The bird was spotted by a member of the public on Friday afternoon in St Ouen. It had become caught in fishing net, which had trapped its beak and mouth tightly against its neck, wound across the bird’s back and wrapped around its foot.
The Animals’ Shelter was contacted and the organisation sent out an ambulance driver. The gannet was checked over by a vet, who removed the netting and, finding no other problems, was able to allow the bird to be released.
‘We do see a number of sea birds coming into our care due to entanglement from fishing lines, hooks and nets,’ a spokesperson for the charity said. ‘We’ve not seen any cases of badly disposed masks causing a problem to wildlife yet, but we don’t feel it will be long until we do. It is really important that members of the public dispose of all litter appropriately, including disposable face masks, which are becoming a new item seen littered around the Island and will, before too long, cause an issue with the wildlife.’
