A nesting seagull who held up the opening of the popular Aquasplash attraction on Aberavon Beach have abandoned the nest, according to the council. It means the £350,000 water play area, which was originally due to open on May 30, can soon be enjoyed by the public.
Its original opening date was postponed from May Half Term as UK law prohibits people from moving a gull's nest or disrupting the nesting gulls in any way. But now, more than a week later, Neath Port Talbot council has confirmed that the bird had left the nest.
The gull made the nest on a large tipping bucket feature. Council biodiversity officers who have been monitoring the nest found the bird missing from the site this week beginning June 6 and on Friday, June 10, the nest was cleared from the site.
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A damaged egg rolled out of the nest which the council said supports their theory that predation by other gulls may have been responsible for the abandonment of the nest by the parent birds. Although the mother bird spends most of her time on the nest it must occasionally leave to feed herself and if the nest is in an exposed position it could be vulnerable, according to the council.
A spokeswoman for the council’s Countryside and Wildlife team said: “Sadly, as the nest was in such an exposed location when she left the nest to get food it would have been in a position to be easily predated by other gulls.
“Normally the nests would be in a corner of a roof or camouflaged amongst pebbles so as not to be visible. But as they chose to make the nest on a brightly coloured platform in the middle of the Aqua Splash – with no camouflage – it would be so easily have been spotted and grabbed by other gulls. You can get more Neath news and other story updates by subscribing to our newsletters here.
“It was noted there are a lot of other gulls in that area standing on adjacent roofs and lampposts who could easily spot the nest. We are sorry this has ended in this way but all was done as stipulated by law to ensure these gulls were left in peace while nesting but it appears the location of their nest was too exposed.”
Celtic Leisure, which runs Aquasplash for the council, has cleaned the bucket and checked it is operational. Celtic Leisure staff have also increased the concentration of chlorine to make sure it is thoroughly disinfected while it runs normally over the weekend. After more water quality sampling is completed Aquasplash should open to the public in the near future.
The inclusive aquatic play area launched last summer and saw hundreds of children and their families enjoy countless days out playing in the water features and enjoying family time together. The attraction features 30 water features, including fountains, jets and waterfalls and replaced a paddling pool and small water play area which was popular with locals but needed to be refurbished.
