Project launched to protect the Manx Shearwater

The Manx Shearwater’s population has decreased massively over recent years, but Manx National Heritage is heading a new project to get  numbers back on track.

It’s thought as much as 80 per cent of the global breeding pattern of the shearwater happens in the British Isles and this means the species is particularly vulnerable to adverse changes in breeding habitat, food supply or other factors.

Over recent centuries the Calf was occupied by tens of thousands of shearwaters but hunting and the introduction of longtails has had a devastating effect on the population.

As a result, an operation will now start to eradicate the rodents from the Calf and re-establish it as the leading conservation area for the bird.