Wildlife

Wild Gannet Colony Welfare and Monitoring

Gannet colonies are among the most spectacular wildlife aggregations in the UK, but face multiple emerging welfare threats.

Key Facts

The UK holds 60% of the world's northern gannet population across 21 colonies
Bass Rock in Scotland is the world's largest single-rock gannet colony with over 150,000 birds
Colony-level monitoring tracks breeding success, adult survival and chick fledging rates
Avian influenza, plastic ingestion and prey availability are the primary emerging threats
Gannets dive from heights of 30m at 90kph, making entanglement injuries particularly damaging

Welfare Considerations

Gannets entangled in fishing line suffer progressive neck and wing injuries as they struggle. Chicks starving from prey scarcity face prolonged weakness before death. The scale of UK gannet colonies means population-level welfare impacts of disease or food shortages affect enormous numbers of individuals.

What You Can Do

Support seabird monitoring programmes that track gannet colony health
Report sick or injured gannets to wildlife authorities
Dispose of fishing line responsibly to prevent entanglement
Support campaigns for sustainable fisheries management that protects gannet prey