Ten per cent of Europe's most endangered seabird use UK waters

[WD-40]

News from the RSPB site

Rising sea temperatures are driving increasing numbers of Europe's most endangered seabird into UK waters.

The findings come from a new survey, led by scientists at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (NOCS) in collaboration with the RSPB, which has been monitoring numbers of the birds off the coast of South West England.

Balearic shearwaters are the only European seabird to be classified as 'critically endangered' on the recently released 2007 International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Red List. They could become extinct by 2050 if current rates of decline continue.

Dr Russell Wynn, who is co-ordinating the SeaWatch SW survey, said: 'Balearic shearwaters leave their Mediterranean breeding colonies in late summer and head for richer feeding grounds along north Atlantic coasts. The numbers recorded during the survey this year show how important our inshore waters are to this highly vulnerable seabird'.

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[Chocky]

Thanks for the info Robert.