The Fate of Our Seabirds: How Ancient Poo Offers New Insight into Future Seabird Populations

Researchers were analysing the geochemistry of the cores, to get an insight into historic wind speeds on the island, when they found layers of ancient bird poo preserved in the peatland.This bird poo, or guano, now gives them a window into 8,000 years of seabird history, in one of the most important seabird breeding sites on Earth: Bird Island is home to vast colonies of wandering albatrosses, petrels and penguins.