Too late for puffin colony
Friday 6th November 2009, 2:58PM GMT.
Large breeding colonies of puffins are still thriving in Scotland, as this picture taken during the 2005 NatWest Island Games in Shetland shows
JERSEY’S puffin colony may well be biologically extinct and it is probably too late to save the fragile population, according to an expert at the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust.
Dr Glyn Young said that recent measures, including the establishment of a voluntary exclusion along the coast at Plémont where the birds nest, were ‘too little, too late’.
Bird watchers have reported seeing about eight birds in the Island this year, which is dramatically fewer than a few years ago. Similar drastic declines have been recorded in the other Channel Islands and along the north cost of France. However, it is thought that there may have been an increase in bird numbers further north and large breeding colonies are still thriving in Scotland.
Dr Young, who recently wrote a report which suggested ways to try to safeguard the birds including the protection zone, said: ‘It is potentially likely that Jersey’s puffin population is biologically extinct. It is quite possible. You cannot say for sure. You don’t see the young as they fly out at night, but just because birds are up there nesting does not mean that they are successfully breeding. We just don’t know.’
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All very sad indeed.
However whilst busy in foreign countries helping to save their native wildlife – why didn’t these “experts” at Durrell notice and act on our local declining species ?
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Rest assured,puffins are thriving alive and well! Granted they may be a rare sight floating of cliffs these days,however you can catch one definite sighting of one purched on top of a young tv presenter on Channel tv.
So if all else fails we could have a word in Oscars ear
“im sure he has one” about telling his fellow feathered freinds to pop down from Scotland to Jersey to repopulate the place.
End of story.
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Oh no what will we do without the puffins?
I mean they were essential for…. actually nothing, what difference does it make – I hope they take that annoying ****** puffin off the telly with them.
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This is clearly the fault of Senator Syvret if he had been in the States to register his Contre this would never of happened.Did anyone check his bags for Puffins when he left these shores………… I bet not !
Next thing he’ll be using Puffin Interest Defence to try a wriggle out of it.
Throw the book at him and put him on sandeel rations that’ll make people who count feel better.
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So it would cost the Tax Payer a million pounds a puffin to buy the Plemont site. You can have two on a plate for less than a tenner in Norway, they taste a little fishy but are quite edible.
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I agree with number 2. why not just bring some puffins down from scotland where i quote “They are thriving” and breed them here.
Simple
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Sad, but let’s accept it and move on; at least we can develop Plemont now.
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Come to think of it we cant invite the Scottish puffins down here.
They dont have the quals and besides im sure they would fall “foul” to the no children no pets law that apparently applies to certain cliff tops!!!
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Full credit to Dr Young he has undertaken a great deal of work on the Puffin, rather a shame that his suggestions have not been fully taken on board by the authorities who are the ones failing the Island.
A flagship species about to disappear due most likely to a number of problems – overfishing, pollution, global warming, and human disturbance.
The worrying thing this is one of many species that is struggling in the Jersey, for example ormer stocks are at such low numbers they are not reproducing enough to sustain their exploitation.
The Island plan proposes a coastal park, but has no meaningful conservation of the marine habitat, none of our coastal waters have been set aside to realistically conserve marine life.
Why not set aside one percent of our waters as a marine reserve?
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Poor ol Oscar…perhaps he finds the poor state of our government all too much and now flys North like so many of our island’s young.
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Some of the comments on here actually show what many people think of other creatures on this planet. They don’t give a ****. Maybe when the bees disappear these sad types will realise that nothing survives in isolation?
The planet has many different species of animals and plants for a reason. Remove some of the key species and the whole lot will collapse.
I reckon the developers will be happier now in anticipation as another barrier in their way to more profit has been removed.
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Those puffins would have bred and survived if the States had looked after the coastline to the East of the Island, in particular Havre-des-Pas.
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No.7 how can anyone possibly accept the extinction of puffins in Jersey. You might as well state that nature should not exist.
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I’d like some clarity from Dr Glyn Young about the implications of his conclusions. Is he suggesting that there’s no point trying to protect the species any more and we may as well develop the site? I sincerely hope not. Or, is it the case that there’s still much that can be done, if the site is returned to nature, to help this species, and to ensure the survival of other wildlife on the north coast.
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Oh dear,Adrian & ann seem to have got there knickers in a twist.
Do i detect that these two will get together and release a cover version of Michael Jacksons earth song to put the world to rights?
While the majority of us probably have a small amount of affection for the cheeky bird with the coloured bill,we dont take the issue as seriously as mass genocide & try to see a bit of humour in the situation as its not a particulaly dark situation,indeed a sense of humour is often the key to survival “take note”.
