According to ornithology specialists, warnings on Scottish beaches not to feed gulls because their droppings contribute to water pollution are “massively out of proportion.” The posters, which are a part of Keep Scotland Beautiful’s My Beach Your Beach campaign, have additionally come under fire for “demonizing” gulls and adding to the widespread misunderstanding of bird […]
Tag: seabirds
This World Oceans Day, Explore the Secrets of Seabirds
At Audubon we spend a lot of time talking about Atlantic Puffins, and for good reason. Our staff have spent nearly 50 years helping these colorful seabirds return to their historic breeding grounds off the coast of Maine, and studying what puffins tell us about conditions in our oceans. But puffins aren’t the only seabirds […]
The highly infectious avian flu is killing raptors, ducks, geese, seabirds and even foxes
Peter Stronach, an ecologist and wildlife photographer, couldn’t believe what he was witnessing as he went along the coastline of a Highland lake on a beautiful May evening. Male eider ducks, numerous species of gulls, a gannet, a puffin, and no fewer than 26 pink-footed geese, all of which should have been on their way […]
Rare UK seabirds put at risk by ‘alarming loophole’, say campaigners
The government has given itself an “alarming loophole” to avoid protecting seabirds including puffins and gannets, a leaked document shows. Campaigners have accused ministers of “giving up” on the UK’s seabirds as they plan to apply for an exemption to a legal duty to protect the rare species. Each year the government sets itself targets […]
Cornish mackerel fishermen call for seal cull
Seals are “sea vermin” who should be killed, according to a group of Cornish fishermen. After fishers on an online marketplace and forum expressed outrage about the amount of fish seals eat, marine campaign groups retaliated. The Cornish Mackerel Fishermen association said on Facebook that “for every fish captured by our fisheries, seals devour 53 […]
Albatrosses can plunge up to 62ft underwater to pursue prey – more than twice as deep as previously thought, study reveals
New research by scientists from the University of Oxford, British Geological Survey, and Portugal’s Marine and Environmental Sciences Center shows that the black-browed albatross (Thalassarche melanophris) can dive to much greater depths (19 m, or 62 feet) and for much longer (52 seconds) than previously thought — three times the maxima previously recorded for this […]
‘Apocalyptic’: dead crabs litter beaches in north-east England
An investigation is under way into why thousands of dead crabs and lobsters are washing up on the Tees estuary and neighbouring north-east beaches in recent weeks. Countless crustaceans have been found, with Marske and Saltburn said to be experiencing particularly high numbers, and the first sightings reported in early October in Seaton Carew, Redcar […]
‘They’re territorial’: can birds and drones coexist?
Drone delivery company Wing has temporarily suspended deliveries to the Canberra suburb of Harrison after a nesting raven swooped a drone delivering coffee. It has ignited an interesting dichotomy: if such deliveries are the carbon-friendly future, can birds and drones coexist, or should action be taken to mitigate any ill-effects of drones on wildlife? Drones […]