It’s a good season to be a Cape Gannet on Bird Island!
Lambert’s Bay, South Africa (27 March 2026) – It’s like looking at a cloud of white wings. That’s how sublime Bird Island becomes in the breeding season.
Around 43,000 Cape Gannets have made the island their home this year. A thriving colony of this size is a reason to celebrate, as the Cape Gannet is listed as Endangered on the global IUCN Red List. Two steps away from extinction in the wild.
Over the past years, the Bird Island colony held steady in the 30,000s. Between last year and this season, numbers have pushed well into the 40,000s. The jump is significant enough to suggest that gannets from other colonies are actively choosing Bird Island as their preferred place to breed.
It hasn’t always looked so hopeful. Just over a decade ago, the entire colony abandoned the island almost overnight after on-land seal predation made it too dangerous. Every single gannet left. The team at CapeNature refused to give up. They implemented predator management measures and, in one of the more creative conservation interventions you’ll ever hear about, used bird decoys to lure the gannets back!!
It worked. The colony slowly rebuilt and today it’s thriving again. In fact, early signs suggest this could be one of the strongest fledging seasons in several years. So far, 7647 young birds have been recorded and there are still several weeks of the season to go.
Gannet fledging is one of nature’s most spectacular events. Young birds leave the safety of the colony to embark on a two to three-year ocean-wide journey, returning only once they are ready to breed. Every fledgling leaving Bird Island right now is heading off on that extraordinary solo voyage…
In an effort to track them and understand their movements, rangers have ringed 750 chicks and 250 adult birds in partnership with the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment. This will bring vital data to national seabird research.
The busy breeding season is good news for the gannets, but also for the ocean!
“This kind of sustained occupancy is a positive sign for the species and for the marine environment that supports them,” says Dr Ashley Naidoo, CEO of CapeNature. “Large, stable gannet colonies like the one on Bird Island are important indicators of ocean health along the West Coast. These seabirds rely on healthy marine ecosystems for their nutrition and breeding success, so when we see them in large numbers, it reflects a positive conservation outcome.”
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The island hosts Cape, Crowned and White-breasted Cormorants, Common and Greater Crested Terns, Hartlaub’s and Kelp Gulls and, adding a touch of personality, a moulting penguin has taken up temporary residence within the gannet colony.
Bird Island has also updated its interpretive signage, which now gives visitors richer context about the island’s inhabitants, its history, and why seabird colonies matter to the broader marine ecosystem. It is a wonderful stop to make along the West Coast – now especially!
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