Nobody knows whether the birds on nearby Coquet Island, which include the roseate tern, an endangered species in Europe, will survive.

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The loud squabbles and squawks of the punky-haired great crested tern, the black-naped tern, the bridled tern and the red foot-and-beaked roseate tern, fill the air during high summer.

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Environmentalists treasure Plum Island as a home to rare plants, a site where seals rest on rocks in large numbers, a stopover point for migratory birds and a habitat for endangered species like the roseate tern.

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