Photographers looking for the perfect Puffin picture on Skomer Island have been urged to ‘tread carefully’ by Preseli MP Stephen Crabb.
During a debate in Parliament on puffin habitats, Stephen Crabb raised the importance of Skomer Island as a puffin colony and urged that visitors need to ‘tread carefully’ when looking to photograph puffins.
Stephen Crabb said: “Skomer Island is known internationally for its puffin colony and The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales do a great job in protecting the beautiful island and its inhabitants. The island is both economically and ecologically important and though visitors are warmly welcomed, they must tread carefully to not disturb the puffins’ burrows and follow the wardens’ guidance.
“The RSPB’s ‘Puffarazzi’ campaign is an excellent way for amateur and professional photographers to help research these beautiful birds. Understanding their feeding habits when their numbers are still so low is vital in helping protect them. However, photographers in search of the perfect photo can unintentionally step on burrows, destroying the puffins’ homes. This must be avoided if puffin numbers are to continue to grow on the island.”
To learn more about the feeding habits of puffins, the RSPB has launched ‘Puffarazzi’ – a campaign where photographers are asked to take pictures of puffins with fish in their beaks. The best time to do this is between June and July. For more information visit the RSPB website.
Visitors to Skomer Island are capped at 250 per day. Over 21,000 puffins are estimated to be on Skomer Island, with numbers having quadrupled over the last 30 years.
You can view the whole speech from Parliament here: https://www.facebook.com/StephenCrabbPembs/videos/2337811913202366/?__xts__[0]=33.%7B%22logging_data%22%3A%7B%22page_id%22%3A886968011353216%2C%22event_type%22%3A%22clicked_all_page_posts%22%2C%22impression_info%22%3A%22eyJmIjp7InBhZ2VfaWQiOiI4ODY5NjgwMTEzNTMyMTYiLCJpdGVtX2NvdW50IjoiMCJ9fQ%22%2C%22surface%22%3A%22www_pages_home%22%2C%22interacted_story_type%22%3A%22565413710334575%22%2C%22session_id%22%3A%22f68e46893298cb1b8ba5a72709289dc8%22%7D%7D