Storm Boy made Mr Percival famous. Now pelicans like him are under threat

Battle for survival looms for South Australia's iconic pelicans as bird flu advances As he travels down the waters of Coorong, past sand dunes where scenes from the first Storm Boy movie were filmed more than 50 years ago, Dr Greg Johnston is clear about what must be done to help pelicans and other bird species survive the oncoming bird flu. "We need to look after the animals' habitat so they have maximum chance of recovering," he says. As an adjunct associate professor with Flinders University who has been tracking South Australia's pelicans for 37 years, Johnston is realistic about what the advancing spread of H5N1 bird flu will likely mean for them, as well as the other hundreds of bird species found in the Coorong. The Coorong is an important breeding sanctuary for Australian pelicans, with thousands of the birds calling the region home. Like most scientists, Johnston has been expecting bird flu's arrival for some years, watching it spread from wild birds to domestic poultry in 2020 in central Asia, then through Europe, Africa and North and South America. While he says the predicting effect the disease will have on Australian pelicans still involves some "guesswork", data from overseas suggests those in breeding colonies such as the Coorong or Bird Island, off the coast of metropolitan Adelaide, could lose between 60 and 70 per cent of their population in the first wave of the virus. Johnston says pelicans, like other birds and mammals, are likely in for a "fairly torrid" two or three years as the virus spreads and recurs. "Viruses evolve like other organisms do," he says, pointing to the European black-headed gull, which he describes as equivalent to the silver gull in Australia. The black-headed gull was largely unaffected by the initial arrival of the disease in Europe, but in the outbreak's second year its population was "badly hit". Pelicans, however, were very badly affected during the initial spread of the disease — and then were "hit even harder" in the second year. "Most species are going to have survivors — as long as they have safe spaces to do that," he says. The decline of bird numbers in the Coorong has been well documented over the years. In the 1980s, it supported 250,000 migrating red neck stints over the summer season. That number had already dropped to 25,000 by 2010, a measure of the reduction of the Coorong's ability to support wildlife. Although pelicans are not considered endangered, Johnston says aerial censuses showed their numbers in Australia's south-east have been declining by 1 per cent per year for 40 years due to natural swamp lands drying up and more water diverted for human usage. The Murray-Darling Basin Plan is currently under review, and the report is due to be delivered to the government in December. Locals are waiting to see what this could mean for this fragile environment at the very end of the river system. Coorong a 'magical' bird sanctuary Skipper Joel Hirsch takes tourists out to the Coorong several times a week. They pass the Murray Mouth and the dredger, its black pipe now a sought-after resting place for dozens of snoozing long-nosed seals. The dredger works to keep the mouth of the 2,500-kilometre-long Murray River from closing over, and has done so for the majority of the time since 2002. Hirsch's tours point out many of the places in which scenes from both versions of the movie Storm Boy were filmed, and he considers the pelican to be an iconic part of his home region. "Everything about the Coorong is absolutely magical," he says. "Anything that's going on in the environment — so whether it's low water, water releases, algal blooms, bird flu — we always discuss everything that's going on, and try to give a bit of perspective [on] the environment and the challenges that exist," Hirsch says. The original film adaption of Storm Boy was shot in and around Goolwa and the Coorong in the 1970s, with the 50th anniversary of its release being celebrated this year. The pelican that starred as Mr Percival lived a "low-key" life at Adelaide Zoo for many years after filming, before passing away at the age of 33 in 2009. Totem connection Mark Koolmatrie is a Tanganekald elder from the Ngarrindjeri Nation. He runs cultural tours in several areas, including the Coorong, and says the nori (Australian pelican), kungari (black swan) and waatji pulyeri (blue fairy-wrens), along with other animals and plants, are Ngartji (totems) connecting people to ruwe (Country). "It's our identity of who we are as South Australians, and who we are as Ngarrindjeri people, and what the Kurangk (Coorong) means,"he said. "Some people have the nori as their totem. And so when the nori is sick, so are they. "It is a mental anguish that is put on them as well." Like Johnston and Hirsch, he wants the government, as it reviews the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, to understand the need to support the fragile environment of the Coorong and the bird life it will support through the trying times ahead. "With the dredge being there, it demonstrates that there is not enough water that's coming through," he said. Mr Koolmatrie is urging all Australians to visit the Coorong at least once in their lifetime. "Come and have a look at the wildlife, the birds that are around the place. Please come and have a look at them and give them your support," he says. "Let them know like, 'Hey, we're here for you.'"