Help save Northumberland’s seaducks

Coquet Island to St Mary’s stretches all the way from Alnwick, down to past Whitley Bay covering a large expanse of sea. A haven for wildlife, many seabirds live here, but one in particular needs your help. Please support our special seabirds campaign by asking your MP to protect a special bird living off the Northumberland Coast.

The actual island is already specially protected under European Law for birds such as the roseate tern. One of our rarest nesting seabirds, Coquet is the sole colony in the UK and regularly holds 98-99% of the population.

Terns flying across Coquet Island (c) Wesley Davies

But many other species live here. Coquet Island to St Mary’s was turned into a Marine Conservation Zone earlier this year because of its diverse range of rare underwater habitat where many unique creatures live.

The waters which fall within the zone are also internationally important for the beautiful Eider duck. Although the birds breed here in their hundreds, the zone doesn’t actually protect them. This impressive bird is the UK’s heaviest duck and our fastest level flyer, capable of clocking up to 47mph!

Eiders are very sensitive to human disturbance, and numbers are rapidly declining throughout Europe as a result of hunting, pollution and disturbance. With numbers declining, and no protection, these majestic seaducks need help.

Common eider stretching wings, Northumberland (c) Ben Andrew (RSPB-images.com)

Species can be added to Marine Conservation Zones as a ‘feature’ which means that protection and management can be put into place. To stop populations of eider from plummeting further, it is extremely important that they are added as a feature to this zone.

How you can help

Please help by contacting your MP and asking them to write to Thérèse Coffey, Minister for Environment in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs about why the UK Government urgently needs to include this site in the public consultation.

Key points you might like to raise:

• Seabirds are in trouble. Numbers have dropped drastically since 2000 and without adequate protection and management they will struggle to recover.
• Marine Conservation Zones are important for seabirds to ensure that their important areas at sea are protected, just as their nesting areas are on land. These areas provide a safe haven where rare, declining or threatened species can be protected from harmful activity.
• Coquet Island is a nationally important site for Eider duck and with numbers rapidly declining through Europe, should be added as a feature to the Marine Conservation Zone to save populations from declining further.
• A healthy marine environment does more than support healthy seabird populations. We get food from the sea, and it provides fishing jobs for isolated communities around the coast. Tourism and recreation, which depend on clean seas and plenty of wildlife to watch, are also important in small communities as well as bringing in substantial economic benefits to local businesses.

You can find your MP and the various ways to contact them via the Write to Them website. Also, all MPs can be reached by writing to them at House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA.

Please send copies of your letters or e-mails, and any replies, to Vanessa Amaral-Rogers, Campaigning Communications Officer, RSPB, The Lodge, Sandy, Bedfordshire SG19 2BR. Alternatively you can email us.

Seabirds really need your help; and we can do it with the help of the UK government. Action is needed now if we want to start protecting our iconic seabirds.