but this region s devastating spill may have killed thousands of birds. many were found fighting for survival. we brought you some of their stories. this brown pelican was justice rescued moments ago. this is the first step in a long road for this animal s recovery. reporter: officials say about 80% of the oil-covered birds were treated and eventually returned back to the wild. why is this refuge so important to our country? these islands represent some of the most important nesting habitat for colonial sea birds. not just in louisiana but in the united states. reporter: more than 60,000 birds are expected to nest in the bretten refuge, laying eggs and raising their young. you can see in front of us we ve got three pelican nests, each one filled with a clutch of precious pelican eggs. and this is about the future for this species. it is. this is the next generation. these are the ones that will
more to do, dylan. and nobody around here is popping champagne bottles. number one, until that relief well is successfully completed you re not going to have a real confidence level that the flow itself is going to be finished. after the well itself is capped there s so much oil moving into our marshes and seafood beds and pelican nests. we need a stronger response from the federal government to keep the oil out of the marsh. to help us battle not only what s happening with the environmental disaster, but with the economic disaster. the fishermen, you mentioned. now the longer term threat to the state is the oil moratorium by the president that his own scientist said was a bad idea that s threatening over 40,000 jobs in south louisiana. let s go down the list, starting with the protection of the actual marshes and fishing area. because the oil is obviously in the water. the oil is still moving around in the water. i ve been critical of what i consider a failure to have all