page_title: Puffin Island (Anglesey)
section_title: Wildlife
hierarchical_section_title: Puffin Island (Anglesey) / Wildlife
caption_attribution_description: English: Trwyn Du Lighthouse
context_page_description: Puffin Island is an uninhabited island off the eastern tip of Anglesey, Wales. It was formerly known as Priestholm in English and Ynys Lannog in Welsh. A hermitage was established here around the 6th century, and there are remains of a 12th-century monastery on the island. The island is also a Special Protection Area for wildlife.
context_section_description: The island is a Special Protection Area (SPA), particularly because of its great cormorant colony of over 750 birds, which is over 10% of the national population, making it one of the largest colonies in the British Isles. It also has good numbers of guillemot, razorbill, shag and kittiwake nesting, and in recent years small numbers of common eider and black guillemot. The Atlantic puffins from which the island gets its modern English name bred in considerable numbers at one time, with up to 2,000 pairs recorded. The brown rat was introduced accidentally to the island, probably in the late 19th century, and reduced this population to a very few pairs. A programme of poisoning these rats started in 1998 by the Countryside Council for Wales appears to have eradicated them, and the puffin population has shown an increase since that date up to 300 birds. Both Manx shearwater and storm petrels are also thought to breed on the island.
  At one time the island was heavily grazed by rabbits, but these were wiped out by an outbreak of myxomatosis, leading to the growth of dense vegetation, particularly common elder (Sambucus nigra).
  The strong currents around the island provide for an abundance of marine life, particularly on the north coast, where the depths reach 15 metres (8 fathoms). Many people enjoy fishing trips departing from Beaumaris in these waters, catching mainly mackerel, but many other species are caught. The abundance of fish feeds a large colony of grey seals, and  bottlenose dolphins and harbour porpoises regularly visit the area. Pleasure cruises are also available from Easter to October to view the island, its seal colony and birdlife.
caption: Trwyn Du Lighthouse near the island
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