During the early 1960's the Eastern Brown pelican in Louisiana became almost extinct because of pesticides, namely DDT. It was the same time that Rachal Carson wrote the book "The Silent Spring" about chemicals killing birds, bees and butterflies.
With extensive work by a handful of people the pelican population was brought back and coastal islands were planted especially as places for the pelicans to nest and reproduce. Only two months ago was the Louisiana pelican taken off the endangered species list because the population had come back so well.
The horrific oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20 that still continues to this minute pouring billions of gallons of oil into the waters has now reached the islands where our pelicans are nesting. The eggs in the nests have been coated with oil. The parents who dive in the waters to get food for their babies are coated with oil and can no longer fly and have died and are dying. The babies in the nests are dying or have died.
I could post photos of the oil-covered pelicans but it is breaking my heart and I sob whenever I see it or think of it. Man's inhumanity to life on this earth because of greediness is more than the human soul can bear.
A heartbreaking man-made disaster on the part of BP (British Petroleum) and one that cannot be fixed in time to save the birds and the sea life that it is killing.