Puffin-on-the-Saltee-Islands-1200x675 New Seabird Wardens Patrol Great Saltee Island — Puffin on the Saltee Islands

Visitors to Great Saltee Island, off the coast of County Wexford, are now being guided by newly appointed Seabird Wardens in a conservation effort led by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS).

The wardens engage with visitors to raise awareness of the island’s diverse breeding seabird colonies and how to protect them during the critical breeding season.

The Saltee Islands, off County Wexford, are a European Special Protection Area for ten seabird species. Increased visitor numbers on Great Saltee in recent years have caused disturbance to nesting birds like puffins and gannets, whose burrows can become blocked by people getting too close.

Great-Saltee-Island-1200x675 New Seabird Wardens Patrol Great Saltee Island — Great Saltee Island

Minister James Browne highlighted the importance of the seabird population to the island’s appeal and thanked landowners for supporting the initiative. Minister of State Christopher O’Sullivan urged visitors to respect nesting birds by keeping their distance during summer months.

NPWS District Conservation Officer Hazel Doyle said the project builds on recent successes, such as rat eradication, but now focuses on reducing human disturbance. Wardens will remain on the island from May to August, educating visitors, raising awareness, and encouraging respectful behavior with the help of signage.

Breeding seabirds on Great Saltee include puffin, gannet, guillemot, razorbill, fulmar, kittiwake, shag, cormorant, lesser black-backed gull, and herring gull. These birds spend most of the year at sea, returning in spring to nest.