National Geographic & ITV
A retired mechanical engineer who specialized in making burger broilers, Harry Kelton has a new passion – rehabilitating injured pelicans.
Known as the “Birdman of Miami”, Kelton and his wife Darlene established the Pelican Harbor Seabird Station almost two decades ago. The facility is made up of six large pens that shelter about 250 birds a year. Some are too damaged ever to leave Seabird Station, but most receive a week or two of treatment and then return in better health to the urban waters of Miami.
A troupe of regular volunteers make Harry and Darlene’s work possible, as do several veterinarians and “the fish man” who provides the pelicans with their rations. We track the progress of Pelican 4905 – the 4,905th patient at Seabird Station – from illness through its transition back into the wild.