Im sure Gordon de st croix for one would be glad to see puffin take a vacation as im sure he didnt want to be typcast!
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His Lordship 15.
Everything that happens around us sprawls further than we can actually see.
Intuition ought to tell us that this is just the start of the decline of the Island’s priceless assets. And although the ‘risk of extinction’ of the island’s puffin colony cannot be compared to genocide, it should not be scoffed at.
Light-hearted wisecracks are fine, but we mustn’t lose sight of the real issue…the delicate balance of nature has been upset!
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No.15 His lordship-you are very welcome to put Jersey to rights with your sense of humour. I am quite sure the island would benefit from such wisdom.
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Some of the attitudes of people on here towards animals is nothing short of disgusting.
In my book an animal has as much right to life as ANY human being…….in fact in MANY cases they have MORE right to life because some members of the human race are total scumbags!
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Seems to me like global warming is driving the puffins north. Can’t really see much more of an issue than that. Sad for Jersey but that’s life. But now we get Egrets all year around – you win some, you lose some.
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@ Ann # 13
“No.7 how can anyone possibly accept the extinction of puffins in Jersey…”
I am not an ornithologist, and don’t profess to be an expert in this field; Dr Young appears to be considered an expert in this field, so how can I not accept his position?
Are you doubting the expert? Are you an expert yourself with an opposing argument? If you don’t think that the views of ornithologists are worth believing then what argument would you like to see taken with regard to planning decisions at Plemont, once any ecological argument is discounted?
“…You might as well state that nature should not exist…”
Because I accept the view of somebody far more highly qualified than I you think I’m anit-nature?
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Well said BS Deluxe (comment 18)Sadly the human race is littered with many who thrive on being obnoxious,selfish and idle which cannot be said about the animal kingdom.At least they follow the rules and behave to type!
It is a shame about the puffins and an even bigger shame that nothing was done a little earlier.
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Here we go again the ‘Puffins in Aspic’ approach, when will vegeterian, tree hugging, animals have equal rights (Check out the philosopher Peter Singer on that!)’camp’, realise that we are in a biologically dynamic transition phase that may or may not be man derived. But what it does do is close down opportunities for some species and open it up for others and the marginal ‘toe holders’ are the first to go.
This year we saw unprecedented numbers of Grey Trigger Fish a Mediterranean species all around the Island should we ‘kill them all’ to maintain some bizarre historic bio-idyll … of course not.
Live with the changes and revel in the complex fluctuations of the biota not stick up pictures of puffins ‘cos the’re cute!’ in your bedroom like some dodgy equivalent of a ‘Westlife’ poster.
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No.20-I am expressing a personal opinion without relating to the expertise of the person you are referring to. If you wish to quote from the experts book then that is entirely your decision.
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what’s all this talk about “risk of extinction”?
That comment was made about JERSEY’S colony. Not the bird in general. It states that they are thriving in Scotland.
As some people are more than happy to spout “there is a boat or a plane every morning if you don’t like Jersey”
Maybe the birds have just decided to move on. It’s hardly an extinction crisis of panda proportions!
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@ Ann #23
“…I am expressing a personal opinion without relating to the expertise of the person you are referring to…”
The article under discussion relates directly to the expert’s considered findings; while you’re perfectly entitled to your opinion, I can’t see the point in entering the discussion with half-baked opinions of your own that don’t relate to the matter under discussion, and that don’t make any logical sense.
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No.25 Even half-baked opinions are more worthy than a person such as yourself quoting the words from someelses book.
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its natural!! The dinosaurs died out, as will all animals in due course and theres nothing we can do about it, we may delay it but thats it. Some may argue that human development is killing nature, but what can we do,,,stop developing, i think not.
one may even argue that preserving some endangered animals is unatural, as it is their time to go.
Keep the pufin jokes coiming, they’re cracking me up.
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wake up you are quite right human development is killing nature.
What can we do? Alter our ways before something happens to us.
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27 Wake Up
Appropriate name but perhaps you should try it yourself.
You call it “human development”, but I call it greed and waste. Wildlife is becoming extinct because of overhunting, detroying natural habitats and polution. A huge amount of what the human race manufactures is wasted due to greed and this is highly irresponsible. I have ordered small items off the internet and seen them delivered in packaging that would better suit a much larger item….pure and simple wsste. This has no doubt contributed to destruction of forests and habitat.
This is the most ridiculous comment I have ever heard in my life “one may even argue that preserving some endangered animals is unatural, as it is their time to go”.
This planet will not be worth living in if only human beings are left to populate it……majestic creatures such as the Tiger are near extinction due to the destructive nature of mankind.
This is not “their time to go”….but perhaps it is ours!
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29 BS Deluxe
Thankfully you are not on the same planet as the rest of us!
