9th May
VOLUNTEERS
are risking their lives to save seabirds from plastic pollution on one of
Pembrokeshire’s islands, according to a photographer.
Bristol-based
wildlife photographer Sam Hobson visited Grassholm Island, eight miles off the
Pembrokeshire coast, to document an RSPB rescue mission to cut free gannets
entangled in manmade waste.
While on
the island, which is a breeding ground for 36,000 gannet pairs, he took a
photograph of one of the birds with trapped in a net.
"This
panicked adult gannet struggled as it dangled from a cliff side, with ropes
twisted around its neck like a hangman's noose.
"The
brave volunteers risked their own lives to creep to the edge of the cliff top
and rescue this bird from its death sentence," Mr Hobson told the BBC.
The birds
fly out to sea to collect seaweed to line their nest, but often pick up piece
of plastic and other manmade waste.
"The
gannets line their nests with these man-made plastic fibres and their nests
become death-traps, entangling adult birds and juveniles as they develop inside
the nest," Mr Hobson added.
There are
an estimated 20 tonnes of plastic waste on Grassholm Island.
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