Northern gannet was the most widely distributed seabird species investigated with relatively high abundances throughout the region. Notable exceptions were small coastal areas within the German Bight, the Thames estuary and the Wash in southern England where the species did not occur regularly. High concentrations were noted along the Scottish coast (especially Firth of Forth) and the Shetland Islands, where large breeding colonies occur. Cells with particularly high abundance occurred widely across the central North Sea, with surprisingly high abundance along the Dutch coastline, which represents a MLN 8237 corridor since this species does not breed in the Netherlands, and the high concentrations occurred mainly during autumn, when strong westerly winds are common.
Lesser black-backed gulls showed a stronger near-shore distribution than gannets, avoiding central offshore areas of the North Sea. The species showed a particularly high concentration on the European mainland coasts of Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany corresponding to major colonies on the barrier islands of the Wadden Sea. The UKs coastline is comparatively sparsely populated, exceptions being the Firth of Forth and the waters north-east of the Orkney Islands. An area of![MLN 8237]()
very high abundance could be found along the Frisian Front in the Dutch EEZ (Lindeboom et al., 2005).
Lesser black-backed gulls showed a stronger near-shore distribution than gannets, avoiding central offshore areas of the North Sea. The species showed a particularly high concentration on the European mainland coasts of Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany corresponding to major colonies on the barrier islands of the Wadden Sea. The UKs coastline is comparatively sparsely populated, exceptions being the Firth of Forth and the waters north-east of the Orkney Islands. An area of
very high abundance could be found along the Frisian Front in the Dutch EEZ (Lindeboom et al., 2005).
