Over the last eight years Dr Steve Votier and his team of researchers from University of Exeter have been working with us on Grassholm Island. Their work on Gannets has evolved dramatically over this time. Initially we looked at quite basic aspects of the Gannet life-cycle like where our birds spent the winter.
The available technologies have improved significantly. Trackers have become smaller and cheaper and these devices can now record all sorts of information. They can tell us about the bird’s location at sea, its speed and even whether it is in the air or in the water. We can also use still and video cameras to look at the interaction of gannets with fishing vessels, marine mammals and other seabirds including other gannets.
The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales organised a seabird symposium last week, which brought together some of our most eminent seabird biologists, all with strong connections with the Pembrokeshire Islands, some going back 50 years.
You can watch all the presentations from the day including a talk by Steve summing up his work on Grassholm to date here.
He also looks at how this research can be used to monitor the impacts of environmental change, changes in fish stocks and fisheries policy on our Gannets in the future.
It's a really interesting 20 minute over-view of a lot of hard work, sweat and tears!