Friends of the Pelicans, Inc. is a grassroots organization whose mission is to "protect the right of all birds and pelicans in particular to live out their lives free from harm due to human interference - specifically fishing line entanglement."  Fishing line entanglement is the No. 1 cause of death of pelicans.  Entanglement occurs when a bird is accidentally hooked by a fisherman, who, not knowing what to do then cuts their line instead of reeling in the bird and removing the hooks and line. The line becomes entangled around their feet, necks and wings. Often they are still able to fly back to their mangrove home where they become tethered to branches and slowly die of starvation, thirst or strangulation. The line then remains in the mangroves and continues to entangle and kill other birds.  If free of human interference, Brown Pelicans could live to the age of 40 years in the wild. However, studies show only 30% of all pelicans will survive their first year – only 2% will live to reach the age of ten years. In addition to pelicans, fishing line entanglement also kills Herons, Egrets, Ibises, Cormorants and all of the other seabirds roosting in the mangrove rookeries.  Since 2021 we have paid to have a full time rescuer on the Skyway Fishing Pier in Florida which is the longest pier in the world and rescue over 1,000 seabirds, mostly pelicans, a year.  We also have a Zodiac boat and jet ski that we use to rescue birds entangled in the mangroves and water around the fishing piers.