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EnvironmentWildlife11TuesdayNovember52013ByMARIACHURCHThenumbersareinandSlaveRiverwhitepelicanen-thusiastscanrejoiceknowingthatchicknumbersthisyearwereoneofthehighestseeninthelast40years.Atotalof362chickswerecountedthisAugustthefthhighestnumbersincerecordingbeganin1974.Whencomparedtothe593nestscountedinJunechicksurvivorshipisestimatedat61percent.WehadagoodyearsaidJohnMcKinnonamemberofthePelicanAdvisoryCir-cleinFortSmithandvolun-teerpelicancounter.McKinnonmadethreetripsthissummertopho-tographthepelicansattheirnestingsitewiththevolun-taryhelpofNorthwesternAirpilots.Thegrouptookaerialphotographsfromaround2000feetabovethenestinggroundslocatedonseveralislandsontheSlaveRiverneartheMountainPortagepeninsulasoutheastofFortSmith.McKinnonusedthephotographstocountthenumberofadultschicksandnestsinordertodeterminethesurvivalrate.DataontheSlaveRiverpel-icansgoesbacktotheearly1900swhenErnestThomp-sonSetonrstrecordedtheirpresenceunintentionallydis-turbingthepopulationinhisexplorationandcausingtheadultstoabandontheirnestsandchicks.Hestoppedandtookpic-turesandcounted77nestsbuthewastherelongenoughtodisturbtheparentsandtheyleftandthentheravensandgullscameinandatealltheeggs.ItwassortofacompletefailureMcK-innonsaid.Since74whenlocalsstartedrecordingthepeli-cansnestandchicknumbershaveswelledsteadilyintothehundreds.Whileinthepast10yearsthenumbershaveseenafewdramaticdropsthetrendshowsagradualin-creaseinthenumberofnestsandchicksbornovertime.Theyearswherethechickpopulationsawadramaticdrop-suchas2003whenonly46chickswererecordeddespite689nestscounted-couldbetheresultofanynumberoffactorsinclud-ingapredatorsuchasabeargettingaccesstotheislandsMcKinnonsaid.Duringtheirnestingpe-riodpelicansarealsoverysusceptibletohumancontactasevidentfromSetonsmis-adventureMcKinnonsaidsocertainyearsthedecreaseinchicksmayhavebeenduetohumansventuringtooclosetothearea.TheplaygroundjustdownstreamofthenestingislandsisthemainplacewheretheysurfkayaksMcKinnonsaid.IbelieveinthepastnotwhileIvebeenherebutkayakershavebeensuspectedofcausingtroubleswithnest-ing.Ifsomeonewentontheislanditwoulddefinitelyscrewthingsup.SincethenestinggroundsarelocatedinAlbertatheprovincialgovernmenthasputaseasonalsanctuarystatusontheSlaveRiverpelicannestinggroundundertheprovincialwild-lifeactprohibitingpeoplefromenteringthesanctu-aryareawithina100-metreradius.CurrentlytheSlaveRiverpelicanpopulationisenroutetoitswinteringgrounds.Sincethepelicanshaveneverbeentaggedthereisnoconrmedre-searchonwheretheyover-winterbutitsbelievedtheirmigrationcantakethemanywherefromsouthernCaliforniatotheCaribbeanMcKinnonsaid.SlaveRiverpelicanpopulationhasgoodyearPhotoJohnMcKinnonPelicansarecountedbyaerialphotographstakenfrom2000feetabovetheirnestinggroundsontheSlaveRiverislands.