Regular readers of this blog will know that around this time of year we try to get out to Grassholm to cut free young gannets that have become entangled in marine debris during the season. These birds are ready to fledge but are tethered to their nests by man made plastics, mainly fishing line and rope. Grassholm, home to 40,000 pairs of gannets, groans under the weight of generations of plastic that has been added to nests by birds mistaking it for seaweed. See here and here for details of previous trips.
On paper the weather in October is not generally favourable for this type of work but we have been very lucky to be able to get out to Grassholm every October for the past 8 years. Unfortunately in 2013 our luck ran out......
Timing is important. We always try and go around the middle of the month; any earlier and there are too many birds still on the island. Our need to trudge through the middle of the colony would cause too much disturbance and healthy chicks, not quite ready to fledge, would be forced off the cliff edge by our presence. In short we would do more harm than good.
Go too late and you have missed the chance. Birds that could have been freed a week or two previously will probably not survive to the last week of October or first week of November. So although we had a relatively settled start to the month the weather turned when we got to our ideal period around 15th-20th October.
A brief weather window seemed to appear yesterday morning but none of us were overly confident after a week of strong to gale force winds. We were deep in discussion with Tim and Beth from Venture Jet - our superb local boat company who know these waters inside out and have been ferrying us to Grassholm for the past 8 years (Tim has been making the trip a lot longer than that but he wouldn’t want me to mention that here!) and we all agreed that it was worth giving it one last shot yesterday morning.
When we left Ramsey conditions weren’t too bad. The rolling swell was perfectly normal given recent conditions and a bit of a ‘soaking’ on the way out was to be expected. 45 minutes later we were 7 miles out and approaching Grassholm. Still the conditions didn’t appear too bad from a distance.
It was only as we approached the island more closely that our hearts sank. Grassholm acts like a pebble in a stream, interrupting the normal flow of the tide and on this occasion creating a maelstrom of white water around the area we would normally land. The SE wind was forcing its own swell into a westerly running tide and the result was a confused sea that meant landing in the usual spot was out of the question.
The swell that faced us as we approached Grassholm (photo: Beth Swann)
Undeterred Tim began looking for another landing spot. Sitting just 20m off the island was quite pleasant; hardly any swell at all and when we nudged into the NE corner things were momentarily looking up. However we didn’t have to sit there long to realise we had been guilty of wearing the old ‘rose tinted specs’. Although not as bad as the south side, the swell was still far too much to allow Tim to hold the boat steady and us to disembark safely. There is no set landing place remember, just bare rock.
This video from Venture Jet further shows the problems we faced in trying to land
So although very disappointing for all concerned we were pleased that we gave it a go at least. A massive thanks are due to Tim and Beth for skilfully and safely getting us out there and for weighing up every option before we all, reluctantly, acknowledged defeat.
On the positive side a quick scan from the boat didn’t reveal any tangled young in the areas we could see. Inevitably there would have been some but one of the traditionally ‘bad areas’ was clear which was a good sign. Hopefully that means it was a ‘good year’ in that fewer than normal (average is about 40-50) birds would have been lost.
Marine pollution will continue to be an issue on Grassholm and we will continue to publicise the fact. Although not impacting on the Grassholm gannet population as a whole the unnecessary suffering caused to individuals is not something we can sit back and readily accept.
October will always be a difficult month weather wise but we plan to be back out there next year doing our best to land once again