The Virginian-Pilot
© July 7, 2012
NORFOLK
An injured pelican found on a jetty at Norfolk Naval Station last month has been moved to SeaWorld in Orlando, Fla., according to Naval Facilities Engineering Command.
The pelican had broken off the tip of its wing and could not fly, a news release said.
Wildlife rescue volunteers worked with some of the Mid-Atlantic Oil Recovery employees to capture the brown pelican on June 22. It had been on the jetty near pier 14 for a few weeks.
“Once he figured out we weren’t going to hurt him, he calmed right down,” Kermit Tapia, an oil recovery employee, said in the news release.
The injured pelican was then taken to Sacred Friend Wildlife Rehabilitation in Norfolk for treatment.
On Tuesday the pelican arrived in Orlando and was placed in a quarantine area. The pelican’s injury prevents the bird from being returned to the wild. It will eventually join other rescued birds in the park’s Pelican Preserve, the news release said.
