BEMPTON CLIFFS

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Bempton Cliffs, on the east Yorkshire Coast, are the largest chalk cliffs in the UK at over 100 metres in places and 10 killometres long. They attract around 500,000 nesting seabirds including puffins, razorbills, guillemots, kittiwakes, and the star of the show, northern gannets. The gannets are the largest seabird in Britain with a wingspan of over 180 cm or six foot. And Bempton Cliffs is the only place on the British mainland where they nest. They are strikingly beautiful with their black, white and buttery orange plumage and long necks and bills. They mate for life but with tens of thousands nesting together on tiny ledges they have to be able to find their mate. They do this by “billing”, standing chest to chest and rubbing their bills together. They’re curious, elegant, affectionate, and fairly intolerant of intruders.