Whales aren't biologist Brittney Brown's specialty. But they're why she got fired. For nearly eight years, Brown has spent her early mornings on Florida's coast, marking off barriers to protect nesting birds, listening to seabirds chattering and brushing sand off her face from the gusts of wind hugging Panama City's beaches. She'd been most excited to see her favorite bird: the Wilson's plover, which frequents Florida's coasts and happened to be the first wild bird she'd ever held.