Brown Pelican Skims Across Dana Point In Search Of Lunch

DANA POINT, CA — Pelicans are commonly spotted roosting among rocky jetties and boat docks, but have you ever seen one up-close and personal while hunting for some lunch? San Juan Capistrano resident photographer Kristine Erickson has.

Avid nature-lover Erickson caught this guy on camera while enjoying a Dana Point Wharf Whale Watch Tour led by Captain Steve Monday.

Erickson said this big guy was looking for fish, and she even caught him gobbling down some lunch later in the tour. California brown pelicans generally hunt by plunging into open water and stunning the fish below with the force of their large bodies, according to AllAboutBirds.org.

But this hungry bird isn't the only animal Erickson saw on the tour. Erickson also witnessed a humpback whale making a splash off the coast of Dana Point.

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