Topline
TikTok users were shocked this week to learn of an Icelandic tradition that compels people to throw baby puffins, called “pufflings,” off of cliffs and into the waiting sea below, but the tradition of helping the young birds find their way to the ocean is a practice that experts say has become vital to the survival of the species.
Too cute by half: A puffin on Inner Farne on May 1, 2022, in Farne Islands, England.
Key Facts
In a video with almost 10 million views and over 1.4 million likes, a TikTok user named Jenn explained the longstanding phenomenon that sees residents of some Iceland towns on the hunt for baby Atlantic puffins to toss into the sea—a practice that usually runs from late August to the end of September, though exact timing changes every year.
Icelanders are wrapping up their seasonal search for the pufflings, who could once instinctually find their way from their hatch site to the sea but have become increasingly confused by the bright lights of towns like Vestmannaeyjabaer in the Westman Islands, according to Smithsonian Magazine.
The lights have muddled the instincts of the birds, who have traditionally followed the moon to find water, and instead of watching the pufflings aimlessly wander away from their colonies, people have begun grabbing the babes from wherever they spot them and tossing them off of cliffs jutting out over the ocean.
The puffins are always found in the dark—9 p.m. to 3 a.m. are prime hunting hours—and those who find them tend to keep them safe overnight in cardboard boxes before heading to the cliffs the next morning, Vestmannaeyjabaer residents told Smithsonian.
Rodrigo Martínez Catalán, a research assistant with the South Iceland Nature Research Center, told NPR the human intervention has done wonders to allow the population to thrive as puffins mate for life and incubate only one egg per season in the years they do lay.
People who catch pufflings are encouraged to report the weight of each baby on a website that allows researchers to monitor the health of the area’s puffin population.
A puffin is seen from the cliffs of Heimaey island, Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland.
Crucial Quote
“It’s a great feeling because you just rescued this little guy. And when you bring him to the cliff—it’s the first time in his life he’s seeing the ocean," Kyana Sue Powers told NPR. “I’m always, like, ‘Bye, buddy—have a great life; I can’t wait to see you again!”
Big Number
700,000. That's how many puffin chicks were born in the Westman Islands in 2021, a return to almost-normal numbers following two decades of falling population. The Icelandic puffin population has shrunk by 70% in the last thirty years, the Iceland Review reported.
Key Background
Iceland’s largest group of puffins live in the Westman Islands off the south coast of the country, where about 60% of the world’s Atlantic puffins choose to breed. Puffins incubate the one egg they'll lay each year for about six weeks, and spend an equal amount of time feeding their babies in the on-land burrows in which they hatch, usually amid rocky cliffs. After those six weeks at home, pufflings grow to full size and fly to the sea, where they’ll float for three to four years before returning to land to make their own nests for breeding, according to the Audubon Seabird Institute. The puffin population waxes and wanes but is being increasingly impacted by sea temperatures, Smithsonian reported—warm waters hurt the supply of sandeel—the fish that pufflings eat, and smaller, less well-fed chicks are less likely to survive the winter. Puffins live longer than 25 years on average and the species can withstand some amount of breeding failure, but chick production in Iceland was below sustainable population levels for almost two decades before last year’s breeding season started to rebound. Puffins have also been impacted by an increasing occurrence of extreme storms and shifting ocean circulation, scientists say.
Atlantic puffins nesting in old rabbit holes on the slope of a sea cliff in Iceland.
Further Reading
An Icelandic Town Goes All Out to Save Baby Puffins (Smithsonian Magazine)
How Often Do Men Think About The Roman Empire? A Lot, According To New TikTok Trend (Forbes)
The New Big 5: An Endangered Wildlife List For Travelers (Forbes)
Iceland Landmarks: Must-See Sights In The Land Of Fire And Ice (Forbes)
