New SPA for seabirds off Wexford coast may help protect rising puffin population on Saltee Islands.

A new special protection area (SPA) for seabirds off Co Wexford's coast may help safeguard the puffin population on the Saltee Islands, experts believe. Puffin numbers on the islands, five km off the Irish coast, have started to rise after years of decline. The most recent census of breeding seabirds in Ireland (2015-21) estimated 14,232 pairs of puffins, a 26% decline from the 1998-2002 census.

July 28, 2024
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