By Cara Sulieman
CELEBRITY spoon-bender Uri Gellar will get free lifts by boat to his new island after scrapping plans to use his helicopter.
Geller bought Lamb Island in the Firth of Forth last week, and has since promised that he will do his best to take care of the birds that live there.
But he put a cat among the pigeons by announcing that he planned to fly by helicopter to land on the island.
Worried conservationists feared the island’s protected birds would be terrified by the noisy aircraft and abandon their nests.
But Geller changed his mind when Lynda Dalgleish from the Scottish Seabird Centre said they will to help him visit his £30,000 island investment.
She said: “We would certainly have advised him not to land his helicopter on Lamb. Apart from anything else it’s far too small and uneven.
“But also it would disturb the wildlife on the island, especially during the spring and summer when the birds come back.”
Although his reasons for purchasing the island off Edinburgh were more spiritual, the TV presenter has vowed to help the more earthly plight of the seabird.
Geller believes there is a spiritual connection between the island and the Egyptian pyramids.
When it was announced that he had bought the island, he said that he was “fascinated by the connection between the pyramids and these islands.”
But it is his commitment to the seabird community on Lamb that has local conservationists excited.
After initially worrying local bird charities by saying that he would have to use his helicopter to reach the remote spot, it is now clear that the magician intends to visit his new purchase by water.
Protecting wildlife
The spoon-bender has now vowed to do everything he can to protect the island and its inhabitants.
He said: “I am proud to have this opportunity to preserve it, not just for its mythological and historical connections but for its conservation value – Lamb Island is part of a Sight of Special Scientific Interest.
“I can’t build there, of course, but it is home to countless seabirds, and perhaps seals too.”
And Geller has also given a £1,000 donation to the Scottish Seabird Centre in North Berwick, who offered to take him across to the island he owns.
Tom Brock, the centre’s director, said: “We are delighted that someone who has bought the island recognises the importance of the wildlife and that the seabird centre has a new friend.
“Uri Geller was very interested in the seabird centre and is quite keen to support us. We have offered to take him out in a boat to view his new island in the spring.”
