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Two buoys have been dropped near Herm to raise awareness of nearby puffins.
The bright yellow buoys are being used to protect the breeding population of puffins. The iconic birds return to the cliffs of Herm every year.
The Agriculture, Countryside and Land Management Service, said: “Male and female puffins mate for life and return to the same nest every year to lay one single egg.
“Both the male and female take turns to incubate the egg, and once the egg has hatched the parents leave the puffling chick in the burrow whilst they go out to search for sand eels to eat. The parents return to their burrows at night.”
An incident in 2014 during bad storm conditions has been dubbed the ‘seabird wreck’ and saw the islands lose many Atlantic puffins.
“Survey data collected voluntarily by the local Seabird Monitoring Team showed an unsurprising decline in puffin numbers in 2015,” said ACLMS.
Pictured: The buoys will be used to highlight areas were there are lots of puffins.
ACLMS hopes boat users and jet skiers keep below the six knot speed limit when near puffin breeding areas, as designated by the yellow buoys.
“Watching seabirds and marine mammals can be a wonderful experience; please make sure that you adhere to the Wildlife Code of Conduct to prevent unnecessary stress and disturbance from being caused,” ACLMS concluded.
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