Pelicans eye the sky as rocket takes wing in Photo of the Week

[Buster's Uncle]

Florida Today
Pelicans eye the sky as rocket takes wing in Photo of the Week
Britt Kennerly, Florida Today
Sat, December 6, 2025 at 5:03 AM EST
1 min read



Launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a load of Starlink satellites on mission 6-95. The rocket launched at 5:18 p.m. EST on Tuesday, Dec. 2nd from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.


It could've been just another shot of a rocket rising, something Malcolm Denemark, FLORIDA TODAY senior photographer, has been behind the camera for again and again in a record-breaking year for launches in Brevard.

The bird, however, is the word in this Photo of the Week, which pictures pelicans viewing the Dec. 2 launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a load of Starlink satellites.

Turned out the birds' choice of a landing spot, at just the right time, gave Denemark a shot that took wing.

"It would have been a routine daylight SpaceX Starlink launch, a common sight on the Space Coast," he said.

"But the light was getting dimmer for a 5:18 p.m. launch, darker than the rocket's flame, which added to the contrast. And the pelicans perched in the pilings stayed in place for the launch ... it made all the difference."

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/pelicans-eye-sky-rocket-takes-100308068.html