Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge
Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge
Vero Beach, FL 32960
Phone:772-562-3909
Fax:772-299-3101
Web: www.fws.gov/pelicanisland
Established: 1903.
Location:In the Intracoastal Waterway near Sebastian Inlet, along Florida's east coast.
Facilities:Observation tower, viewing sites, boardwalk trails.
Activities:Boating, canoeing, fishing, boat tours, hiking.
Special Features:America's first officially designated national wildlife refuge. The island is surrounded by Indian River Lagoon, the most biologically diverse estuary in the U.S.
Habitats: 5,413 acres of seagrass beds, oyster bars, mangrove islands, salt marsh and maritime hammocks.
Access: Daily during daylight hours.
Wild life: Wood storks (endangered), brown pelicans, egrets, herons, ibis, double-crested cormorants, several endangered species, including Florida manatee, Green sea turtle, Hawskbill sea turtle, and Kemp's ridley sea turtle; also provides habitat to several threatened species such as Loggerhead sea turtle, Eastern indigo snake, bald eagle, and piping plover.
See other parks in Florida.