Learn more about Save Our Seabirds

Questions and answers about the business

Pictured: The interior of the Save Our Seabirds habitat and conservation area. Photo courtesy of Brian Walton.

In this engaging Q&A, Brian Walton, executive director of Save Our Seabirds in Sarasota, shares his insights and passion for bird conservation. Walton discusses his current reading and audiobooks and highlights the most pressing issues facing bird populations, as well as the innovative fundraising efforts to expand their facilities. He also shares the organization’s exciting origin story and highlights the critical role of community involvement in its mission to protect and rehabilitate injured birds. Read on to learn more about Walton’s inspiring and informative commitment to saving seabirds and raising public awareness about bird conservation.

SRQ: What book are you currently reading that is expanding your business acumen?

Walton: I am reading a book called A wing and a prayer: The race to save our disappearing birds by Anders Gyllenhaal. The book is great because we take birds for granted and think they’re everywhere. But scientists tell us that we’ve lost three billion birds in the last 50 years. That means that basically a third of the bird population in North America has disappeared. So the book is about those issues.

SRQ: What podcast do you listen to that inspires you in your business life?

Walton: These days I spend a lot of time with a podcast called Capital Campaign Pro and it’s just these two ladies talking about all the ins and outs of running successful fundraising and capital raising campaigns because here at Save Our Seabirds we’re looking to rebuild our entire campus and build a new hospital, so we’re in full fundraising mode to get our mission and our story out there.

SRQ: Share an item on your business bucket list.

Walton: The most important thing for us is to build a new, state-of-the-art hospital. Our hospital is currently housed in a very small space. We have a great veterinarian and great hospital staff, and they have far more talent and skills than they can currently provide in our existing hospital. We need newer equipment, but we don’t really have the space for new equipment. So on our wish list is to build a large new hospital that will expand our ability to treat birds.

SRQ: Tell the story of how and why Save Our Seabirds was founded.

Walton: In the 80’s there lived a man named Dale Shields. One day Shields noticed an injured pelican, stopped, picked it up and took it home where the bird was cared for in Dale’s bathtub. It’s like when you never see a purple car and then you start looking for purple cars, then you see purple cars everywhere. Suddenly Dale noticed injured pelicans everywhere and soon he was caring for too many of them in his bathtub, earning him the nickname “Pelican Man.” He negotiated with the City of Sarasota to create the facility we are today. It was known as the “Pelican Man Sanctuary” and became quite successful – Dale even received an award from President Bush. When Dale passed away in 2003, the organization closed until 2006 when one of our current board members funded the operation of Save Our Birds to open at the same location as the former “Pelican Man Sanctuary.” It was born out of recent need. We have beautiful, diverse wildlife, especially birds, and as Sarasota becomes more populated, more and more birds are being injured due to their proximity to humans. We need to try to mitigate the impact of humans on the wildlife around us.

SRQ: How do the stories of your “resident” birds that cannot be released back into the wild contribute to your educational efforts and public awareness of bird conservation, and how can the SRQ community support your efforts?

Walton: None of these birds come here because they have a stomachache. They come here because they got caught in fishing line or accidentally poisoned by rodenticides. We just hope that having people on our campus will raise their awareness so they can make some helpful changes – don’t leave your fishing line behind, just pretend. People can get involved by calling us when they come across a bird in distress and we send volunteers out to rescue. From people doing heroic, very dedicated rescues to people taking on the task of transporting a bird in a crate, we need volunteers for everything. We have people giving tours, people helping around the grounds and facilities, and then of course we have donation boxes on campus. We also have a website where we can accept donations, but unfortunately none of the 1200 birds we treat here each year have health insurance. And so we can do what we do thanks to the generosity of our community, and that’s why we’re always happy to talk to new people and talk about how they can help.

For information about Save Our Seabirds, visit the website here: https://www.saveourseabirds.org/

Pictured: The interior of the Save Our Seabirds habitat and conservation area. Photo courtesy of Brian Walton.