Scoter numbers fall for second year
Common Scoter numbers wintering at Carmarthen Bay have dipped below 16,000 for the second consecutive year, according to figures released by WWT.
It was the 20,000 plus overwintering scoters that earned Carmarthen Bay the distinction of being the UK's first marine Special Protection Area (SPA). However, the last few years have seen the marine duck suffer. An aerial survey carried out by WWT earlier this year recorded just 13,100 birds. This is the second year in a row the count has come in at under 16,000 - the lowest level that makes a population of international importance, and numbers are at their lowest since 1997/8, when the Sea Empress oil spill wiped out many birds.
Peter Cranswick, WWT's Programme Manager for Threatened Waterbirds, said: "It is too early to draw firm conclusions about what may be happening in Carmarthen Bay, but the decline in this Biodiversity Action Plan species is of concern and merits close monitoring. We urge the Countryside Council for Wales to maintain a full programme of surveys of the SPA."
