Thread: Please don't feed the PELICANS!

It's obvious that some people have been feeding the pelicans up on the deck of the pier at the cleaning station. All that does is to attract more pelicans (pelican-poop) to the fish cleaning station, which is essentially a food processing area. There are signs at that location for that reason.

Some people may ask - "What's the difference between feeding them on the pier and feeding them (by throwing the carcasses over the rail) as they gather in the water below the cleaning station?" The answer lies in -- where the poop goes. When they're in the water, they poop in the water. That's where it belongs and where it would go, naturally, not on the cleaning table!

Brown Pelican pouch tear is the result of illegal feeding of bone-in fish carcass.
The exposed carcass bones tear the pouch leaving the Pelican to starve to death.
Feeding Pelicans from fish cleaning stations is against the law...

It occurs to me the need to not only identify what NOT to do, but what TO do. When cleaning fish, if you leave the carcasses there on the table, the pelicans will fly up on the table. They were coming right up to me today. The only option I can imagine is what I do and throwing the carcasses in the water. Obviously direct feeding is out. But back to the cleaning station. What other options are there that will keep pelicans away from fish cleaning/food preparation area?

As far as that injured pelican is concerned, one day last week as I was walking by the cleaning table on my way to the octi I saw a pelican, maybe that one, that was trying to swallow a sheepshead carcass. Other pelicans were trying to steal it from him and he flew off.

It looked like a bad situation.

Originally Posted by frednic

As far as that injured pelican is concerned, one day last week as I was walking by the cleaning table on my way to the octi I saw a pelican, maybe that one, that was trying to swallow a sheepshead carcass. Other pelicans were trying to steal it from him and he flew off.

It looked like a bad situation.

Yeah, I can see how a sheepshead could do that!

Originally Posted by eym_sirius

It occurs to me the need to not only identify what NOT to do, but what TO do. When cleaning fish, if you leave the carcasses there on the table, the pelicans will fly up on the table. They were coming right up to me today. The only option I can imagine is what I do and throwing the carcasses in the water. Obviously direct feeding is out. But back to the cleaning station. What other options are there that will keep pelicans away from fish cleaning/food preparation area?

probably silly, but could a garbage disposal of some sort of industrial service be installed? there is water and power there after all. it probably would not help with the shark problem as well, but maybe...

I suggested a Commercial Grinder but got no response. I was wondering if they just put a piece of say 8 inch plastic pipe run down to just couple of feet off the bottom and carcasses would go to the bottom. Pelicans wouldn't dive to get them and seen at times many a carcass laying on the bottom with sharks swimming all around.

Would probably get stopped up.

That pic hurts my heart.. yeah yeah i'm not a snowflake, but I do have a soft spot for birds.

I really like Tato's suggestion and would add using a slightly smaller reduction fitting to the pipe to that large chunks wouldn't stop up the pipe---say, a ten inch pipe with an eight inch reduction.