Marine Birds in the Danish Monarchy and 

 Their Conservation 



by 



Finn Salomonsen 



Chief Curator of Birds 



The Zoological Museum 



University of Copenhagen 



Copenhagen, Denmark 



Abstract 



Most species of seabirds that regularly breed in Denmark are declining, for a 

 variety of reasons: shooting; oil pollution; toxic chemicals; reclamation of land; 

 collecting of eggs; disturbance at breeding sites by visitors, motorboats, camp- 

 ing, etc.; destruction by predators; and others. On the other hand, the numbers of 

 certain other species are increasing as a result of climatic changes (six species), 

 protection (three species), and increase in food supply (three species of gulls). In 

 addition to breeding birds, a total of about 3 million birds occur in Danish waters 

 as passage migrants or winter visitors. More than half of the European winter 

 populations of a number of marine waterfowl species winter in Denmark. Large 

 numbers of seabirds spend the summer in Danish waters, including several hun- 

 dred thousand immature gulls and just as many molting waterfowl. 



The seabird fauna of the Faroe Islands is very rich, the immense number of 

 birds being attracted by the local abundance of macroplankton and fish. The sea- 

 birds are harvested by man, formerly by fowling (capturing and shooting), now 

 primarily by shooting. Until about 1910, more than 400,000 birds were taken 

 annually by fowling. The Faroese game act is now very restrictive, and most sea- 

 bird populations appear to be almost stable. However, a census in 1972 indicated 

 that common murres (Uria aalge) have declined by about 20% to a population of 

 about 600,000. Shooting and snaring appear to be the primary causes of the 

 decline; oil pollution and toxic chemicals do not seem to be contributing to the 

 population decrease. 



In Greenland seabirds provide an important source of human food; however, 

 because of the increase in human population and in the use of guns and speed- 

 boats for hunting, and the absence of a game act, serious overshooting of sea- 

 birds is taking place. A new game act passed in 1977 should largely alleviate this 

 overharvest. Oil pollution and toxic chemicals do not yet play an important part 

 in influencing the number of seabirds, though offshore oil drilling is being 

 initiated in West Greenland. A recently established gigantic national park, 

 covering 200,000 km 2 of ice-free land, is the largest nature reserve in the world. 



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