Record number of baby puffins
A puffling, called Lundapysja in Icelandic. Photo/ Sæheimar
Over 2,100 puffin chicks, called pufflings, have been taken to Sæheimar in the Westman Islands this autumn which is a record number since counting began in 2003. The puffin stock had previously been at a low.
Pufflings remain in their burrows during the summer and feed on fish which their parents bring to the nest. In August, pufflings leave their burrows and fly towards the sea. Many still haven't mastered the art of flying and are often run over by cars, caught by cats or die of hunger if they get lost in the town of Vestmannaeyjar.
In the Westman Islands children traditionally come to the aid of pufflings and take them down to the coast.
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Lost pufflings are picked up by children, weighed and counted and then taken down to the sea. Photo/Erpur Snær Hansen
