OVER the last few weeks viewers of the BBC’s Blue Planet 2 have been marvelling at the diversity of life supported by our seas.
They have also, however, been left in no doubt about the sometimes extreme environmental damage being caused by climate change. And, as the recent fate of black-legged kittiwakes reveal, Scotland is far from immune.
Experts believe breeding populations of the small gull have dropped by 87 per cent in Orkney and Shetland, and as much as 96 per cent on St Kilda since 2000, with the sheer cliffs that once echoed with its distinctive “cacophony” falling eerily silent.
Environmentalists say rising sea temperatures impacting the supply of plankton, as well as over-fishing, which affects the availability of sandeels, is behind the drastic fall in numbers, since kittiwakes rely on them for food during the breeding season. The bird’s status has now been classified “vulnerable” due to its reduction in numbers worldwide.
If numbers of the seabird - called the “weeg” by Shetlanders - are ever to recover, we must act now to prevent climate change and ensure pressure from fishing, pollution and marine development does not make the situation worse, according to RSPB Scotland.
Indeed, as Blue Planet 2 made clear, if we don’t take action on a global basis, the kittiwake will be one of many seabirds sacrificed to human irresponsibility.
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