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Amazing good timing with the new plans for Plemont – the puffins are doomed over here so we don’t need to worry about that any more, let’s build houses!
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so i supose the dinosaurs died out due to over hunting as well did they?! good one. not every extinct animal was the fault of humans. dont get me wrong, I love animals, but my argument is that developmet cannot be stopped no matter how brutal it is. humans come before animals in my eyes (yes i know humans are animals)
Aukward speaks the truth. BS deluxe your name is quite apt, wake up and smell the fumes of development.
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Hey there you lot “chill” since the subject here concerns me,i think i should be allowed to
“speak from the beak” and let it be known that all is well.
For the benefit of everyones information, when i am not doing my job on ITV i am merely flying off to Scotland to hang out with some Scottish chicks!
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This is the best non-sentimental painting I have seen of a Puffin. The original is great but £12,500 !
http://www.solomonfineart.ie/index.cfm/fuseaction/gallery.productdetail/id/192BB9AB-6E27-4DC1-8401A529C29DD334
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At least some people like BS Deluxe have an understanding of the wider picture.
It is indeed good timing that the development of this headland should come back into the news headlines. Maybe if the puffins are leaving the developer can build after all? A win-win situation for all involved.
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Wake Up
You are correct, they weren’t overhunted. However, it was a monumental disaster which wiped them out in the form of a meteor. It was not a natural ending…..and certainly not human development!
What on earth has the demise of the dinosaurs got to do with the way humans are detroying the planet and it’s wildlife anyway? They are completely different scenarios….one can be prevented and the other couldn’t.
Well that is a rather selfish view and of course it’s natural to want to preserve oneself over others (you fit in very well in Jersey), but no way should development be made at the expense of life on earth as we know it!
Besides, where is the development in systematically raping the planet of it’s resources in the name of commerce? And where is the human development when the worlds population is at bursting point, the vast majority in relative poverty….you think this is progress?
Aukward
I would rather be on a different, non-self obsessed planet to you. And no, I am not a veggy, tree hugging hippy, but I do have respect for life other than my own and unfortunately there is no-one big enough to stand up for the rights of animals who, i might add, have just as much right to live here as we do. We did not create this place but we sure as hell are destroying it!
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BS DEluxe
On this planet Humans do not have rights.. they do have societally negotiated compromises or accepted practices related to the community they live within.Because of the nature of societies ,there is a potential for ‘ecological release’ whereby perverse behaviours can persist through generations.. this is not an animal option they relate as individuals to their immediate environment an survive or die accordingly.
We may well be making way for a world of ‘grey goo’ bacteria but to say that is wrong is a flawed value judgement from a narrow perspective.
PS the two people I know have eaten them in the Faeroes reckon they are unexceptional in taste.
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BS, you will be dissapointed to learn im a not from jersey.
how can you call a meteor not natural!!?
human develpoment is natural. no matter what resources we use they all come from nature in one way or another; their basic elements come from nature, i.e petrol, diesel, cement, eveything you see around you, even the keyboard you are using has its roots in nature.
Think about the macro picture not the micro.
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Anyone who has any sense will realise that we are destroying the planet’s ecosytems at such a rate that we are almost certain to go the way of the Easter Islanders by the turn of the century.
Life will still continue to exist on earth, it will just be limited to grass, cockroaches and jellyfish
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@Ann #26
“..No.25 Even half-baked opinions are more worthy than a person such as yourself quoting the words from someelses book…”
As I already said I don’t think you shouldn’t be allowed your opinion, however half-baked, but I don’t see the point of bringing them into this discussion.
I also don’t think I’ve quoted from someone else’s book, however I have taken an expert’s opinion on-board; however worthless you feel that may be.
It’s interesting to note however that you don’t bother to answer any of the questions I ask, rather than just making unsubstantiated remarks of your own worthy opinion.
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I love the unfactual way conversations such as these take place. I will agree some points, the States could have done more to protect our coastline and also fishstocks that the puffins survive on however the same people complaining here and blaming the States would be doing the same thing if god’forbidden we had to pay for this in some way! Increase in taxes for puffins! They wouldn’t even have the nerve if they did forsee it coming with all the bad press they get over everything they do to help an unthankful community!
Secondly there is no actual proof that this is anything we could have done, IF anyone here had the sense to look at the bigger picture you would see that the National trust is reporting puffin figures have declined by 35% since 2003 and those figures are based upon colonys with an excess of 35,000 puffins in! We had a colony of a size that would be lost in the annual fluctuation of just ONE colony this size.
