Thanks To This Seal, A Newlywed Couple Was Stranded On An Island

A newlywed couple who decided to spend their honeymoon on a remote island got a little more than they bargained for when they became stranded -- all thanks to a lazy seal.

The giant elephant seal stole the couple's dinghy and refused to budge for four days. After the large marine mammal took up residence in the inflatable boat, Eddie Stebbings and Bee Bueche were stuck on the United Kingdom's Skomer Island for several days.

The couple, who work as wildlife wardens, decided to spend their first few months of marriage caring for a colony of 180 baby Atlantic gray seals on the tiny British island, Wales Online reports. Stebbings and Bueche used the dinghy to travel the three miles back-and-forth between the mainland and Skomer, which is well known for its wildlife population.

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Scientist spends 40 years studying Skomer Island’s seabirds

Guillemots on Skomer Island
June 2012. A bird expert at the University of Sheffield has spent 40 years studying seabirds on an island off the UK in one of the longest running investigations of its kind. Professor Tim Birkhead, of the University's Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, first visited Skomer Island - situated off the cost of west Wales - in 1972 and since then he has returned every summer, gaining invaluable information about guillemots.

Guillemot study
He will visit the island again on June 21 2012 for 10 days, marking his 40th breeding season studying the guillemots, conducting an annual census and ringing the birds to see how old they are when they start to breed and how long they live.

Professor Birkhead said: "It has been an invaluable investigation, for example it is clear that climate change has had a huge effect on the guillemots as they now breed two weeks earlier than they did in the 1970s. We also know a huge amount more about guillemot biology than we did 40 years ago, and we can use changes in guillemot numbers to tell us what is happening in the seas surrounding the island.

"Long term studies like this are few and far between but remain vital for understanding changes taking place in the environment. It's been a constant challenge both to secure funding and to carry out the work itself as the birds breed on the sea battered cliffs of a remote island."

½ million seabirds
Home to about half a million seabirds, including the guillemots, razorbills and puffins, uninhabited Skomer Island is a natural nature reserve, specially protected and a site of scientific importance.

Technological advances throughout the four decades have enabled Professor Birkhead to gain even more information about the birds.

Read on:  http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/skomer-guillemots.html#cr

Migrating birds rescued at Newgale after high winds

Hundreds of seabirds were left stranded on the coast after being blown off course as high winds and heavy rain cause disruption in parts of Wales.

The RSPCA rescued the Manx shearwaters, which were migrating to Argentina from their burrows on Skomer island off Pembrokeshire.

More than 400 ended up on cliffs and in the surf at Newgale in Pembrokeshire.

The charity said it was the biggest bird rescue in the area since the Sea Empress oil spill in 1996.

The birds - which usually fly off after dropping from island cliffs - were struggling to take off and were getting caught in rough sea.

Keith Hogben, an RSPCA inspector, said he found around 200 Manx shearwaters on the beach at Newgale on Tuesday morning.

"At this time of year, Manx shearwater nesting in burrows come out and go out to sea but unfortunately with all this stormy weather, a lot have been blown back into the cliffs and into the surf," said Mr Hogben.

"Some were on the beach, along with some gannets. We've rescued as many as we can.

"They're designed for swimming and flying, not built for taking off from land. They fall off the cliffs and fly away."

He said he hoped 70% would recover enough to migrate.

Of the 491 Manx shearwaters picked up by the RSPCA, 388 have been saved.

Officers sent 237 of the rescued birds to West Hatch animal centre in Taunton, Somerset, with another 151 set to be transported there on Wednesday.

"Unfortunately we had to euthanise 100 Manx shearwaters due to injuries or low weight, one fulmar and two gannets, which we euthanised at the beach," said Mr Hogben.

"That means so far we have around a 70 to 80% survival, which is really good because rescued wildlife often don't make it - they were very waterlogged, but quite alert and active."

Staff at the West Hatch centre are hopeful that most of the birds will survive.

Peter Venn, the centre's manager, said it had a reputation for dealing with large numbers of seabirds, and after the sinking of the MV Napoli in 2007, for example, it took in 1,000 oiled birds.

West Hatch is known for its expertise that goes back as long ago as the Torrey Canyon tanker disaster in 1967.

Mr Venn said he was anticipating about 300 birds, who will be washed, weighed and cared for until they are released in a few days.

Meanwhile, the RSPCA appealed for the public to notify them of any more distressed birds they came across, saying they were at risk from predators, the weather, shock and hypothermia.

"Juveniles may even be found further afield in Carmarthenshire and Fishguard in northern Pembrokeshire," said Mr Hogben.

"If you live in the area and do come across them, the best way to capture them without encountering their sharp beak is to throw something like a towel over them and then carefully put them in a box."

The number to call is the RSPCA's 24-hour helpline on 0300 1234 999.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-14790237