Cardigan Island () is an uninhabited

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

north of

Cardigan, Ceredigion Cardigan (, ) is a town and Community (Wales), community in the Principal areas of Wales, county of Ceredigion, Wales. Positioned on the tidal reach of the River Teifi at the point where Ceredigion meets Pembrokeshire, Cardigan was the county to ...

, south-west

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. It reaches a height of a.s.l., and in area. Lying in the

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime enviro ...

of the

River Teifi The River Teifi ( ; , ), formerly anglicised as Tivy, forms the boundary for most of its length between the Welsh counties of Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, and for the final of its total length of , the boundary between Ceredigion and Pembr ...

, it is known for having a small colony of

grey seal The grey seal (''Halichoerus grypus'') is a large seal of the family Phocidae, which are commonly referred to as "true seals" or "earless seals". The only species classified in the genus ''Halichoerus'', it is found on both shores of the Nort ...

s. It is within of the Welsh coastline near

Gwbert Gwbert (), also known as Gwbert-on-Sea, is a cliff-top coastal village in Y Ferwig community (Wales), community, Ceredigion, Wales. It lies at the most southerly coastal point of Ceredigion, on the eastern shore of the River Teifi, Teifi estuary ...

. It is owned and managed by the

Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales (WTSWW) () is a Wildlife Trust in south and west Wales, one of 46 such Trusts in the United Kingdom. History Forerunner of the WTSWW, the former West Wales Naturalists' Trust traces its origin to a me ...

. The island was once the home of

puffin Puffins are any of three species of small alcids (auks) in the bird genus ''Fratercula''. These are pelagic seabirds that feed primarily by diving in the water. They breed in large colonies on coastal cliffs or offshore islands, nesting in crev ...

s and

Manx shearwater The Manx shearwater (''Puffinus puffinus'') is a medium-sized shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. The scientific name of this species records a name shift: Manx shearwaters were called Manks puffins in the 17th century. Puffin is an ...

. A guide book in the 1890s referred to the puffins as “Welsh parrots”. In 1924 Welsh writer and naturalist

Ronald Lockley Ronald Mathias Lockley (8 November 1903 – 12 April 2000) was a Welsh ornithologist and naturalist. He wrote over fifty books on natural history, including a study of shearwaters, and the book ''The Private Life of the Rabbit'', which was used ...

wrote that there were probably 25 to 30 pairs on the island. However, in 1934 the liner ''Herefordshire'', being towed to the breakers' yard, ran aground on the island in a storm, and rats made it ashore. Over a period of years they ate the eggs and chicks of nesting seabirds, and wiped out the island’s population of puffin and Manx shearwater, which have never returned. The wreck has attracted a wide variety of marine life and is a diving attraction. It was 45 years before the rat population was exterminated. Today, birds such as guillemots, razorbills, cormorants, shags, fulmars and a variety of sea-gulls all nest on the island.

Bottlenose dolphin The bottlenose dolphin is a toothed whale in the genus ''Tursiops''. They are common, cosmopolitan members of the family Delphinidae, the family of oceanic dolphins. Molecular studies show the genus contains three species: the common bot ...

s and Atlantic

grey seals The grey seal (''Halichoerus grypus'') is a large seal of the family Phocidae, which are commonly referred to as "true seals" or "earless seals". The only species classified in the genus ''Halichoerus'', it is found on both shores of the Nort ...

are also often seen in the sea around the island. Cardigan Island from the coastal path

References

External links

Visit-Cardigan.co.uk - Cardigan Island

www.geograph.co.uk — photographs of Cardigan Island
{{ceredigion Islands of Ceredigion Uninhabited islands of Wales

See also

References

External links