Pelicans
American White Pelicans are hanging out in some strange places at Great Salt Lake.
They are fishing in Great Salt Lake - and catching. I’ve seen them tossing back some big fish out there, where it’s supposed to be too salty for fish. There have always been fish in the brackish wetlands at the edges of Great Salt Lake, but I took these videos and images in Great Salt Lake proper, near an estuary where fresh water is flowing in. The traditional wisdom is that the only fish in this part of Great Salt Lake are dead ones that have washed down the rivers, and according to this wisdom it would make sense to see an occasional fish here. But over the past two years, I’ve noticed what seems to be more and more fish and fishing birds in this part of the lake. Not dead fish, but live wiggling ones, jumping out of the water to catch midges, and going down the gullets of birds. Not just American White Pelicans, but Double-crested Cormorants, Western Grebes, Caspian terns, Great Blue Herons, a whole bunch of gulls, even a Common Loon.
It appears that the fish like it here, and the birds have noticed.
Here are my thoughts as to why. In the past, Great Salt Lake water levels were much higher, and the saltiest central part of the lake could mix with the freshwater coming in at the edges. Now, because the main body of the lake is so low (and water can’t flow uphill), the freshwater wetland zone has essentially shifted downhill into what used to be the saltiest part of the lake. This makes sense to me - as the lake shrinks, the habitat zones are moving and the lake is becoming increasingly fragmented into smaller, isolated compartments.
These are just my observations and not a scientific study. I’d be interested if anyone has data to back these observations up!
