July 17th, 2024, 4:45 a.m. Long before sunrise, under hazy streetlights, I joined dozens of blurry eyed biologists, volunteers, members of the media, Utah Division of Wildlife (DWR) staff as well as other Utah Department of Natural Resources (DNR) employees, at the DNR headquarters in Salt Lake City. We braved the early morning hours for the opportunity to do something that hasn’t been done since 2019: make the trek out to Gunnison Island in the North Arm of Great Salt Lake to band American White Pelicans. This charismatic species of “mega avifauna” are emblematic of Great Salt Lake, with 20,000 breeding adults (one of the largest nesting colonies in western North America) historically nesting on Great Salt Lake’s islands, including Gunnison Island, tucked away in the north arm. American White Pelicans seek out the hostile, dry, and remote conditions at places like Gunnison for safety and refuge to raise their young, making ~60–100-mile daily round-trip commutes to...