great numbers in what is left of the vanishing Holland Island in Dorchester County. 

A species that in recorded history has never bred in the bay before, is having plenty of chicks now.

"There's no record of things like John Smith's journal of pelicans in the Chesapeake Bay area at all. So they're new to this area," said Dave Brinker.

Brinker, a biologist with the Department of Natural Resources, first discovered a handful of nesting pelicans in 1987.

"They're doing real well," said Brinker.  "They produce almost two young pair every summer.  We had 1,000 breeding pair out here that produced almost 2,000 young."

The banning of DDT is the main reason pelicans are thriving.  The pesticide once poisoned fish, which poisoned pelicans.

But moving north to breed may be the result of global warming.  As the climate warms, sea level rises, speeding up erosion.  Only a single house remains where a community once lived on Holland Island.

The pelicans spend months on Holland Island, arriving in late April to breed.  They begin flying south in the next few weeks. 

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