Atlantic puffins are iconic seabirds facing multiple interacting threats from climate change, overfishing, and invasive predators that affect both welfare and population viability.
Puffin chicks that starve in burrows suffer prolonged hunger invisible to observers. Adult puffins that fail to find fish waste energy on extended foraging trips and may abandon chicks. Climate change is reorganising the distribution of prey fish in ways that may fundamentally alter puffin colony viability. Addressing both local threats such as predation and systemic threats such as overfishing are essential.