#0708 · 🐦 birds
Northern Gannet
🇳🇱 Jan-Van-Gent ·Morus bassanus
7 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
what is it?
The northern gannet ( Morus bassanus ) is a seabird and the largest member of the gannet family, Sulidae. "Gannet" is derived from Old English ganot "strong or masculine", ultimately from the same Old Germanic root as "gander". Morus is derived from Ancient Greek moros , "foolish" due to the lack of fear shown by breeding gannets and boobies allowing them to be easily killed. The specific bassanus is from the Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth, which...
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- Spotted 141 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist.
- 25,804 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Weighs up to about 3 kg.
- Scientifically named in 1758 (268 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- Northern Gannet
- Nederlands
- Jan-Van-Gent
- scientific name
- Morus bassanus
- class
- Aves
- order
- Suliformes
- family
- Sulidae
- IUCN Red List
- LC · least concern
- sightings in NL
- 141
- sightings in Europe
- 11,965
- sightings worldwide
- 25,804
- GBIF records in NL
- 58,087
- weight
- 3 kg
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1758
IUCN in Dutch: niet bedreigd. Blank means the sources don't say.
relatives· Sulidae
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 3802, Wikidata Q26675, GBIF 2480964, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.