CRAIG Hoy, a Conservative MSP for South Scotland, has visited the Scottish Seabird Centre in North Berwick where he met with staff to learn more about the challenges and opportunities it faces.
The visit followed an outbreak of Avian Flu in local seabird colonies on the Bass Rock and May Island.
The Bass Rock contains the world’s largest colony of Northern Gannet, while Craigleith is a hotspot for puffins and the Isle of May is used by other seabirds including puffins, guillemots, razorbills, fulmars, kittiwakes and shags during breeding season in Spring and early Summer.
During his visit to the centre, Mr Hoy met Scottish Seabird Centre Chief Executive Susan Davies to discuss the impact of Avian Flu on Northern Gannets, upcoming plans for the Seabird Centre and the importance of fundraising for the centre.
“There have been many challenges for the centre recently with the outbreak of Avian Flu amongst the local seabird population and following on from the covid pandemic,” he said.
Mr Hoy experienced the Seabird Centre’s interactive visitor experience, where he was shown live images of Northern Gannets on the Bass Rock and took part in the Seabird Centre’s Virtual Reality experience.
He commented: “It was good to visit the Scottish Seabird Centre in North Berwick and to learn about how the centre are engaging with local schools, care homes and other community groups to educate people about East Lothian’s fantastic marine environment and the local seabird population.
“The seabird centre is a fantastic space to learn about Scotland’s marine environment and seabirds, and it has space to accommodate for community events.
The centre also operate snorkel trails to discover East Lothian’s thriving marine environment from Gullane, Yellowcraig, North Berwick and Dunbar.
Craig added: “I would absolutely encourage anyone thinking about it to give the centre a visit and support the Scottish Seabird Centre charity where they can as it is well worth visiting.”
Susan Davies, Chief Executive of the Scottish Seabird Centre, said: “We were delighted to welcome Craig Hoy to the Centre and to have an opportunity to provide an update on avian flu which has devasted several seabird colonies around Scotland this year. It was good to discuss the need for further support for surveillance and research to understand avian flu.
“Touring the discovery experience also provided an opportunity to talk about our wider conservation and education charitable activities and the ongoing challenges of raising sufficient income, from the Centre and fundraising activity, to support these.
“We’re grateful to Craig for his interest in the breadth of our activities.”
