Pelican Lake Ecosystem

Note: You’ll find a second copy of the Pelican Lake Historical Plaque at Stop 19.

In the late 1940’s, the developer who decided to create Juno Beach as a resort town wanted Pelican Lake, along with the Fishing Pier, to be key features. At the time, the lake was a marsh and its water level rose and fell considerably depending on the time of year. Kagan Park across the street was part of the marsh.

To ensure that the lake would keep a much more stable water level year round, the developers built a weir or low dam at this end of the lake, where the lake drains to the south. Walk a few yards down the road and you’ll find that weir right under the sturdy metal fence. When the lake overflows during the rainy season, the water flows underground, through to the Seminole Golf Course, and from there farther south emptying into Little Lake Worth.

You might wonder if the lake contains salt water. In fact, even though it is so close to the ocean, it’s fresh water and is entirely fed by a combination of direct rainfall, underground seepage from the high dunes that you see to the west, and road runoff. You’ll see that the lake has two fountain pumps spraying in the center of the lake; those are there for aeration, providing oxygen for the fish and grasses.

Are you ready to take a brief nature walk? If you stroll east toward the ocean along the lake path, you’ll discover birds adapted to different mini environments. The white ibis, famous from Egyptian hieroglyphics, has a long orange beak which is perfectly adapted to poking for insects among the blades of grass. You may see small, red-beaked common gallinules paddling near the shore. Their wide feet enable them to walk in the shallow marshy waters where they feed. You may spot a black anhinga sitting on a pole and drying its outstretched wings after having swum underwater to catch a fish. And not least you may spot a tall-legged and elegant white egret or blue heron, standing dead still and peering down into the water waiting for a small fish to swim by. And then there are our local characters: the large black Muscovy ducks; There’s always debate whether they are cute or ugly!