The deadly H5 bird flu that has devastated wildlife populations globally since 2021 is spreading across Australia. The federal government announced the first vaccination plans for captive native bird species last week and the Victorian government has moved to vaccinate wild little penguins after the first detections in terns on Phillip Island. On Saturday, the […]
Tag: seabirds
Scottish gannet chick hunt blocked for first time in 400 years
A controversial Scottish seabird hunt has had its licence refused for the first time in 400 years, in what campaigners have called a “victory for common sense”. In the annual guga hunt, up to 2,000 gannet chicks are killed over a 10-day period on the uninhabited Hebridean island of Sula Sgeir, 40 miles north of […]
It’s as big as a Ford transit van, can reach speeds of 50kph and can detect blood from a gobsmacking 3 miles away…
The great white shark is the only extant species in the genus Carcharodon and the largest predatory fish in the world. Why are they called great white sharks? Great white sharks belong to the family Lamnidae, which also includes porbeagle sharks, salmon sharks and mako sharks, which are the fastest shark in the ocean. A type of mackerel […]
“They can survive up to an hour in the icy water and use razor-sharp protruding teeth to scrape away ice.”10 amazing, remarkable Antarctic animals…
Antarctica is the southernmost, coldest continent and the only one with no permanent human habitation. With most of its surface covered in ice, it’s a tough wilderness to survive in. But incredibly, some of the world’s most captivating species thrive. Early in spring 2025, scientists caught the first-ever footage of the incredible glacial glass squid (Galiteuthis glacialis). It […]
Invasive ferrets removed from an island in a world-first
Rathlin Island off the north of Northern Ireland is now free from feral ferrets that were harming its native seabirds. Conservationists say this is the first time these nonnative animals, which were domesticated from polecats some 2,000 years ago, have been completely eradicated from any island. Ferrets (Mustela furo) were introduced to Rathlin in the […]
Gentoo penguins the first birds on Australian territory to contract H5N1 as bird flu spreads
The gentoo penguin has become the first bird to test positive for the H5N1 bird flu on an Australian territory, with samples confirming the virus has spread on a sub-Antarctic island. The deadly and contagious strain of bird flu, which has already killed millions of seabirds, wild birds and poultry overseas, was confirmed in southern […]
How seabird poop helped fuel ancient civilizations in Peru
The Chincha Islands off the coast of Peru are home to many seabird species that cover their island homes with thick layers of poop, or guano. New research now suggests that ancient Peruvians in the Chincha Valley on the Peruvian mainland hunted these seabirds, collected their guano, and used it to fertilize their maize crops, […]
Puffin numbers down by almost a quarter on Farne Islands, annual survey shows
A survey of puffins on the internationally important Farne Islands has shown a drop in numbers of almost a quarter. The National Trust which looks after the islands off the Northumberland coast said the long-term trend needed to be monitored and cautioned against interpreting it as a sudden population decline. The number of breeding pairs […]