In one of the top Arctic birding destinations in the world, environmental and health challenges are threatening some of the seabirds that are part of Norway’s unique coastal ecosystem. The population of kittiwakes has declined by 80% since the 1990s along the Scandinavian country’s coast. The small seagull species, among others, is under siege from climate change, predators, local fishing and bird flu. So the town of Vardø, on the remote Vardøya Island in the Barents Sea, stepped up to help their weakened neighbors. Three years ago, fisherman Jan Vidar Hansen built a “seagull hotel” out of crates for seabirds like kittiwakes to nest in safely.
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