A pelican that has evaded rescuers for months has finally been freed of a fishing hook lodged in its head and it took Tropical Cyclone Jasper for it to happen.
Key points:
- Trinity Jasper has a “pretty nasty” wound but is on the road to recovery
- Supermarket staff and bystanders all helped to capture the bird
- One of the rescuers says the experience has restored her faith in humanity
Wildlife rescuers, concerned citizens and even the police all tried to help the bird over the past few months as it waded close to shore near the Cairns Esplanade.
The hook, lodged in the back of its head, was attached to a fishing line that was cutting into its right wing.
On the eve of Jasper making landfall Janet McKinnon put out a call for help on social media when she saw the bird edging closer to shore.
“I was looking at this pelican going, ‘This thing is just looking miserable,'” she said.
“It can’t put its head down to eat, it can’t fly, it’s stuck, the cyclone is coming — it’s never going to live.”
Veterinary nurse Holly Ward saw the post and felt compelled to act, cyclone or not.
She armed herself with a pool net and raced to the water’s edge.
“I’m not a pelican expert, [but] I thought it’s a horrible way to go,” Ms Ward said.
“It’s people’s fishing hooks that have done this, so people should fix it.”
Wranglers get job done
As word got around, Ms Ward was joined by other helpers willing to lend a hand.
“There was a group of First Nations people on the Esplanade — they saw us pointing and talking and said, ‘Do you need help?'” she said.
“Their help really made the difference in catching the pelican, but they disappeared before I could get their names, and I’d really like to find them so I can give them a gift.”
Ms Ward said supermarket staff pitched in when she got bait to lure the animal into the net.
“They just donated it to me when they heard the story,” she said.
“They donated me some mullet and they cut it into little fish-sized pelican samples.”
Local resident Rob Longstaff, a self-proclaimed “bird wrangler”, was part of the rescue group.
He said the bird was exhausted by the time it was in the net.
“It was like eight people pouncing on this pelican,” Mr Longstaff said.
“The pelican was really too tired to get away.
“We got the job done.”
‘Unbelievable’ perfume
Wildlife rescuer Julie Dunn, who founded Seabird Rescue two decades ago, removed the hook and line.
She said the first time she picked up a pelican a colleague told her to smell the back of its neck.
Ms Dunn says a healthy pelican’s neck has an “unbelievable” perfume.
“I must say the first thing I did yesterday when I got hold of that pelican was, of course, sniffed it,” she said.
“It’s this sort of baby powder, cloud-like.
“This is where angels fly — it’s just indescribable.”
The volunteers who rescued the big bird have nicknamed it Trinity Jasper, after Trinity Inlet where it was found and the cyclone bearing down on the Far North Queensland coast.
Ms Dunn said Trinity Jasper is recovering well, but she “won’t be putting on a Christmas hat just yet”.
“The wound from the hook was pretty nasty,” she said.
“Any damage to muscle tissue or ligaments is always a concern, so she’ll have to have a little bit of physio”.
For Ms Ward said Trinity Jasper’s rescue left her “absolutely buzzing”.
“It’s restored my faith in humanity,” she said.