In an effort to protect and manage one of Country St. Maarten's Natural Treasures; the St. Maarten Nature Foundation will be launching a wide-scale project in order to determine the number and health of the island's resident pelican population. The Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) is one of St. Maarten's national symbols, the depiction of which can be found on the island's Flag and Coat of Arms. The pelican also lends its name to various businesses and institutions on the island yet there is very little information on its lifecycle. It was therefore decided that in order to properly conserve and manage this culturally important species vital information needs to be collected on nesting areas, the types of animals the bird feeds on, how many pelicans we still have left, and what type of threats the bird faces. Anecdotal evidence has shown that the pelican population has severely decreased over the last few decades and that the island might be in danger of loosing its resident pelican population. The health of St. Maarten's pelicans can also reflect the general health of the marine ecosystem; with more pelicans present the better the environment.The Brown Pelican occurs on coasts in the Americas from Washington and Virginia south to northern Peru and the mouth of the Amazon River, as well as numerous islands in the Caribbean. Their young are hatched in broods of about 3, and eat around 150 lbs. of fish in the 8-10 month period they are cared for. It is known that the islets off of the island's Eastern Shore; Pelican Rock, Hens and Chicks, and Molly Beday are important hatching areas for this and numerous other bird species and hopefully with the results of the study steps can be put in place to conserve them.
The Nature Foundation will apply bird monitoring methods learned during Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance bird monitoring courses and will conduct point counts at various locations throughout the island. Also, in an effort to involve the community in the project a limited amount of citizens can volunteer to assist with the research. Different points on the island will be used to monitor for the species and monitoring using the Nature Foundation Marine Park patrol vessel Yellowtail on the offshore islets on the Eastern Coast of the island will also be conducted. Those interested can call the Nature Foundation on 5444267 or leave a message on the Nature Foundation Facebook page (facebook.com/St-Maarten-Nature-Foundation). Space will be very limited. The first pelican count will be held on St. Maarten's Day, November 11th, 2010.