Since the 1950s the Greek island of Mykonos, a popular tourist spot, has had a mascot that is as beloved as it is peculiar-looking.
He is a pelican named Petros, also know as Peter. He first came to Mykonos when a local fisherman found the wounded bird and brought him home for nursing. Peter soon became a local character on the tiny island, which is only 33 square miles in size.
Photographs taken by LIFE photographer James Burke in 1961 show Peter amusing beachgoers on the shore, cavorting about town and spending time with a fisherman. Because Burke’s photos were taken for a story that never ran in LIFE, we can’t be sure if that fisherman is the one who rescued Peter. But that would make sense because the two seem awfully attached to each other. In some photos Peter and the fisherman are nose-to-beak.
As a pelican, his long beak is Peter’s most distinctive physical characteristic. Pelicans, with their particular shape, are excellent fishing birds who thrive near water, so an island in the Aegean sea was an ideal place for Peter to make a home.
Peter died in 1985 after being hit by a car, and one obituary hailed him as “the world’s most famous pelican.” By then the bird had become ingrained in Mykonos’ identity, and several pelicans were brought in to replace Peter, including one that was donated by former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
So visitors to Mykonos today can still take photos with a friendly pelican.
Peter, a pelican who had been found wounded and then nursed to health on Mykonos, became the Greek island’s mascot, 1961.
James Burke/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Peter, a pelican who had been found wounded and then nursed to health on Mykonos, became the Greek island’s mascot, 1961.
James Burke/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Peter, who had been found wounded and then nursed to health on Mykonos, became the Greek island’s mascot, 1961.
James Burke/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Peter, a pelican who had been found wounded and then nursed to health on Mykonos, became the Greek island’s mascot, 1961.
James Burke/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Peter, a pelican who had been found wounded and then nursed to health on Mykonos, became the Greek island’s mascot, 1961.
James Burke/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Peter, a pelican who had been found wounded and then nursed to health on Mykonos, became the Greek island’s mascot, 1961.
James Burke/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Peter, a pelican who had been found wounded and then nursed to health on Mykonos, became the Greek island’s mascot, 1961.
James Burke/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Peter, a pelican who had been found wounded and then nursed to health on Mykonos, became the Greek island’s mascot, 1961.
James Burke/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Peter, a pelican who had been found wounded and then nursed to health on Mykonos, became the Greek island’s mascot, 1961.
James Burke/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Peter, a pelican who had been found wounded and then nursed to health on Mykonos, became the Greek island’s mascot, 1961.
James Burke/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Peter, a pelican who had been found wounded and then nursed to health on Mykonos, became the Greek island’s mascot, 1961.
James Burke/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Peter, a pelican who had been found wounded and then nursed to health on Mykonos, became the Greek island’s mascot, 1961.
James Burke/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Peter the Pelican napped while standing on the island of Mykonos, 1961.
James Burke/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Peter, a pelican who had been found wounded and then nursed to health on Mykonos, became the Greek island’s mascot, 1961.
James Burke/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Peter, a pelican who had been found wounded and then nursed to health on Mykonos, became the Greek island’s mascot, 1961.
James Burke/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Peter, a pelican who had been found wounded and then nursed to health on Mykonos, became the Greek island’s mascot, 1961.
James Burke/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Peter, a pelican who had been found wounded and then nursed to health on Mykonos, became the Greek island’s mascot, 1961.
James Burke/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Peter, a pelican who had been found wounded and then nursed to health on Mykonos, became the Greek island’s mascot, 1961.
James Burke/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Peter, a pelican who had been found wounded and then nursed to health on Mykonos, became the Greek island’s mascot, 1961.
James Burke/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Peter, a pelican who had been found wounded and then nursed to health on Mykonos, became the Greek island’s mascot, 1961.
James Burke/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
