Rehabilitated Pelicans Released on Sanibel Island today!

Oiled pelicans from Louisiana were flown to Sanibel Island this morning for release into the pristine waters off Sanibel Island.  A special Coast Guard flight left New Orleans around 7 a.m. and landed at Page Field in Fort Myers about 11 a.m.  The pelicans were taken to Gulfside City Park on Sanibel Island for release.  All the birds were successfully rehabilitated after being rescued from the oil spill in the gulf.

We were fortunate to have The Castaways' Assistant Manager, Bob Pitt, on hand to witness the release and photograph the birds' freedom flight out into the Gulf of Mexico.

A crowd gathered on the beach as wildlife officials brought the crates containing the rehabilitated pelicans to the edge of the beach. They opened the crates and the pelicans instantly took flight to the rush of applause from the onlookers.






Here on Sanibel Island, we feel very lucky that our waters and beaches have been spared from damage due to the Deep Water Horizon oil spill. We hope more rehabilitated wildlife from the affected regions of the Gulf will be able to call the unspoiled beaches of Sanibel Island home as they begin their path to recovery.

Study shows that our beaches might be in an oil-free zone!

There's a bit of good news for the beaches of Southwest Florida in the wake of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico! A recent story from our local Fox affiliate highlighted a decade-old study showing that the loop currents in the Gulf of Mexico completely avoided the Southwest Florida coast over a 12-month period.

In the graphic below you can see colored lines illustrating where 194 probes floated during the 12-month research period in the Gulf. The large white area around the Southwest Florida coast was labeled the "Forbidden Zone" by area meteorologists since it seemed the probes were forbidden from entering this area. This means that the loop current does not have a history of impacting our beaches. And no loop current means no oil!


To read the full story and view the video for a great explanation of this study, click here.

So the prognosis looks great for the beaches of Sanibel Island and Captiva! It looks like our waters will remain clear and blue and our beaches stay white and covered in shells.

For more information:
Forbidden Zone? Could it keep some oil away from SW Florida? - FOX 4 WFTX - Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Naples News, Weather