Paddleboarders and Kayakers Threaten Rare Seabirds

Britain’s rarest nesting seabirds are being threatened by paddleboarding and kayakers.

The bird sanctuary island in Northumberland is home to the rarest nesting seabirds, including puffins and roseate terns, in Britain. This important sanctuary is being heavily disturbed by rogue water enthusiasts.

Dr. Paul Morrison, the site manager of Coquet Island, said, “We’ve had a season of disturbance. There are paddleboards everywhere. And some of these kayak groups are there nearly every day, and constant disturbance could mean the birds don’t settle, or they abandon their eggs, or the eggs go cold.”

While the roseate terns and puffins were dangerously close to disappearing in the 1970s, they have gained at least 100 breeding pairs since then. Dangerous and unthinking water sports enthusiasts are putting this progress in great danger by unsettling the colonies and putting the seabirds at risk.

Dr. Morrison said, “We’re having to take action against them. We guard the island 24/7, we’ve got a very sophisticated police-recommended security system. But there are one or two that either don’t know or disregard the law and push their luck. We’ve been trying to get the message out, but there’s still a rogue element which doesn’t respect the birds.”

Not only are people scaring the birds from their nests, but they are also stealing eggs, creating a yet greater risk of these birds going back to the brink of extinction.

This is just one instance where people must learn to respect nature and wildlife sanctuaries. These sanctuaries exist to protect endangered species, not be used for a personal playground.

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