Scottish Seabird Centre

Scottish Seabird Centre
Scottish Seabird Centre
General information
Location	The Harbour, North Berwick EH39 4SS, Scotland
Construction started	2000; 17 years ago (2000)

The Scottish Seabird Centre is a conservation and education charity, and visitor attraction in North Berwick, East Lothian, Scotland. Opened by Charles, Prince of Wales in 2000 and funded by the Millennium Commission, the showpiece of the centre is the interactive live cameras on the Firth of Forth islands. These are controlled by visitors to the Discovery Centre. The cameras are on islands including the Bass Rock, the world's largest colony of Northern gannets, and the Isle of May National Nature Reserve.

Materials used to construct the centre were, whenever possible, environmentally sustainable and locally sourced. The centre was designed by Edinburgh architects Simpson & Brown to make use of natural light and ventilation, and to offer panoramic views both to sea and inland towards North Berwick Law. Very little plastic was used in construction, with wood, stone and metal being preferred.

The site now occupied by the Scottish Seabird Centre once overlooked the North Berwick Outdoor Swimming Pool, a feature of the North Berwick Harbour area from the 19th century until its eventual closure in 1996. The old pool has been filled in and is now a boat and dinghy park for members of the East Lothian Yacht Club. The buildings housing the offices of the Seabird Centre were previously a sun room.

During the public consultation phase many locals objected to the construction of the Seabird Centre on the grounds that the harbour area would not be able to cope with the large number of visitors, and that the large-scale construction required could damage the historic area. These fears proved to be unfounded although parking in the surrounding area has become even more of a problem.

The Scottish Seabird Centre was one of the flagship projects backed by the Millennium Commission which distributed cash from the UK National Lottery to cultural and heritage-related projects. A 64p stamp commemorating the opening of the Seabird Centre was released in 2000 as part of the "Above & Beyond" collection in the Millennium Series. Although the stamp features a colony of gannets, the featured picture was taken in South Africa, not (as many assume) on the Bass Rock.

The main attraction at the Seabird Centre is the network of cameras which allow visitors to observe gannets, puffins, shags, cormorants and other seabirds. Additional wildlife includes seals, dolphins and whales. Visitors may take remote control of solar-powered cameras, sited on the islands and key sites around the Firth of Forth. The cameras stream video onto giant screens, allowing the user to witness the birds nesting. The Discovery Centre also has a Wildlife Theatre, Kids' Zone with soft play and Kids' Corner, fish tanks, Scope Deck, Turtle & Ray Zone, gift shop and licensed cafe with an outdoor sun deck overlooking the sea. There are workshops and science shows for families during school holidays, and there is a year-round programme of events and festivals. The Centre also organises a programme of walks, including a free guided early bird beach walk every month. The Seabird Centre runs Seabird Seafari boat trips, from North Berwick Harbour, to the islands from Easter to October. The Centre also has exclusive landing rights for Bass Rock, owned by Sir Hew Hamilton-Dalrymple, and home to the world's largest colony of Northern gannets. These 5 hour guided round trips, which leave from Dunbar Harbour in the fishing trawler Fisher Lassie, must be booked well in advance through the centre. Landing trips to the Isle of May are available departing from North Berwick, as well as hour-long trips around the Bass Rock on board the 55-seat catamaran and 12-seat RIBs.