It is time for the annual puffin saving by the people in the Westman Islands, reports RÚV.
Every year, around this time, pufflings start to fly away from their nests for the first time. They like to fly at night, but often are unable to find their way back to their nests and end up following the lights into town. In town, the pufflings become prey for cats and other pets. The children and adults of the Westman Islands team up to catch the puffins and release them back to their nests.
The first puffling was found in town last night, starting the season.
“Yes, the first puffin was found last night, so it has officially started,” says head of the Puffin Sanctuary, Margrét Lilja Magnúsdóttir. “It always starts slowly, but after about two to three weeks we reach the peak.”
Margrét says that everyone pitches in to help save the pufflings, but this year the outlook is not looking great.
“In the second half of July we went to look at the puffin colony and some nests and dead puffins were removed and they were smaller than they should have been,” says Margrét. “So it indicates that there is some kind of food shortage or something else wrong, so we do not expect many pufflings this year.”
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