daveman - No offense at all. In fact I thank you for the re-do and agree it adds some drama for sure.

citylights - Your assessment makes sense to me as I look at the picture.

I think what I really failed to capture here was that the pelicans were picking up the stiff off-shore wind that created the blow-back on the top of the surf coming off the top edge and the pelicans were obviously positioning themselves to catch the wind and just cruise that line effortlessly - even calmly - in the face of significant natural forces. It was pretty cool.

As I think about it further maybe my crop of the picture was too tight and eliminated the context necessary to communicate the unique action that was on-going.

Thanks, guys, for helping me to open up my thinking about these things. Much appreciated.