Crises On Gough Island

A plea to our readers

The team on Gough are awoken by the sounds of birds calling – trumpeting calls of Rockhopper penguins, the screaming cries of sooty albatrosses on the cliffs, and the staccato clamour of the skuas. Close by, the sharp "keh-keh" of the Gough moorhens is constant, as these flightless birds roam outside the base.

Otherwise uninhabited, the base on Gough is home to ten people: three field biologists (Michelle Risi, Christopher Jones, and Alexis Osborne) from the UK’s Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and weather station staff from the South African Department of Environment, Forestry, and Fisheries (DEFF). Michelle, Chris, and Alexis come highly experienced, having all previously spent a year on South Africa’s Marion Island – where the conservation challenges mirror those on Gough. The base is surprisingly homely for one of the most remote places in the world, even bosting a 'braai' area reflecting its South African ties.

Like others who have stayed here Michelle likens Gough to Jurassic Park: steep, mountainous terrain, with peaks, often shrouded in mist.

However, instead of dinosaurs, hundreds of thousands of seabirds circle the cliffs. Seabirds face a serious threat, which is driving some highly-threatened species further towards extinction.

The nest invaders