The Pelican solution

Image: Bill Rudden

Jeff Kart has an item over at treehugger about pelicans scarfing down Asian carp.

Apparently there are a lot more pelicans hanging around Illinois rivers since the carp invaded those streams.

These pictures on the Illinois birder’s forum certainly indicate pelican power is fueled by crunching carp.

Can pelicans be the saviors of the Great Lakes ecosystem if the carp breach the electric barrier at Chicago?

Kart, who also writes the popular mudpuppy blog, muses: “Are lots of pelicans worse or better than lots of Asian carp? Will the pelicans eat the carp, and the native fish that make up a $7 billion fishery in the lakes?”

Recruiting pelicans for the war on carp may be more effective than arming Sarah Palin.

Of course, we could always build more carp bombs.

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2 thoughts on “The Pelican solution

  1. Pingback: In search of transparency | Great Lakes Echo

  2. What else will the pelicans consume other than the carp? These new grounds will be so novel to the species and their presence could be more cataclysmic than anything else.
    One foregin species is enough to control…

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