Mass death of seabirds across UK and Europe following winter storms underlines fragility of populations
The RSPB is calling for the urgent nationwide delivery of actions to support seabirds following the reported deaths of hundreds of Puffins, Guillemots and other species, with potentially thousands of birds affected across the UK and Europe.
Seabirds have been found dead along the coastline of Cornwall, Devon, north-east England and northern and eastern Scotland in recent weeks, with many thousands more reported along the coasts of Portugal, Spain, France and the Channel Islands.
An increase in seabird deaths beginning in late January was recorded by BirdTrack, an online bird reporting scheme run by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) with support from the RSPB. Since the beginning of February, 150 dead Puffins, 27 dead Guillemots and 52 dead Razorbills have been reported via BirdTrack, as well as almost 100 other seabirds including divers and sea ducks.
While the exact cause of the seabird wreck is still to be determined, recent winter storms will have made conditions at sea very challenging for seabirds who then struggle to feed and become exhausted, leading to starvation. Avian Flu also has not been ruled out at this point. Members of the public who come across any dead wild birds are asked not to touch them and report the sightings to Defra, or Daera in Northern Ireland, for possible collection and testing, and to BirdTrack via the BTO website or app for monitoring purposes.
The population impact of these mass deaths won’t be known until the birds return to their breeding sites over the coming months. However, the UK’s seabirds are already in crisis, with 62% of species in decline across the UK, rising to 70% in Scotland. When the first UK Birds of Conservation Concern Red List was published in 1996, it contained only one species of seabird. Today, ten of the UK’s 25 breeding seabird species are on the Red List, including Puffin and Kittiwake.
Seabird Conservation Strategies have already been agreed by governments in England, Wales and Scotland but there needs to be far greater urgency in putting them into effect.
Katie-jo Luxton, director of conservation for the RSPB, said: “Mass deaths like this underline just how fragile our seabirds are, as well as the urgent need to build resilience in their populations to be able to withstand exactly this type of unpredictable event. Wonderful birds like Puffins are already in crisis, facing a huge range of pressures including unsustainable fishing, disease, badly sited offshore development and the impacts of climate change.
We need our governments around the UK to focus on implementing measures to protect and restore our seabird populations. In England, Wales and Scotland there are already agreed Seabird Conservation Strategies, which now need actioning and resourcing. In practice, this means managing fisheries better so seabirds can feed safely, stopping seabirds getting caught in fishing gear by deploying measures on all fishing vessels, filling the gaps in our network of marine protected areas, and keeping seabird breeding islands free from invasive predators.”
Making sure any new offshore wind development is planned to avoid the most sensitive areas for wildlife is also essential. Yet only last month the UK Government awarded the proposed Berwick Bank windfarm off the east coast of Scotland a Contract for Difference as part of the latest offshore wind auction – a development right on top of a vital feeding ground for globally important species that will kill will tens of thousands of seabirds over its lifetime.
Katie-jo added: “We must stop heaping new pressures on our seabirds if we are to see a turnaround in their fortunes. While these occasional seabird wrecks can’t be avoided, it is absolutely possible to create space for our seabirds and build their resilience so these desperately sad events have a reduced impact on species populations as a whole.”
Dawn Balmer, Head of Surveys, BTO, added: “We can all help better understand what’s happening to our birds, especially our seabirds, at this time by reporting all the dead birds we find for possible collection and testing. Learning more about why the seabirds are very sadly dying is important.”
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