Pippa and the Pokey Fish

Hi I’m Pip the Pelican and I’m here to share my journey with you. 

March 23, 2022 was a scary day for me. You see I’m an immature brown pelican which is a fancy way to say I’m young and still learning lots.  One day, I was really hungry and I ate a filleted fish carcass of a sheepshead.

This fish has sharp spikes that got caught in my gullet also known as my pouch. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get it unstuck. It was awful, but I guess I’m lucky because my pouch didn’t tear. I couldn’t eat or fly so I sat on the edge of the water for a couple days wondering what to do.

I can’t remember if the fish was given to me or if I found it in the water, but either way, I think it’s best if fisherfolk don’t trust us birds not to eat the pokey fish.

6 people came to my rescue, 3 of them held me and had their hands in my gullet to turn the fish around, getting it unstuck to pull it out. It felt like I had a porcupine in my mouth.

I was weak and nauseous and although it was scary having all those hands on me, I knew they were trying to help. When they got the fish fish out I was so relieved, I flew a few feet away, swam to the beach and sat there for 5 days. 

Shelley and the fishermen said the bird hospital is closed because of a bird flu. Shelley called a bird expert who advised the Hoomans to feed me, this of course made me very happy.

For the first 2 days I was disoriented and couldn’t see the fish they were giving me.  I slept a lot in a cozy little spot in the mangroves on the beach out of the wind.

Shelley sat with me for long periods of time to keep me company.  Sometimes we sat quietly together and other times she was giving me pep talks about getting my own fish.

Spot the egret joined in and sat with us too! Spot is smaller  than me but very loud.  I met Mikey the great egret at this time too. He’s tall and a very good fisher bird. 

That’s Mikey on my right and Spot behind me

3 days after the fish was removed when I was sitting with Shelley I decided it would be a good time to get the bugs off and so I waddled in into the water and flapped my wings, splashing around in the cool water. Shelley said, it was like taking the best shower ever. She was very excited that I was feeling up to grooming. This was a good day! 

It took me 5 more days to be able to fly further than 15 feet, at first it was hard to get up in the air but when I did, it felt amazing! I couldn’t go very far at first, it took a couple more days to be able to really fly. At this point when Shelley gave me food she would throw it so I had to chase it, but these fish were not alive so It was easy for me to catch them

10 days post pokey fish I could really fly! And boy was that a relief. For a bird, being grounded isn’t a good thing. 

One day I was hanging with Shelley where the dolphin and other pelicans were feeding.  She said, Why don’t you go see if the dolphins will toss you a fish.” I tried, but those mature pelicans are a bit intense and scared me so I pooped a lot and got out of the mayhem!  I've learned only to hang out with the mom dolphins and their kids, it tends to be less crazy. 

The turning point in my recovery was when I saw Shelley in the water with the dolphins along with a few fisherfolk on the dock. This was 13 days after the pokey fish removal.

Some nice fisherfolk tossed me some small fish out of a net so I could practice catching live fish. I wasn’t very good at first but it felt like pennies from heaven, it was raining little fish. A dream come true! 

Something about catching live fish gave me a new confidence. I felt stronger!  

The next day I ate little fish on my own for the first time! And I started diving for fish too! I wasn’t able to catch fish by diving but I tried and I tried and I tried. It took me until the next day to be able to dive and catch a fish but I did it! Shelley was there and cheered my success.

I spent the days resting on my pole, usually with Mikey or Spot resting while Shelley and the dolphins played. At night I left to sleep with my bird friends in the mangroves.  

I felt pretty good until eat end of April when I started to feel really bad.  I wasn’t catching enough fish on my own to thrive. Feeling really sick, I sat on the beach and waited for my Hooman friend. My pouch was sticky making it hard to swallow the fish.  Shelley knew I needed more help and quickly. 

After several calls, Shelley found a rehab place in St. Augustine who would take me, it was 75 miles away from New Smyrna Beach. I got to go on my first car ride! 

I watched in awe as I saw horses and cows zip by the window. I have seen them from the air but this was different and although it was definitely easier than flying, I felt a little car sick.

When Shelley dropped me off the lady said, “Oh the’s not a girl, that’s a boy pelican!  That’s when my name went from Pippa to Pip.   

I was kept in a really nice place with lots of fish so I bellied up to the bar and I ate, and ate and ate. They gave me sardines which I had never had, and I liked them, a lot!  

After a few days, they let me out to fly around with an open door to return and eat as much as I wanted.  They said I could stay forever and eat as much as I wanted. 

Although that was a great offer, I was homesick, so I flew home to New Smyrna Beach. It took about a day to get home.  I went straight to my pole and waited for Shelley. 

I was really tired and my foot hurt. Once again, calls were made and a nice bird lady examined my foot. She said I had an impact injury, probably from a bad landing.  She said I needed rest and food. I liked that plan! 

I slept and slept and slept for days on my pole.   

I’ve come a long way!  I take a bath regularly! This means I’m feeling much better. You see, when birds are sick they have lots of bugs and no energy to bathe to get them off.  

See how handsome I am!

I’m curious about everything. I love to play with sticks and seaweed….well, really everything.  I have bird friends  now!   I even have a bird bestie named Patches.  

It’s 9 months post pokey fish and I’m really strong now.  I’ve survived 2 hurricanes in one month!  I’m starting to change colors and mature. Apparently it takes time to mature, I’m not sure what that means but as long as there is fish that’s ok with me.  I know Shelley is excited to see how I look when I’m older.

I wanted to share my pokey fish story for a couple reasons. 

First, I love fish, shrimp not so much, so if you are a fisherfolk and toss a fish my way I’m gonna eat it. Please don’t toss us birds those pokey fish!

Also I wanted to share how the compassion of the Hoomans saved my life. They were all so nice. So many people came together to help me.  

Most importantly, I learned how healing takes time. I thought once the fish was out I would be good as new.  I didn’t realize that healing was a process. It took time for my body to heal and I needed to be patient with myself.  

I have learned first hand the power of compassion, patience and fish. I’m grateful for the love and support of all of you!  Thank You!  

I still visit Shelley almost daily so chances are you’ll be hearing more from me!