Atlantic puffins are among the most beloved seabirds but face serious threats from climate-driven changes to fish prey availability, bycatch in fishing nets, and invasive predators at nest colonies.
Puffin welfare is primarily affected by prey shortage during chick rearing. Chicks unable to obtain sufficient sand eels or small fish starve to death in their burrows over several days -- a prolonged welfare harm that is invisible but significant in scale during poor prey years. Adults repeatedly diving without catching adequate food experience nutritional stress. Climate change is the root cause of the most significant welfare threat, but predator control on key islands directly improves breeding success and reduces the acute welfare harm of predation.