Scottish Seabird Centre issues reminder about continued risk to seabirds from avian flu

Sadly, we have received reports of dead or dying seabirds, particularly guillemots, along the East Lothian coast in recent weeks. Avian influenza – more commonly known as bird flu – is a suspected cause and specimens have been collected by DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) for testing. This highly pathogenic disease continues to circulate in wild bird populations and remains a huge risk to our fragile seabird species.

The Bass Rock gannet colony was devastated by the disease in the summer of 2022, with the population plummeting by over a third. Though cases of bird flu have been a lot lower in the years since, it is still circulating. This summer, over 100 kittiwakes on National Nature Reserve the Isle of May died with bird flu the suspected cause.

Emma Marriott, Conservation Officer at the Scottish Seabird Centre said:

“Bird flu remains a threat to our precious yet struggling seabirds.

Scotland’s seabird populations are globally important, yet avian flu has added to an already precarious situation, with overfishing, invasive species, pollution and the impacts of climate change driving declines in most of our iconic seabird species.

Urgent action is needed to halt these declines and build resilience in our seabird populations, yet the Scottish Government’s recent decision threatens to undermine this through their consent of Berwick Bank offshore wind farm, which is estimated to kill tens of thousands of seabirds.

We are calling on the Scottish Government to urgently deliver on their Seabird Conservation Action Plan before it is too late and we lose species like kittiwake and puffin from our coasts forever.”

Image credits and captions:

High-res image available on request.

Image credit: Jamie McDermaid

Note these images are free to use for this story only.

ENDS

For further press information:

·Jess Thompson, Marketing Manager, email jesst@seabird.org, tel: +44(0)1620 890202.

Notes for editors

To report dead, sick or injured seabirds follow the below advice:

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