Today’s newsletter is presented by Mandarin House.
Aloha, La Jolla!
Her name was Brighton. A regal California Seagull, with distinctive gray markings, Brighton loved dancing with updrafts of the ocean breeze caressing the bluffs above Windansea Beach.
Tragically, a close encounter with a carelessly discarded fishing line robbed Brighton of her joy. Somehow, her tiny feet became entangled in a translucent strand of impermeable plastic thread, anchored by a large fishing hook.
Over an eternity of several days, concerned neighbors watched Brighton flying frantically above Neptune Street, hoping the poor bird would land long enough for a Good Samaritan to corral her and free her feet from the fishing line. Brighton disappeared for a few weeks. When she returned, grateful neighbors discovered the fishing line had vanished, but to our dismay, so had her feet.
Defying the odds, Brighton remained a constant presence along the bluffs, foraging for the food that fueled her survival. Mornings would find her perched atop the flat-topped rocks framing Windansea Beach, communing with its resident seagull flock but always a wing’s-distance away from her feathered peers.
Often moved to tears by Brighton’s grace and resilience, I wondered what her life would have been like if a kindhearted neighbor had been given the chance to cut the fishing line and untangle her feet from its grip.
Today, more than a year after her last sighting, a local nonprofit is giving injured birds, like Brighton, a second chance to live their best lives. Meet Wildlife Jewels Founder and Executive Director Azi Sharif. Her gift for harnessing the power of art and advocacy to protect the majestic wild jewels who call San Diego’s coastline home is the heartbeat of this week’s Doers & Dreamers interview.
Molly Bowman-Styles
La Jolla Village News newsletter host
La Jolla story spotlight
Doers and Dreamers Q&A: Wildlife Jewels and the La Jolla coast
By Molly Bowman-Styles
San Diego nonprofit Wildlife Jewels is giving sick and injured birds the gift of a second chance to live their best lives.
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