20-05-2025
Record numbers of puffins on Pembrokeshire's Skomer Island
They are the who fly to the island to make it one of the best seabird sites in Britain.
The island is renowned for its iconic Atlantic Puffins, who are particularly precious as their numbers are in decline in most of their habitats.
But happily, that is not the case on Skomer.
The island's recent annual Puffin Count has tallied 43,626 of the species, whose colourful and comical appearance has led them to be dubbed 'the clowns of the sea'.
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Skomer Island and the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales announced the results of the count in a recent Facebook post.
And Skomer has 43,625 more puffins than this one! (Image: Amy Compton)
They said: "The numbers are in and it's another record breaker!
"We're thrilled to announce that 43,626 Puffins were recorded on Skomer Island as part of our annual Puffin Count.
'This count is no small undertaking, with six members of staff working to count every Puffin on Skomer. The island is broken up into seven sections and we systematically count every bird on the land, rafting on the sea and we estimate the number in the air during our counts.
"Big land falls this year have led to Puffins being seen further up the cliffs than ever before!
It's only a 20-minute sea voyage – operated by .Pembrokeshire Islands Boat Trips - from the mainland, but is so popular with visitors that there are no day trips bookable before July 25. (Image: Lucy Crockford)
'Although numbers are increasing on Skomer, they are a species under threat and are rapidly declining elsewhere.
'We are acutely aware of the threats facing these charismatic birds and we must do all we can to continue to protect them.'
Alongside the Atlantic Puffins, the seabird population of Skomer includes nearly 350,000 breeding pairs of Manx Shearwaters, thousands of Guillemots, Razorbills and Kittiwakes and hundreds of Fulmars.
