CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : CROWLEY LAKE : Pelican Deaths Tied to Variety of Causes

No single cause has been found in the deaths of 400 white pelicans at Crowley Lake in Mono County, the state Department of Fish and Game said. The pelican deaths, which happened over a two-week period in mid-October, may have been the result of changing environmental conditions elsewhere in the West, the department said. Starvation was the apparent primary cause of death in half the birds examined, but many also suffered intestinal infestations of parasitic worms severe enough to kill them. And some of the carcasses taken from the eastern Sierra lake contained high levels of mercury in the livers believed to be caused by increased exposure to an accumulation in the environment.