Thanks to Mark Rowe and the Geographical for the Headline.
I can approach this story as the men of Ness have not been given the License to sail to Sula Sgeir and do what their forefathers have done for centuries and kill the guga chicks to eat.
Nowadays they don’t eat them they send them to far off places in jars as a delicacy, for those who miss their homeland. The likelihood of these absent connoisseurs being able to sail a boat in those dangerous waters and spend two weeks “processing” the guga chicks is unlikely, they will eat the contents of the jar even though it is an acquired taste. In their far off lands, with fork in hand they reminisce about the “tradition”.
However, with the onset of bird flu Gannet breeding has not been doing so well , neither have other species who live on the Island who are affected by the commotion associated with the hunt. So Nature Scotland has declined to give them the license this year.
So the bludgeoning and burning, well documented in two films made about the “Hunt” which is by no means a “Hunt”.
The hunters themselves are upset as been classed as “baby killers”. Are they all men? Do women go on this fortnightly expedition? Is it just an opportunity to live wild and show off their prowess at sailing. Surely , the reason is not to kill a young bird that can hardly waddle.
I couldn’t have written about this story if it hadn’t been banned this year.Why can’t the men of Ness go around Britain sailing and take up the very dangerous Oxfordshire Sport of Aunt Sally. I hope this slaughter of baby birds is stopped permanently.
Keep the films and the photographs as memories of a past best forgotten.
Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏
thenotsomightyom 