AT least 100 seabirds have washed up dead on Jersey’s coast this winter – up to five times more than normally seen.
Experts believe that the increase has been caused by a succession of storms churning up the sea, as well as over-fishing and pollution.
Cormorants, razorbills, European shags, guillemots and at least three puffins have all been found dead on beaches in recent months. The puffins did not come from Jersey’s dwindling colony of eight on the north coast.
Cris Sellarés, project officer for Birds on the Edge – an initiative run by Durrell, the government’s Environment Department and the National Trust for Jersey – said that in a typical year between 20 and 40 birds would be found dead.
“This winter, there seems to be loads,” she said.
Suggesting that back-to-back storms in recent months were probably the main factor in the deaths, she said: “Obviously the storms are coming more frequently and are stronger, and it is very difficult for the birds to find fish when the water has been churned.”
Ms Sellarés thanked Islanders for reporting dead seabirds and helping the team to build up a picture of the deaths.
“People are already doing a good job reporting them on Facebook. I think people are really clued-up on reporting. They check for rings, which is really useful.”
Oil from ships – released in small doses, rather than in oil spills – is also presenting a danger, she said. “It attaches itself to the feathers of the bird – those feathers keep them warm and waterproof.”
If the birds are alive when they are found, the JSPCA can clean them and even has tubs of water to test whether they can float again. Ms Sellarés added that it was “difficult to tell” if the development of the nearby French windfarm to the south-west of Jersey was a factor in the rise in deaths, but that the pictures she had seen were not consistent with the trauma injuries she would expect to see from a turbine.
“It is consistent with the effect of storms,” she said.
“We have had lots and lots of storms, and lots and lots of birds washed up undernourished and dead.”
Any bird that is found alive and struggling should be reported to the JSPCA on 724331 or at 07797 720331 for out of hours.
Some dead birds need to be flagged to the Environment Department at 441600 or online at gov.je.This applies to one or more dead owl or bird of prey, three or more dead wildfowl, seabirds and gulls, or five or more dead birds of any species.
