Record breaking puffin numbers on Skomer Island

The Wildlife Trust of south and west Wales has announced another record-breaking year, with 43,626 Puffins recorded on their Skomer Island Nature Reserve.

Skomer Island, located of the coast of Pembrokeshire, is an internationally important seabird island. Every year The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales (WTSWW) undertakes their annual seabird counts to monitor the population of Puffins that return to the island every spring to breed.

Leighton Newman, Skomer Island Warden, said: “Our annual Puffin count is no small undertaking, with 6 members of staff working to count every Puffin on Skomer.

The island is broken up into seven sections and we systematically count every bird; on the land, rafting on the sea and we estimate the number in the air during our counts.

This is undertaken in the evening, when there are generally more Puffins around the island and early enough in the season that birds are not already in burrows. Big land falls this year, has led to Puffins being seen further up the cliffs than ever before!”

Bucking trends

The previous record was set in 2023, with 42,513 Puffins recorded on and around the island. The increase seen on Skomer bucks the trend of decline seen globally in Puffin populations.

Puffins are listed as Vulnerable to extinction on the global IUCN Red List. Like many seabird species they are facing the pressures of pollution, food shortages and climate change.

Lisa Morgan, Head of Islands and Marine Conservation at WTSWW, said: “It was a joy to see the masses of birds using the island during our spring count.

“However, we remain concerned about the increasing pressures on many seabird species. Novel threats facing our seabirds include avian influenza and the recent marine heatwave conditions experienced around parts of the UK coastline.

“The long-term impacts are still largely unknown highlighting the importance of our annual seabird monitoring and research programs on Skomer.”

Threat

The growth in Skomer Island’s population is likely linked to the abundance of food in the wider area, meaning there is plenty of fish for chicks resulting in high breeding success.

The absence of rats and other predators on the island has undoubtably contributed to the success of seabird populations on Skomer.

Leighton Newman continued: “Although The Wildlife Trusts’ Skomer Island is a conservation success story for Puffins, they are a species under threat and are rapidly declining elsewhere.

“We are acutely aware of the threats facing these charismatic birds and we must do all we can to continue to protect them.”