¡Pelican Rescue!

Shell (American ex-pat extrodinaire), was strolling along the beach yesterday minding his own business and admiring the lovely birds fishing over the waves. Suddenly a pelican came swooping down with its eye on (what it must had thought was) a tasty fish, and BOOM, crashed into a rock hiding under the water's surface.

But our wily pelican was in luck. Shell came rushing in to the rescue. Calling over some local guys to help, they scooped the poor thing out of the water and brought it to shore. The wing was badly broken, but after some clever splinting, the bird was relatively calm, and Shell called us for some advice. Luckily for Shell and our pelican friend, we knew just what to do.

MSS has been working with Acuario Vadivia, so several years now. They're not just the only coastal Aquarium in Ecuador, they are the only animal rescue center in the area. Mr. Pelican was bundled into the back seat of a car and rushed to help.

Javier, the head biologist at the Aquarium, cleaned up, fed, and re-splinted our brave little pelican and placed it with the other rescued seabirds that are living at the Aquarium to recuperate. Though the wing seems to be too damaged to allow our pelican to fly again, he will be able to live out his life, well fed and safe with the other pelicans at the Aquarium. Thank you to Javier and the rest of the great staff at Acuario Valdiva for providing this great service for the local wild life and a great educational center for the local community. And of course thanks to Shell, the Pelican rescuer!

If you are interested in volunteering at Acuario Valdivia, or any of other great volunteer projects, contact us at the Montañita Spanish School at info@montanitaspanishschool.com or check out our website at montanitaspanishschool.com.