In the last month, pelicans in dire shape have been turning up everywhere. Most of the pelicans showed up in California, although a few were found as far west as Arizona. The pelicans were ill, starving, and behaving erratically - landing in people's back yards, in parking lots, and in other unlikely places. Wildlife rescue organizations have been scrambling to collect the sick pelicans, and to determine the source of the illness. A number of causes (such as toxicity from leftover fire suppression chemicals, used to fight California's wildfires last summer) were ruled out fairly quickly. Many of the pelicans showed elevated levels of domoic acid, which is a toxin found in algae blooms. Pelicans ingest domoic acid when they eat fish which have themselves fed on the toxic algae. However, it appears that the domoic acid link was simply (forgive me for the pun) a red herring. Researchers have correlated the pelicans' frostbite injuries with a bad patch of weather we in the Pacific Northwest experienced in mid-December. The pelicans, who typically make their way south in a leisurely fashion, were as caught by surprise by the storm as we were. Near-hurricane force winds and precipitous temperatures caused the pelicans to undergo an emergency migration, and many of them suffered in the weather. Many people are relieved that the answer to the pelican mystery turns out to be an unusual weather event. Pelicans nearly went extinct in the 1970s before DDT was banned, and their comeback has been one of the ecology movement's greatest triumphs.