BBC crew in Coquet Island drama
The Coastguard’s Search and Rescue helicopter landed on Coquet Island to take the injured man to hospital. Photo by Maureen Barclay
The BBC Countryfile team were caught up in their own drama on Coquet Island, when a member of the crew was injured after a fall during filming. The man was attended first by the Amble lifeboats, then by the Coastguard’s Search and Rescue helicopter from Prestwick, which landed on the island.
The man, we understand to be a sound recordist, was taken by helicopter to Cramlington hospital with a shoulder injury.
He had been filming with presenter Matt Baker when the accident occurred. The Countryfile teams were filming in various locations, including Amble, Hauxley and Coquet Island, for an episode due to be aired on BBC1 on Sunday 6 May.
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- Lifeboat and helicopter on Coquet Island. Photo by Paul Morrison
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- Presenter Anita Rami talking with Amble fisherman Chris Armstrong. Photo Anna Williams
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- Amble RNLI attended the casualty. Photo David Gray
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- Photo by David Gray
We took a boat around Coquet Island seeing a fine spectacle of Terns, Puffin’s, eiders etc. We were told that when the Injured Countryfile member was helicoptered off the Island, that all the Puffin’s had to be removed from the island before doing so, thus reducing the puffin numbers considerably. And to this day, puffin numbers have not recovered. Is that so?
Hi Martin, I’m glad you enjoyed your Puffin Cruise. I’ve asked Paul Morrison, head warden on Coquet Island about this, and he assures you and anyone else who may be concerned, that although the puffins on the beach moved off the island when the helicopter arrived, the rest were unaffected.
He said “The puffins were back on the cliff over the beach the same night. We have a bumper puffin year again. It’s census year this year, so we will get a good real count of the Coquet population.”
Paul will be giving a talk about the Coquet Puffins at the upcoming Puffin Festival, on Bank Holiday Monday at 3pm in Fourways2.
In the meantime, I believe the Coquet Island cameras are now working, so you can see the puffins and terns live on the Island; here’s the link: http://www.carnyx.tv/LiveCameras/WildlifeCameras/CoquetIsland.aspx
kind regards
Anna