Guardian of the flock

From a fibreglass beach hut, Yves Chesselet monitors a massive flock of birds that resemble overgrown seagulls.

"I love their make-up. I tell the tourists to do theirs like that when they go home," he jokes of the birds' elaborate black markings.

Tourists come to Bird Island - connected to the mainland of Lambert's Bay on the West Coast by a causeway - for the thousands of gannets that live there.

The island is one of six worldwide, and three in South Africa, where the birds breed, but the colony was almost destroyed when seals attacked it in 2005.

Chesselet says the 100 or so overseas tourists a day decreased during the period when the birds left.

With the cacophony of 17000 birds in the background, and the barking of 2000 seals heard from the other side of the island, the 54-year-old conservationist tells how he has dedicated his life to keeping harmony between the two groups.

In 2005, the seals inexplicably attacked the gannets. "It was a freak of nature. There was no precedent. After two dramatic weeks, the gannets just packed up and left."

With the village's biggest tourist attraction at risk, Chesselet began patrolling Bird Island twice a day.

His presence eventually pushed the seals back, while decoy gannets enticed the birds to return.

"It took three years to get the balance right. We would watch them all hours. At times it seemed like a losing battle," he says.

Chesselet says the gannets "are very high maintenance. They only lay one egg at a time. They're very heavy and need lots of wind to take off."

Lambert's Bay councillor Danville Smith said the birds were part and parcel of the bay.

"The island is made up of the birds. If they are gone, then there is no island. People are happy that the birds are back. Businesses can start doing business again."