Seabird breeding failing in EU

This Arctic Tern was returning with a sand eel to feed it's young on the Farnes

ianclamp has contributed a photo to this story.

What a tragic story; this shot was taken on the Farne Islands, Northumbria. The idea of these magnificent creatures no longer existing there is awful.

left-hand has contributed a photo to this story.

Photos taken in the Farne Islands. Local RSPB guys told us that the sand eel population was down this year and this was having a detrimental effect on the numbers of birds returning from their winter feeding grounds.

SK51 has contributed a photo to this story.

This Arctic tern was photographed at Lerwick harbour on Shetland.

megsona has contributed a photo to this story.

It's very sad that seabird breeding continues to decline.

Seeing these birds so close was an awesome experience! According to the NT guys on the island, breeding had gone very well 2008.

fujiellena has contributed a photo to this story.

This could turn out to be an enviromental disaster of epic proportions. If one element of the of the food chain is taken out, then it knocks on to other species higher up that chain and ultimately has repurcussions for us.

Its vitally important that you support the efforts of the RSPB and other enviromental groups in campaigning for change. You dont have to do a swampy and tie yourself to a fish. It would mean you would proberly drown, or at the very least, get uncomfortably wet. All you need do is jion groups such as the RSPB, who will use your cash in trying to protect our nations globally important seabird colonies, and lobby our politicians for change.

You can make a difference.

wmbadgers2@btinternet.com has contributed a photo to this story.

This was an Arctic Terne on Inner Farne Island, Northumberland, UK, in 2006 when there were reasonable numbers of chicks. I blame massive over fishing of sand eels by Russian and other commercial fleets, lowering stock levels dangerously and making them vulnerable to small changes in environmental status. See for example http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/pip/8pgyo/

Cardiff Boy 2 has contributed a photo to this story.

This photo was taken in Iceland in mid summer. It didn't like us near the nest, where it's "baby birds" were waiting for food. It looked like it was intercepting. The weather was excellent.

Regards, Sverrir D, Iceland

sverrir_d has contributed a photo to this story.

This is a arctic stern at Jokuslaron Glacier, in Iceland. This place is full of this fantastic birds. After the northern summer, they travel to the Antartic sea to the southern summer, that's a huge migration!

benito cereno has contributed a photo to this story.

The Arctic tern is a master of the sea and coasts. At the moment its breeding success in the North of England has become very unpredictable, probably due to food shortages and especially the availability of  Sand Eels which are crucial to the chicks development. I think it is a combination of climate change and over fishing. The latter can be stopped quickly, although the former may take some time! 

Photo of Arctic Tern taken in 2008 on the Farne Islands - very sad if this news is true...

Photo of Artic Tern taken in 2008 by lake Þingvallavatn.  Last summer the breedin of Artic Terns in Iceland failed but they did a little better this year.

Kittiwake on Skellig Michael, Eire in June 2005.

Transom has contributed a photo to this story.

Apart from kittiwake there are puffin and guillemots close enough to photograph without special lenses. Little Skellig has the largest colony of gannet in Europe. These two islands are spectacular, especially so because Skellig Michael has the ancient monastery on it.

The latest news on the decline of seabirds is that global warming is reducing sand-eel stocks in European waters. I wouldn't ignore the effect of fishing which has decimated most other fish stocks around Europe.

There is a breeding colony of some fifty pairs of Kittiwakes on Mumbles Pier, Swansea. They are nesting there in early summer almost within arms reach of the general public.

tomcat4 has contributed a photo to this story.

Excellent story. This mirrors my own experience seeing the number of puffins in particular dropping in the Farne Islands (where my photos were taken) and Bempton Cliffs. Much of the drop is due to Sand Eels now being found much further from the coast and often out of their range.

martsky has contributed a photo to this story.

Hi to everyone, this shot was takena couple of weeks ago not fare from Shewsbury (Venus Pools wetlands) there are Lapwings, Grey Heron, Cormorant, Kingfisher's, Canada Geese, Greywagtail, A great place visit  But you will need a large Lens 600mm  if you are taking photograph's. Regard's Tony Leurs.

tonyleurs has contributed a photo to this story.

We visit Shetland regularly and have witnessed the decline in breeding success over the past five+ years. In this photo the Artic Terns are on the pier in Lerwick. The parent is feeding the young one on the small fish fry found around the pier.
There were fewer Kittywakes at the south end of Fair Isle this year and I don't think any were breeding. The Bird Observatory on Fair Isle keeps excellent records.
We did find dried pipe fish in the vicinity of puffin colonies.
There were Artic Skuas around defending their territory but I don't know how successful they were.
See
http://www.fairislebirdobs.co.uk/

nz_willowherb has contributed a photo to this story.

This was on a treip to the Farne Islands with Sale Photographic Society. www salephoto.org.uk.
Totally bombarded with breeding Terns

Dahol has contributed a photo to this story.

IS this a moderated comment system - I posted a comment and it has not appeared?

I completely agree with the RSPB that it is probably "changes in the food supply" which is causing the failure of seabird colonies around the UK - but I disagree as to the root cause.

For the last 30 years the EU has allowed the removal of up to 1.5 million tonnes of sandeels annually from the North Sea and from areas around Scotland.  The sandeel is the 'sliced white bread' of the seafood chain - everything eats sandeels: cod, salmon, pollock, seals, kittiwakes, guillemots, terns - you name it.  The sandeels were mainly caught by the Danes and used to make food pellets to feed pigs and farmed salmon - which is why Danish bacon tastes of fish; but the sandeels were also used to make soap and heating oil in Denmark - a colossal waste of a primary food source.  The sandeel catch has moderated  - largely due to the fact that there are now 30 million tonnes of sandeels less in the North Sea - but they are still allowed to be caught in vast tonnages.

The essential principle of biology is the food pyramid - and sandeel are very close to the base - being plankton eaters. If you knock out the sandeel layer of the North Sea food pyramid - you shouldn't be surprised if the seabird populations crash. It is common sense.

I have seen NO convincing evidence that sea temperatures have changed and even less that plankton have disappeared. In fact in 2008 we have seen abnormally large numbers of basking sharks spotted around the Scottish coast - and guess what they eat - plankton!

The truth - I strongly suspect - is that the RSPB dare not criticize the EU Common Fisheries Policy - presumably for the same reasons that the UK govt and the Scottish Executive never talk about it - they know that these waters are now entirely the property of Brussels and they have no idea how to get rid of the Common Fisheries Policy which has produced this disaster.  The only answer is to leave the EU - and neither the UK Govt, the Scottish Executive - nor the RSPB is prepared to contemplate such a move.

It's so much easier to blame everything on 'Global Warming' - isn't it?  And you can keep appealing for more funds to counteract this imaginary global warming - whereas stopping the rape of the seas by the Danes would actually require you to take a political stance - and that is way too scary isn't it?

Arctic terns nest and breed on the Farne Islands off the Northumberland coast in the UK, They are relatively use to humans so you can get quite close - but they do try to dive bomb you. Numbers seem to be declining and I agree it is more to do with over fishign than with global warming.

alanrharris53 has contributed a photo to this story.

This was taken in 2007 but I don't think things improved much in 2008. Still, if you ever want to stand right next to a kittiwake colony then Dunbar Harbour is the place to be.

MacT has contributed a photo to this story.

benjamintupper has contributed a photo to this story.

Kittiwakes breed in the Farne Islands in the North Sea off the UK Northumbian coast, as they doo on rocky cliffs all round the British Isles. This one was bringing up two chicks, but recent observations in the same area indicate a very poor breeding year, mainly due to weather conditions.

MikeJDavis has contributed a photo to this story.