Biodiversity of Skellig

Biodiversity on the Skellig Islands, which includes Sceilg Mhichíl that is in the care of the Office of Public Works, received a significant boost in the past week.

Fifteen governments signed up to the OSPAR convention which designated the seafloor of the North Atlantic Current and Evlanov Sea basin (NACES) a Marine Protected Area (MPA). This convention acknowledges the site's unparalleled significance for a multitude of marine species and the extraordinary value of its seabed habitats. Nestled in the heart of the North Atlantic Ocean outside of Ireland’s EEZ, this sprawling MPA spans an area roughly equivalent in size to continental France.

In 2021, OSPAR designated it as an MPA following extensive research led by BirdLife International, which involved using tracking data from 21 species of seabirds across 56 colonies. This tracking data revealed that 5 million birds, including Puffins that breed on Skellig Michael, use the NACES MPA every year, making the site a seabird hotspot and one of the most significant congregations of migratory seabirds in the Atlantic. However, until last week, the NACES MPA’s seafloor was unprotected.