Last Saturday we made our annual October visit to Grassholm. It was a relatively calm day but we still had a rough and very wet boat trip to the island. The inaccessibility of the island one of the reasons that Grassholm is home to a thriving 39,000 pairs of gannets.
The aim of our visit is to cut free gannet chicks that have become tethered to their nests and that, without our assistance, would soon be abandoned by their parents to a slow death by starvation.
This problem arises because when the adult male gannet builds and refurbishes his nest in the early spring, he will bring home natural materials like seaweed but unfortunately, he will also find large amounts of plastic debris. Monofilament fishing line and packaging tape floating on the water are a problem, the orange and blue colours seemingly make this potentially deadly string even more attractive to a gannet passing overhead. Crisp packets and even a plastic coat hanger were also seen incorporated into nests this year.
Monofilament fishing line is the main offender. It is so strong that that a bird caught by the leg has no chance of freeing itself. The nest, which should be a place of safety for the growing chick, can quite literally become a death trap. It takes a sturdy knife and a lot of careful patience to free each chick, which is then able to leave the island and fledge naturally.
This year we cut free 50 chicks in the short time we were on the island. Many adults were still in attendance and so our visit was brief to avoid undue disturbance. Greg and I were accompanied by three intrepid helpers, all experienced in the safe handing of large seabirds with extremely large and powerful bills!