It is a pity, but not a disaster, and who knows they might be back in a few hundred years when the hot cold cycle of the western europe climate starts to cool down again! Remember the Romans used to make wine in England after their AD43 invasion, something that dies out again around the 20th century due to the climate cooling! AGAIN!
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Well theres our first problem. Dr Glyn Young is from the Durrell Foundation. What we need is a UK specialist at vast expence, none of this local information. Surely someone in the States could take this on and get an expert down here quick like.
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Wake Up
You’ll be unsurprised to know that I am not disappointed, but i never implied you were……I did, however, imply that with your selfish attitude you fit in very well in jersey.
The meteor was a “natural” disaster, but the extinction of the dinosuars was NOT due to “natural” causes….they were effectively obliterated and did not gradually die out or evolve as nature may intend. Can you see the difference?
You just don’t get it do you! The human race is using the earths natural resources faster than nature can create them…..the world is overpopulated by humans and forests are being cut down for more farmland, housing etc….this destroys natural habitats for our wildlife and affects the global climate. More cattle to feed more humans results in more methane gas produced and contributes to global warming….cows fart a lot you know! The oceans are overfished for food…..many other marine animals are simply caught up in the nets, killed and discarded for no other reason than being near the latest catch. The polar caps are melting at alarming rates and the polar bear amongst other animals is close to extinction. You may argue that this is “natural”, but I say the human race has CAUSED this by upsetting the balance of nature and our climate to satisfy it’s own greed.
This is NOT development.Development is progress. Development would be saving the planets natural resources for more earth friendly, cleaner fuels…electric cars instead of petrol for instance. Solar energy, wave & wind energy……controlling population to save intruding on the natural habitats of wildlife. How is destroying the planet and it’s wildlife progress???
You seem a bit deluded to me because I AM looking at the larger picture…..you cannot get much larger than thinking about the WHOLE planet and ALL of it’s occupants. You, however, seem very blinkered and are only concerned about the well being of human life. Enjoy the planet when it’s just you left!
Aukward
What a load of babble. Are you a politician by any chance? Humans created “rights” and laws…..whatever humans want they get, no matter how or at what expense…driven by greed and stupidity. Animals have been on this planet millions of years longer than humans and yet in the relatively miniscule time we have been here (and even in the last 100 or so years) we have managed to endanger and extinct thousands of species of animal. Do you think we should be proud of this?
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BS Deluxe
Sorry to disappoint not a politician but a professional Zoologist .
To quote Anatole France from his book Penguin Island (I thought that was appropriate).
” There will come a time when the sage will gather together all of the explosives in the world and ignite the pile. As the fragments of the world spin out into space there will be a sigh heard from the cosmic conciousness…which by the way does not exist”
Yes Anatole thats about it!
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Aukward
If that is indeed true, then I feel you are in the wrong job. You don’t seem at all concerned about the plight of the planet’s wildlife judging by some of your earlier comments “We may well be making way for a world of ‘grey goo’ bacteria but to say that is wrong is a flawed value judgement from a narrow perspective.”
I DO say that is wrong and why is that a “flawed value judgement from a narrow perspective”? Humans killing off beautiful and majestic species to make way for “grey goo”???
Please enlighten me with your “professional” opinion and explain why you DON’T think this is wrong.
I guess the Rhino and Tiger (poached almost to extinction and sold to far east for “medicinal” purposes, unproven in most cases) deserve what’s coming to them?
Then you have “wildlife expert” and “naturalist” Chris Packham saying Panda’s should be left to die out because they are too expensive to maintain and breed. You people who are supposed to care about the creatures you study should be ashamed of yourselves with these attitudes.
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The earth is a finite finely tuned system.
Man is treating it as an infinite system because he is pursuing a capitalist “money is God and I am above nature” service to self policy.
Refer to the film Soylent Green to have an idea on how it will all turn out unless there is a change of plan.
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Im not deluded at all, just realistic; something i fear is out of reach for you BS.
Lets agree to disagree.
Aukward is telling the truth and for some it is hard to swallow.
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Aukward if you are a zoologist you should be aware of the damage that overfishing has already caused.
The cod stocks on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland have completely collapsed and the Baltic and other seas are now plagued with jellyfish due to the decimation of their fish populations.
A few puffins on the North coast of Jersey is no big deal in ecological terms but the degredation of the environment and pushing thousands of species to the edge of extinction will have terrible results one day!
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Pip I wouldn’t waste your breathe people are blind to reality. As long as ther are alright they don’t give a damn. However it doesn’t work like that unfortunately, and they will soon see the stupidity of the current situation.
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In actual fact I feel that people are treated worse than the puffin population. The habitat of human beings living near Havre-des-Pas has been greatly disturbed in recent times dues to road narrowing, road signs protuding from peoples walls and in around their houses. Disgusting.
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