By ALEXANDREA BAILEY
“The Remarkable Return of the Brown Pelican” made its television premiere a couple weeks ago.
This documentary was created by Richard Moore, an award-winning photojournalist and a lifelong citizen of the Rio Grande Valley [RGV].
It premiered Saturday, Aug. 10, on CBS KGBT Channel 4. It will be showing again this Saturday, Aug. 17, at 6:30 p.m. on NBC KVEO Channel 23.
The documentary depicts “one of the greatest wildlife success stories in the world,” and was filmed entirely in the RGV, according to Moore. It tells the story of the Brown Pelican’s near disappearance along the Texas coast and the population’s return.
It all started when Moore was surfing in Mazatlan, Mexico, as a young man. He remembers seeing brown pelicans there, and wishing they had a presence in the RGV.
“When I was a kid growing up in the valley, Brown Pelicans had basically been extirpated from the Texas Coast. There were probably less than 100, maybe as few as 30. They had been devastated by the use of the harmful pesticide DET, plus disturbances on their nesting Islands. So as a result, they were basically gone,” said Moore. “I witnessed in my lifetime the remarkable return of the Brown Pelican.”
Moore says he has been making outdoor wildlife films for thirty or forty years. In total, he’s completed 14 films. It took about a decade for him to complete “The Remarkable Return of the Brown Pelican.” It first premiered to a small audience at the South Padre Island Birding Nature Center and Alligator Sanctuary [SPIBNCAS] in June.
SPIBNCAS sponsored the documentary and helped Moore secure grants from various foundations to fund the film.
“We are honored to be among the sponsors of this documentary that shines a light on the importance of protecting the beautiful coastal residents of the Laguna Madre area,” stated SPIBNCAS.
