Drawn by the fish, and lack of predators, the sea has become an important wintering ground for birds migrating along the Pacific Flyway. Observers have identified nearly 384 species, about half of the total number of species found in North America. Only the Texas coast can claim better bird watching on the continent. Colonies of brown pelicans, listed as endangered by federal wildlife officials until this year, discovered the sea and moved in from the Southern California coast. Cormorants followed, establishing a colony on Mullet Island.
Great bird watching co-exists with great perils to wildlife.
In 1996, avian botulism struck, killing 14,000 birds, including 1,400 brown pelicans. The disease was traced to contamination in thousands of dead tilapia. In 1997, more tilapia, grebes and cormorants died. Newcastle's virus was identified as the pathogen. In April of this year, a colony of 7,000 cormorants perished.