(Update in 2020: We’ve written a children’s book about this amazing true story!)
I think this is one of the greatest things in Iceland. Let’s start with a quick description of puffins. Atlantic Puffins are seabirds found around Iceland, Greenland, and several other areas in the North Atlantic.
Most of the year, they live out on the ocean, diving for food; you can recognize them by their rapidly flapping wings.
But in late spring, they head to seaside cliffs to lay their eggs. The eggs are shaped in a particular way so they don’t roll off the cliff; rather, they just spin in a small circle.
The eggs hatch in the summer; the adult puffins raise the birds for 6 weeks or so. But once the baby puffins (“pufflings”) are big enough, the parents stop feeding them, and they are on their own. The babies fly toward the water and begin their life at sea.
Except … sometimes they don’t. The pufflings have an instinct to head toward light to get to the ocean: the moon, I think? But the lights of civilization confuse them, and they end up lost and lonely on land.
Every year, children of the Westman Islands (off the south coast of Iceland) have a job– saving these misguided pufflings. This year, there was concern that many of the babies didn’t survive, and that there wouldn’t be many babies to rescue. But last week, the children of the island, armed with flashlights and cardboard boxes, started finding them. The kids get to stay up late looking for pufflings.
That’s a picture from the Facebook page of the Westman Islands Aquarium, called Saeheimar Aquarium. (Edit: The aquarium is now part of the Sea Life Trust Beluga Whale Sanctuary. I have updated the links in the post.) The children take care of the pufflings overnight, and then bring them to the Aquarium the next day; there they keep records of how many pufflings have been found. Finally, the children take their pufflings to the ocean and set them free, this time facing the right direction.
The pictures on their Facebook page are fantastic- so many smiling kids posing with their pufflings. And so many cute pufflings too!
But this is a serious operation. As of yesterday, the Aquarium has recorded 1,355 pufflings that have been rescued. And they are finding more every night. So follow along on their Facebook page. And, if you’re in the Westman Islands (which I highly recommend), go visit the aquarium. There you can pet their pet puffin.
He was a rescued puffling a several years ago, but he was injured. So now he spends his days wandering around the aquarium and hanging out with visitors. This was a highlight of our visit to the Westman Islands, but there’s a lot more to do!
[Edit August 2018: The puffin pictured above passed away this month. But there should still be other puffins at the aquarium!]
The puffling season is in late August or early September. It’s tough to plan a trip around this, since the timing varies each year. But if you happen to be heading to the Westman Islands around this time, make sure to bring a flashlight, and let the kids stay up late!
Thank you for your kind words about our Island, and I am glad you and your family got to experience this wonder that is the puffling saving season. My kids found eleven last night so the season is still going strong and 1900 puffins have been weight and recorded. Best wishes for a safe and happy travels
Hildur Jóahannsdóttir
Thanks for reading, Hidur! Unfortunately, we weren’t able to be there for the pufflings. We visited the Westman Islands at the end of May, and learned about the pufflings then. We’ve been following their progress ever since!
11 pufflings in one night is very impressive– Hopefully they will keep finding more!
How do you recommend getting to the aquarium/island?
Hi Graciela,
Once you get to the island, it’s a pretty short walk to the aquarium. As for getting to the Westman Islands, a ferry from the port called Landeyjahöfn is your best bet. Ferries from this port take abou 35 minutes each way. Landeyjahöfn is often used over the summer, but a port much much further away called Þorlákshöfn; the ferry from here takes close to 3 hours.
So make sure you check the ferry status at the ferry company’s Facebook page. (Their posts typically have English at the bottom, following the Icelandic.) If they are sailing from Landeyjahöfn, it’s a much easier trip for me to recommend!
See more details in our guest post here: Westman Islands with Kids.
Stories like this give me hope. Wise children stepping up to correct what those who came before got wrong.
This is a tradition in Heimeay dating back to the first human inhabitants.
We were there a couple weeks ago and went out to help rescue the pufflings, but didn’t find any. 🙁 I do have one question though–are the pufflings ok overnight without any food? Are they supposed to be fed? Thank you!
Hi Heather- this is a great question! I think the answer is no, that they don’t need to be fed. I guess they expect to not eat for a while until they find their puffin friends on the ocean?
You could ask the Sea Life Trust Beluga Sanctuary to confirm, though, since I’m not positive. I’m sorry you weren’t able to find any pufflings! I did read somewhere that this year was a slower season.