“You can measure the power of the wolf’s jaw by the angle of the deer’s hip. You can gauge the lightness of the coyote’s tread by the length of the jackrabbit’s ears. . . . Predation is as integral a part of life as the double helix.”

—Francois Leydet

“The Coyote: Defiant Songdog of the West”

On the hunt

A few weeks ago I was working with a student who was grieving the current state of the job market. He had done what he was told—completed high school, entered college and graduated— only to find there was no work. He was competing against more mature and more experienced individuals who had recently lost their jobs.

While he related his woes, I thought of the relationship between predator and prey. Though the student was not up for this thought, I wondered if facing such intense competition in the work force would ultimately create a better employee. Would he hone his skills, do extra research into the companies he was applying to, learn to be extra savvy in the hiring game?

While surfing yesterday, in between wave sets, I watched a foraging brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis ); its graceful flight became a determined dive ending in a blundering impact with the water.

As it had plunged only a few feet to my left, I was curious if this bird had been successful. The dive had been from at least 30 feet overhead, and even though I was in the ocean I could not discern any fish nearby. Yet after the water had settled and the pelican was peacefully bobbing, it stretched out its pouch and swallowed a fish.

Almost immediately the pelican set off for another flight, but this time it was accompanied by a Heermann’s gull (Larus heermanni ). This tireless opportunist doggedly shadowed the pelican’s every move, even the dive, hoping that when the pelican resurfaced it could steal whatever fish might be hanging outside of the pelican’s bill.

For the next hour, I watched the gull and pelican search and then compete for the final prize. After dozens of divesonly once was the gulrewarded.

Predatory adaptations

Similar to my student and today’s job market, the pressures on this pelican were enormous. Not only was the pelican searching from a distance, once he found his target he was quickly overwhelmed by other species who had adapted different skills that might be better suited for attainment of prey.

I wondered what had shaped he evolution of this pelican’s strategy. Was it the behavior of the fish or the severe competition from scavengers?

Regardless, over dozens of millennia, the brown pelican has evolved an efficient foraging technique, often beginning from heights of 65 feet.

Once the prey is spotted the pelican resorts to a plunge-diving strategy, first bringing its legs against its body and then retracting its head. About mid-dive, the neck extends out once more and the wings angle backward.

The head remains stable during the dive so that the bird can sight prey along the length of its bill. Upon contact with the water the wings are drawn back and the bill opens wide, with the prey centered between its jaws.

Being such a large bird (average length 51 inches, wingspan 79 inches, weight 8.2 pounds) and not especially streamlined, the body of the pelican does not completely submerge when diving. However, there is a considerable splash, reminding one of a crash landing. Once the splash has subsided, the pelican calmly floats on the surface, draining water from its pouch and swallowing fish.

Built to feed

Beyond behavioral adaptations, the brown pelican is also equipped with anatomical adaptations that ensure effective competition with other marine birds.

The most prominent of these adaptations is the gular pouch. This is a bare throat pouch that can be expanded to accommodate large prey, distending so much that it can hold about 10 liters or about 22 pounds of water.

Although once thought to be a storage device, the pouch is now regarded as a tool primarily for catching fish. In order to maintain the pouch’s elasticity, pelicans perform pouch exercises; they will repeatedly throw their heads back with the bill open and then tuck their heads down. Sometimes they may even turn the pouch inside out.

Like the exercises of competing athletes or even the rituals of people looking for work, the brown pelican must also maintain its fitness in order to be a contender in the fight for survival. If its pouch loses elasticity or its eyesight falters, the slight edge the pelican holds over the fish or the gull would be compromised, ending in starvation.

I don’t know if there is anything here for people job hunting, but maybe it is just a comfort to know that we are not alone in this hectic world of competition. Meghan Walla-Murphy can breached at the following e-mailmwallamurphy@yahoo.com