Sailors, jet-skiers, kakayers and paddleboarders are asked to avoid certain areas from March to July in the Channel Islands to protect breeding seabirds from disturbance.
Alderney’s puffin friendly zone, introduced in 2018, is aimed at protecting the puffins on Burhou.
Buoy markers are not possible due to the island’s large range of tides so the area, a bay with two obvious headlands, is shown on information boards on the shore and is marked on sailing charts.
Off Herm two puffin awareness markers have been placed adjacent to Puffin Bay to remind those using boats and jet skis of the six knot speed limit.
The seabird conservation zone in Jersey, first put in place in 2009, is an invisible line 65ft (200m) from the shore straight out to sea between Plemont and Greve de Lecq.
Cristina Sellarés, the Birds on the Edge project leader for the National Trust for Jersey, said markers were not deployed as the island’s tides were so strong, buoys would drag and damage the seabed.
She said boaters and paddlers entering the zone lead to rafting puffins becoming anxious and taking flight, which used up vital energy, and being distracted from vital activity such as resting, preening, feeding and sitting on eggs.
Alderney Wildlife Trust’s Stewart agreed: “This disturbance can have a significant impact on breeding success.”