PLIGHT OF THE PELICAN

A lyrical tribute to the scientists who solved an ecological mystery and spurred efforts to save many species from extinction.

In a spare narrative made up of free verse and reading like a detective story, Stremer describes the way declining populations of brown pelicans led concerned researchers to discover how the common pesticide DDT passed up food chains and weakened eggshells, to devastating effect. Only after the rising waves of public protest that ensued after one scientist “wrote a book / about springs / when songbirds would no longer sing” were officials forced to legislate efforts to ban the substance and protect vanishing species. It still took nearly 37 years for the pelicans to recover their numbers, Stremer continues—and even now they and many other threatened species are still in dire need of “people just like you” to “stand up, / speak out, / and inspire change.” Readers will be further engaged in the cause by Wright’s flowing scenes of ungainly pelicans diving and nesting, light- and dark-skinned scientists in lab coats and equally diverse marchers waving banners, and a wildlife crossing built over a busy roadway providing safe passage. For those in need of a little more solid information, she identifies some significant environmental laws (along with that anonymous “scientist” writer, who is, of course, Rachel Carson) in the backmatter, which includes more facts about pelicans, the specific effects of DDT, and the environmental movement’s rise.

A scientific success story, with a cogent reminder that work remains to be done.