Marine plastic is taking its toll on Grassholm Island's gannets

9th May

By David Lynch  @Davidintherain Reporter

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.

Continued