The Bass Rock in North Berwick has featured in a new BBC documentary highlighting the devastating impact of bird flu.
The East Lothian gannet colony has suffered immensely at the hands of avian flu in recent months as images taken in summer 2022 show it almost unrecognisable compared to recent years.
Susan Davis, the boss of the Scottish Seabird Centre in North Berwick, is featured in the documentary on BBC Alba, as she and reporter Andrew MacKinnon explore the impact of bird flu on the world's largest northern gannet colony.
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The pair are pictured taking a boat trip out to the Firth of Forth during the Eorpa programme, reports the Record. Susan said: "We saw the most significant impact on the Bass Rock, the world's largest northern gannet colony.
"We have over 150,000 individuals on that island, and so you know it is of international importance.
"When avian flu hit initially we saw a lot of washed up birds along the coastline and that was really the first sign that the disease had hit the island."
In July, we reported how the impact of hundreds of dead birds washing up on the East Lothian shore took its toll on staff members and volunteers at the Seabird Centre.
Speaking at the time, Susan added: "It is not easy to witness the scale of change we are seeing within the Bass Rock colony, or to watch a bird fitting as it comes to the end of its life.
“These events do create a lump in the throat. However, there’s also hope when we see adults still pair-bonding or new chicks being cared for. These moments of new life are even more poignant at this time and provide hope that the seabirds will recover albeit over a long time period."
The show is set to go into detail about how thousands of dead birds have washed up on Scottish shores amid unprecedented waves of avian influenza in recent months.
As well as cases being detected near the sea, locals in multiple Edinburgh areas near St Margaret's Loch and Blackford Pond have also been warned to be cautious as bird flu was also detected in those areas.
The UK experienced its largest ever bird flu outbreak last year, which has ravaged Scots coastal bird populations like great skuas, gannets and gulls.
The Record previously reported on scientists' fears that the epidemic - which has killed 97million birds worldwide - could eventually adapt to spread among humans.
The BBC Alba documentary, presented by reporter Andrew MacKinnon, spoke to other workers and conservation groups on the frontline in the fight against bird flu.
Eorpa aired on BBC Alba at 8.30pm on Thursday and will be available on BBC iPlayer for the next 11 months.
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