For the 7th year in a row we managed to get out to Grassholm Island to cut free fledglings that are tangled up in marine debris, mainly mono-filament fishing line and rope. We wait until October because a landing during the main season for this purpose would cause too much disruption as we need to walk right through the middle of the colony for this task. By October most birds have left the island save for a few late stragglers and of course those that are trapped.
Grassholm is the 4th largest colony for this species of gannet in the world with just under 40,000 pairs. This year we cut free 60 fledglings and 2 adults. These birds are generally fit and raring to go, the adult birds still feeding them until very recently. Without our intervention they would simply starve to death on their nest. Since 2005 we have cut free 426 birds. Some inevitably die before we can get to them but by going in mid October we stand the best chance of saving as many as possible without negatively impacting on the colony through the mass disturbance that an earlier visit would create.
The amount of plastic on the island is incredible, estimated at around 18 tonnes. It is actually surprising that more birds don't get entanagled. Removing the plastic is simply not an option. It is woven into the fabric of most nests following decades of accumulation. Even if it could be removed, it would probably all be back again within a few years. Although the number of birds affected is relatively small in relation to overall colony size, this task (apart from sparing these birds a death from starvation) helps to highlight the issues of marine plastic polluition.
The wet summer had resulted in this being the most unpleasant visit of the past 7 years! The island was one big festering mass of gannet guano! We were sinking into in places and the soaking we got on the boat on the way home was actually very welcome as it at least helped to wash some of it off! (although Steve would disagree with me on this point I'm sure!)
So thanks to everyone who helped us this year - Nia, Steve and Kirsten. A big thanks to Tim and Beth from Venture Jet for getting us out there and back again, Thanks too to Tim for coming ashore and helping cut free some birds. You can see what this entails by looking at video from the 'Tim-cam' (a camera strapped to Tim's head!), plus more photos, on their facebook page here.
An otherwise healthy gannet fledgling tethered to it's nest
Lisa and Nia cutting free an entangled gannet fledgling
For more photos see our Ramsey blog photo section over the coming days