PALM SHORES, Fla. – A severely burned osprey found on a Blue Origin launch pad the day after a rocket explosion is recovering at the Florida Wildlife Hospital.
The Blue Origin rocket exploded during testing at Cape Canaveral in May. Florida Wildlife Hospital staff said the osprey was found on the same launch pad the following day and brought to the hospital by a biologist.
Nearly two months later, the bird still has to be fed fish by hand three times a day.
Veterinarians said its feathers were singed across its head, neck and wings. A wound on one foot was so severe that it reached the bone.
“He may have been on the outskirts of the explosion and could have gotten burned that way, but we also see wounds like this pretty commonly with animals that are electrocuted,” staff veterinarian Dr. April Geer said. “We’re really not sure.”
Geer and her team have treated the osprey with bandage changes, medication and laser therapy. They also removed damaged feathers from one wing so new ones could grow.
The wound is now about 90% healed, according to Geer, but the osprey cannot be released until its feathers grow back and it can fly safely again.
There may never be a way to determine exactly what caused the injuries. However, the timing and location of the bird’s discovery are renewing concerns among some Brevard County residents about the growing number of launches on the Space Coast.
“I always think about that every time a launch goes up, because it is a very wild area out there – a beautiful wild area where a lot of animals live, a lot of threatened species and endangered species,” Florida Wildlife Hospital Executive Director Tracy Frampton said. “So it does worry me.”
Mark Nathan has spent years participating in local conservation projects, including bird counts. He said he supports the space program but worries about the environmental effects of launches happening several times a week.
“I don’t think it’s good for us, the wildlife, plant life or anything,” Nathan said. “I’m concerned about the fallout – what’s coming out of those engines.”
Nathan is not claiming the explosion caused the osprey’s injuries. He said people living alongside the growing space industry should have a voice in how far it expands.
“We didn’t sign up for this,” Nathan said. “We’ve been living here most of our lives, and now all of a sudden, it just kind of was put on us.”
Florida Wildlife Hospital staff expect the osprey to recover and eventually fly again.
But as more rockets lift off from the Space Coast, questions remain about how to balance the space industry with the wildlife living beneath it.