Sumburgh Head lies at the southern tip of mainland Shetland. This dramatic 100-metre-high rocky spur has a reputation for being one of the biggest and most accessible seabird colonies in Britain. Thousands of puffins, guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes and fulmars gather there every spring to breed.

Or at least they used to – for this year Sumburgh Head is a quiet and largely deserted place. The silence is uncanny – the result of a crash in seabird numbers that has been in progress for several years but which has now reached an unprecedented, catastrophic low.

The causes of these devastating declines are many, according to scientists – though most agree that the disappearance of food sources is the main reason. Seabirds rely heavily on sand eels for food, and this supply was severely depleted in northern waters by fishing – though this was eventually halted, allowing stocks to recover. However, these have now been disrupted again by global warming, triggered by rising carbon dioxide emissions. Temperatures in the North Sea and North Atlantic have risen significantly as a result.

Climate change, has disrupted food chains in the North Sea and North Atlantic and left many seabirds without a source of sustenance. The result has been an apocalyptic drop in numbers of Arctic terns, kittiwakes and many other birds. Click here to read more