Seabird numbers at an Aberdeenshire nature reserve may have dropped by 90% since 2022 due to bird flu.
RSPB Scotland is now monitoring the remaining populations at Troup Head Nature Reserve, where some 8,000 Northern Gannets died last year.
Troup Head’s Northern Gannet population has been heavily impacted by bird flu (Peter Duncan).
“It’s a very significant concern. I mean, if you go back 40 years, there would have been twice as many birds on these cliffs as there are now, even without bird flu,” explained Richard Humpidge from the RSPB.
“So if 30% of them are dying from bird flu, that’s another significant hit to the population. It’s going to take decades for the population to come back to what it is now and then to increase further to what it was previously.”
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SANTA CRUZ, Calif. —
According to California Fish and Wildlife, sea otter 841 has not been captured, but efforts to find her continue.
“Crews make daily decisions whether to proceed with capture attempts,” said Ashley Mcconnell with California Fish and Wildlife.
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Capturing efforts have been slow because ocean water conditions have been too murky, and 841 has avoided capture altogether.
Over the last week, residents said they had not seen Otter 841 out as much, but one surfer said she encountered Otter 841 twice in recent weeks.
“841 appeared pretty suddenly behind my board and swam up, latched on to my board and mounted my board, made eye contact, and started mashing her teeth. I screamed, and she veered away, but it was definitely a scary experience,” said Adi Mahan, a local Santa Cruz resident.
During the second encounter, Mahan said 841 chased her, and although Mahan can not confirm that the encounters were with 841, she hopes wildlife officials will capture 841 and move her to a safe place.
“I understand that it’s a wild animal and deserves to be free, but at the same time, she’s beginning to be a danger to the local crowd here,” Mahan said.
While others said that otters should be free to roam the ocean freely in their habitat. Over the last few weeks, Mark Woodward has been photographing Sea Otter 841’s activity and said she can be identified by a blue tag and her harassing behavior.
“One thing she does is come up to the surfers, and it’s the surfers’ responsibility to back away from her if she comes close. But sometimes you [ surfers] don’t even know,” Woodward said.
In the meantime, while wildlife officials try to find and capture the otter, people said they will continue to catch a glimpse of the famous sea Otter 841.
