Marine Wildlife

Atlantic Puffin Welfare and Conservation

Atlantic puffins face rapid population decline due to climate-driven changes in fish availability, predation, and pollution at sea.

Key Facts

Puffins spend most of their lives at sea, only coming ashore to breed
They can carry up to 10-12 small fish crossways in their beaks
UK puffin populations declined by 30% over 30 years
Climate change shifts sandeels northward away from puffin colonies
Puffins are legally protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act

Welfare Considerations

Puffin chicks can starve when sandeels - their primary food - move northward due to warming seas. Adults making longer foraging trips exhaust themselves and may abandon chicks. Entanglement in fishing gear causes drowning. Oil pollution coats feathers, destroying insulation and causing hypothermia. Plastic ingestion may cause internal injuries. Introduced predators such as rats devastate ground-nesting colonies.

What You Can Do

Support RSPB seabird conservation including predator control on islands
Choose Marine Stewardship Council certified fish products
Back EU and UK policies to protect sandeel fisheries
Donate to seabird monitoring and conservation charities
Avoid disturbing puffin colonies during the breeding season (April-July)