Increase in Sea Levels Threatens to Wash Away Young Seals

By Gerry Holt

THE impact of climate change on Wales’ coasts will have major knock-on effects for a whole host of wildlife, a study by the National Trust said yesterday.

Coastal erosion and flooding could damage the habitats of a number of plants and animals, while warmer temperatures could bring new species to Welsh shores.

Basking sharks, little egrets, the Glanville fritillary butterfly and the Celtic sea slug could all become more common on beaches around Wales.

But rising sea levels and increased flooding and erosion could hit species of tern and wading birds, as well as the grey seal, sand eels, guillemots and kitty wakes, the National Trust said.

Risk assessments carried out by the trust on its coastal sites, which cover about 150 miles of coastline in Wales, found that the nation’s shores were experiencing a "huge amount of change".

Adrian Woodhall, NT coastal risk assessment officer, said: "What we’re trying to do is make people aware that climate change will affect us but it will also affect wildlife and habitats in the places that we love as well."

Rising sea levels and stormy weather could narrow the isolated shingle beaches that grey seals use to bring up their pups, increasing the risk of the youngsters being washed away.

Gerry Holt newsdesk@mediawales.co.uk Pups’ habitats ‘to suffer from climate change’ "In Pembrokeshire there is an enormous population of Atlantic grey seals," said Mr Woodhall.

"There’s a greater chance in the future that the back of the beach will start getting eroded and that means a smaller space for females to have pups.

"It’s not good news from their point of view."

There are also fears that salt marshes and mud flats which are home to a number of wading birds will be squeezed by rising seas, while the breeding grounds of tern species could be flooded.

At the Cemlyn Estate in north Anglesey, for example, there is a shingle ridge which separates the beach and a freshwater lake which has small islands which are the habitat of sandwich terns.

Mr Woodhall said: "In the future, if we get more stormy weather, we think there’s a good chance that beach will break through and release all the fresh water.

"What will happen is those birds will be vulnerable to predators like mink, foxes and stoats.

"The islands, which were once a safe place to breed, now become another piece of land which has all the problems others birds have."

But climate change will not be bad news for all wildlife, the research found.

The warmer conditions may mean sharks become a more familiar sight around the Welsh coast.

Plankton-eating basking sharks have already made their way up England’s east coast, with a pair spotted by NT wardens off the Farne Islands in Northumberland for the first time last year. It is likely they will make their way to Wales in the future.

Mr Woodhall said it would also become more common for anglers to catch sunfish, a large species of fish which is normally found in the Atlantic and Mediterranean.

Little egrets, a Mediterranean member of the heron family which were a rarity in Wales, have already been spotted at mud flats in Barry and Cardiff.

Another arrival from the Mediterranean, the Celtic sea slug, could spread from its current base in Cornishrock pools, the National Trust said.

The NT officer called for more of a debate on the issue and said it was vital new spaces, for example salt marshes, were found for some species to colonise.

"What’s really come out from this research is that we actually need to give more space for these species to colonise new areas," he said.

Mr Woodhall has been monitoring the effect of coastal erosion since August 2006 and continues to research the issue.

"This is having, and will have, a major impact on the wildlife and habitats that stretch all the way around our coast – both marine and terrestrial," he said