Watching gannets fight for food on Yorkshire coast was breathtaking - Robert E Fuller
Each summer up to 200,000 seabirds, including puffins, fulmars, razorbills, guillemots and gannets, flock to the Yorkshire coast to breed. This busy seabird colony at Bempton is the largest on mainland UK and in June and July, when the birds are busy flying to and from their cliff-edge nests, the noise and bustle here is mesmerising.
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Hide AdBut of all the seabird species that gather on these dramatic cliff edges, one stands out for its sheer size and drama. The gannet is the largest of British sea birds, and arguably the most beautiful.
Brilliant white, except for a soft yellow head, these birds have graphic faces that make them elegant subjects to paint.
But they are also incredible creatures to study. Perfectly adapted to sea fishing, their bodies are designed to absorb the shock of diving into water from heights of up to 30 metres.
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Hide AdTravelling at speeds of up to 110kph, the force with which they hit the water is potentially fatal. But these birds have adapted to absorb the shock so that they don’t break their beautiful long necks.
Specially adapted muscles lock their vertebra into place so that they hit the water they are as rigid and straight as arrows and air sacs also ‘bubble wrap’ their face and chests to cushion the impact.
And, if that wasn’t enough, these remarkable seabirds also have binocular vision which helps them to judge distances accurately as they pursue fish underwater.
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Hide AdTo really appreciate gannets, it’s worth heading out to sea where you can see them at eyelevel as they dive.
Each summer East Coast Nature offer boat trips to watch the drama up close. My experience on one such trip was incredible.
At the time of sailing, the gannets were busy feeding their chicks. Although this species tends to have just one chick, these youngsters need up half a kilo of fish a day, and so for the adults it’s a busy time.
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Hide AdGannets can fly hundreds of miles in search of a meal and, because they favour bigger, deep-water fish such as cod, mackerel and herring, it is rare to see them diving for food close to the cliffs.
However, it was easy to navigate to where the gannets were diving since when these birds spot shoals of fish they tend to congregate in their hundreds, circling the ocean in great swirls of speckled white clouds.
By gathering in such numbers, there is always a chance of fatal collisions as they plunge into the water. And as I watched an adult actually collided with a juvenile.
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Hide AdThe younger bird, easily identifiable by its distinctive black and speckled plumage, was just finding its wings.
As the birds clashed, I held my breath, horrified. Thankfully both birds were only momentarily stunned by the force of crash and soon began beating their wings against the waves to lift off back into the skies.
The advantage of watching gannets from a boat is that these birds have learned to follow fishing vessels in the hope of snatching up any unwanted fish as it is thrown overboard.
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Hide AdSo as we sailed, we threw a few fish close to the boat and I was able to film the action up close. The results were remarkable.
My underwater cameras captured the gannets as they dove and then pursued their prey beneath the waves.
Gannets can hold their breath for up to 45 seconds and watching them underwater was like witnessing an aquatic version of flight.
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Hide AdBut the real drama was in watching them dive; their wings tucked close and their bodies straight and rigid so that when they plummeted into the sea they pierced the surface like an arrow.
It was quite something to see them put their bodies under such extreme forces. But for these birds the effort is essential.
Back at the nest there’s a hungry mouth to feed. Gannets tend to swallow fish whole, but as soon as each had had its fill, it would swirl back to the cliffs with its catch in its beak and offer it to its only chick.
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Hide AdThe cliffs at Bempton are made of a startling white chalk and tower up to 400ft from the shoreline. On a sunny day the chalk shines against the blue of the sea and the seabirds, of which the gannets among them number up to 11,000 breeding pairs, look like swirling white clouds above it.
From this sea view, you can also make out lines of birds nesting along the narrow ledges created by the rock strata. It’s incredible how the gannets manage to find space among so many other seabird species to court and raise their young.
But the gannets get an early start, beginning to land at these cliffs as early as February and by March most have completed their migration from West Africa and are beginning their elaborate courtship rituals.
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Hide AdMostly monogamous, it is touching to see gannets reunite with one another. They are extraordinarily attentive, and pairs commonly give one another gifts of flowers or grass stems to reinforce their bonds.
The female lays one, pale, relatively plain egg in April which she and her mate take turns to incubate. By June the first chicks hatch and these tend to be large, with soft white plumage and grey, black heads.
Gannet chicks are fed by their parents for around three months and it is a full 13 weeks before, as juveniles, they are ready to feed for themselves. By August, they must leave the cliffs for the first time.
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Hide AdThese first flights are quite spectacular. But it’s a long way down so there’s plenty of time to adjust their wings and discover the supporting lift of air drafts.
I’ve been watching gannets for years here at Bempton and have painted them many times but having the opportunity to see this seabird city from the sea and to watch the gannets diving so close to the boat that I could almost feel the splash they created, was just absolutely fantastic.
If you would like to book a similar trip visit https://www.yorkshirecoastnature.co.uk/
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