Skomer Island is a retreat from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. A small oasis situated just off the beautiful Pembrokeshire coastline. Once on the island, our main focus will be one of the UK's most loved seabirds, known for their brightly coloured bills, comical waddle, and inquisitive nature; the Atlantic Puffin. But Skomer offers so much more than just puffins. Each spring, the island becomes a bustling seabird metropolis, home to countless breeding birds, such as guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes, and chough, to name a few. and, if we are lucky, we may encounter any breeding short-eared owls.

The Atlantic Puffin population on Skomer has increased by a massive 240% over the last ten years and is now home to a whopping 42,513 puffins to be exact. This is in stark contrast to other puffin numbers across the UK, especially in the north, which continue to fall. This makes Skomer Island of critical importance to the future of the Atlantic Puffin, not only in the UK but worldwide,

Puffins are one of, if not the world's most photogenic seabirds. Inquisitive in their nature, they are always a joy to spend time with. Skomer is a perfect place to build a portfolio of images showcasing these endearing birds. Spending two/three nights on the island allows us to be on hand to experience many different situations with the birds and weather. Perhaps the most appealing aspect of staying on the island overnight is that it allows us to avoid the day visitors, and as the sun sets and rises each day, we can enjoy the island in complete solitude.

As well as seeing puffins, there will also be a chance to witness the phenomenon of Manx Shearwaters. Skomer is home to about half of the world's population of Manx shearwaters (roughly 350,000 pairs) and watching them return to their burrows under a shroud of darkness is a magical experience that can only be experienced by staying overnight on the island.

Currently listed as vulnerable on the UICN red list, meaning their global population is on a downward trend,

the Atlantic puffin faces an uncertain future. Several factors contribute including unsustainable fishing, marine pollution and invasive ground predators, but the main threat arises from the change in distribution and numbers of their primary food source, sandeels, due to our warming seas. The puffins’ fate and sandeels are entwined; if we lose the sandeels we run the risk of losing our puffins.

Europe hosts ninety per cent of the world’s Atlantic puffin breeding population, the greatest stronghold being Iceland, home to sixty percent of the world population. Living in colonies makes the birds vulnerable to any adverse changes in environment such as oil spills or unforeseen natural disasters that might affect their feeding grounds. With their low reproductive rate of only one egg per pair during the season, such events are likely to have a massive impact with populations taking decades to recover.

Across Europe puffin numbers have been declining, mainly because rising sea temperatures reduce the numbers of plankton, the main food source of sandeels which, in turn, are the puffin’s primary food. Reduced plankton has a monumental impact on the food chain, and some birds have been forced to abandon their regular feeding grounds in the North Sea, instead journeying far into the Atlantic in search of food. These travails leave parent birds exhausted, and pufflings without food for extended periods, greatly increasing mortality rates.

With over ten million adult puffins globally, it is not too late to reverse the downward trend although, since the turn of the century, climate change, overfishing and pollution have increasingly made it more difficult for these wonderful birds to find food and raise the next generation. There is still hope, but salvation can only come from changes in human attitudes and a better stewardship of our oceans and coastal environments