Animal Care Center Takes In Starving Pelicans Found On California Beaches As Scientists Search For A Cause

HUNTINGTON BEACH, CALIFORNIA - MAY 14: Hospital manager Teal Helms (R) and volunteer Gali Begim perform intake on a sick brown pelican patient at the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center of Orange County on May 14, 2024 in Huntington Beach, California. The center is currently caring for over 100 brown pelicans who have been discovered starving, anemic and suffering from hypothermia in recent weeks. Hundreds of emaciated pelicans have been found up and down the California coast with some showing injuries from fishing hooks and lines in recent weeks. Scientists are attempting to pinpoint the cause while brown pelicans were only recently removed from the endangered species list in 2009. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)