A black-browed albatross on your doorstep is really something to shout about. And that’s exactly what the team at Bempton Cliffs is planning to do on World Albatross Day.
Site Manager, Dave O’Hara, said: ‘As the one place in the Northern Hemisphere where, for the past few months, you’ve been able to regularly see an albatross, this is the perfect time to celebrate such a rare visitor to our shores’.
At the heart of the big day is the Brow-a-thon. Communications Officer, Maria Prchlik, explained: ‘As its name suggests, the black-browed albatross is easily identified by its distinctive eye markings. We thought it would be a great idea to get everyone who visited us on the day to wear fake brows in a show of solidarity. These can be black paper, black felt, anything in fact that gives their real eye-brows a truly distinctive look’.There’ll be lots of other fun activities for youngsters taking place in The Nestbox led by the Visitor Experience team – from storytelling to arts and crafts – all albatross themed, of course.
The café staff too will be doing their bit with albatross muffins expected to fly off the cake stands.
But it’s not all fun and games. There’s also a very serious side to the event. Albatrosses spend much of their lives soaring over the sea and, sadly, they often become tangled in fishing gear. The increase in marine plastic also poses a significant danger to their survival. These threats have caused their population to bedecimated. 15 of the 22 species of albatross are now faced with extinction.
So to highlight the plight of these ocean wanderers and illustrate how innovations, in reducing fishing by-catch in particular, are helping save seabirds’ lives, there’ll also be displays, podcasts and films from The Albatross Task force, members of the British Antarctic Survey and the RSPB’s own Global Species Recovery experts.
Maria Prchlik, added: ‘The overall aim of the day is to learn a little and smile a lot. We’re so lucky to have this magnificent seabird in our part of the world and it gives us great opportunity to shine a spotlight on one of nature’s superstar species’.
The World Albatross Day celebrations take place on Sunday 19 June from 10am. Regular updates will appear on both Facebook and Twitter in the run up to the event.
