More than half of UK and Ireland seabirds in decline, census finds

The Atlantic puffin is considered vulnerable to extinction. Britain and Ireland hold about 8% of the global population. Photograph: Robert F Bukaty/AP

More than half the seabird species breeding on British and Irish coasts have declined over the last 20 years, according to the most comprehensive census to date.

Eleven of 21 nesting seabirds species have fallen, five species have remained stable and five have increased, some because of targeted conservation work, according to the Seabirds Count survey.