Paul Keefer

Among the many excuses I could come up with for not getting more done in life, what never comes to mind is the lack of two arms. But for some, like Civil War veteran and American explorer John Wesley Powell, he had that excuse… and did it anyway.

Found along the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific Coasts of the Americas, the brown pelican is one of the world’s most unique-looking birds, and personally, my favorite animal. It has a wingspan of 6 to 8 feet, lives for more than 20 years, and, if you didn’t know, eats fish the majority of the day. Its graceful gliding along the ocean allows it to prepare for what it does best of all: plunge dive into the water to catch fish. Pelicans don’t dive randomly. They spend time observing