by Vardø, Norway (AP) – In one of the best goals of the world’s arctic bird observations in the world, environmental and health problems threaten some of the seabirds that are part of the unique coastal ecosystem in Norway.
The population of Kittiwakes has declined by 80% along the coast of the Scandinavian country since the nineties. The small seagull species are besieged by climate change, predators, local fishing and bird flu.
The city of Vardø on the remote Vardøya island of Barents Sea has developed to help the wandering visitors.
Three years ago, the local fisherman Jan Vidar Hansen built a “Seagull Hotel” of boxes for Kittiwakes and other seabirds to safely nest them. The hotel has the additional bonus, the spread of unwanted smells, dirty nests and feces that have become a nuisance for the human population of the island.
“There were 55 nests in the first year. It was 74 last year, and this year we have 76,” said Vidar Hansen. He hopes that the local council will agree to build a larger Seagull hotel in the future.
Sea birds have long been an important part of Vardø’s identity – so much that the local museum has an exhibition that is dedicated to them. The city is as well known for its bird observation tourism as its radar station, which thanks to its location of almost 60 kilometers on the Kola peninsula provides the strategic command of the US strategic US strategic commands.
The Gulf Stream
Due to its topography and the Gulf Stream, Norway’s north coast is an ecologically diverse area that brings up warmer water from the Gulf of Mexico and then mixes with the cold arctic air and water. This warmer water keeps the Barent sea free of ice, although it is north of the Arctic circle and brings tons of fish larvae and other biomass on the Norwegian coast.
But the Gulf Stream is influenced by climate change and now brings water that is too warm into the Barentsee and changes the extensive composition of the species there. It affects the communities of seabirds, marine mammals and of course many types of fish.
Fish that require colder water are pressed further north, while others who need the mixture of warmer and arctic water – like the small school fish called Capelin – see their migration pattern disturbed.
According to Tone Kristin Reiertsen, a researcher from the Norwegian Institute for Natural Research, Capelin are, for example, an integral part of nutrition for seabirds such as Kittiwakes.
If Capelin either floats deeper into the sea to reach colder water or hike further north, sea birds cannot get to them, she said. This in turn affects the success of the breeding of Seabirds because they are dependent on Capelin to bring them to their chicks.
Boris Belchev, a bird leader and ranger on the nearby Hornøya island, says it is a terrifying domino effect.
“I saw birds that normally eat fish on the tundra, eat berries because they don’t have their normal meal,” he said.
When fewer seabirds survive, those who remain are easily destinations for predators such as Weißwedel eagles, said Reiertsen. In addition, the fishing near the coasts of the coast can disturb the dynamics of the colonies.
And then there is a risk of bird flu. In 2023, a large outbreak killed around 25,000 kittiwakes on the northern Norwegian coast alone, said Reiertsen.
“It felt like an apocalypse,” she said.
Empty nests
Vidar Hansens Seagull Hotel in Vardø is one of seven such Kittiwake hotels along the Norwegian coast, said Reiertsen.
“It is not an easy task to get the kittiwakes to move into these hotels,” she said with a laugh.
But it works. The small seagulls in recent years have emigrated deeper to the center of Vardø to look for protection against predators. There were about 300 kittiwakes nesting in various buildings in the city, and now the population is around 1,300, added.
In front of Vardø Hotel there was “many empty nests around the whole city,” said Vidar Hansen.
According to Reiertsen, kittiwakes and other seabirds are of crucial importance for the ecology of the region. Your feces bring important nutrients into the sea and further decreases in your population could be dangerous for the entire ecosystem.
She said that the officials have to change their way of monitoring the problem in order to find out how it should be remedied. A potential idea, she added, could be to restrict or ban fishing and boat traffic near colonies.
“We don’t have much time,” she said. “We have to act quickly.”
Business driver
The seabirds are also the key to Vardø’s economy.
Hornøya Island is only a short boat trip from Vardø, a paradise for bird watchers. Thousands of visitors flock to the uninhabited Hornøya, in which there are around 100,000 seabirds during the breeding season, including popular Atlantic parrot divers, ordinary guillemots and razorbills.
However, the island’s seabird population has also declined dramatically in recent years. Since 2018 there have been no common Guillemot chicks, said Belchev.
“I was shocked last summer.” What’s going on here? Where are all birds? “, He said.
If the government of Norway closes the island to the public or birds stop nesting there, and the bird watchers come, this could have a major impact on the island of Vardøya.
“For every small company in the city, it depends on the tourists to visit the island, stay in the city, to shop, use the petrol station and use the small restaurants,” said Belchev. __
Dazio reported from Berlin. Tommi Ojala in Vardø, Norway, contributed to this report.
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