Atlantic puffins depend on sand eels and other small fish to feed their chicks. Climate-driven fish distributional shifts are causing widespread breeding failure and chick starvation.
Puffin chick welfare is directly affected by prey availability. When sand eels disappear from shallow water around breeding colonies, parents return with less food and less nutritious fish alternatives. Chicks that receive insufficient food grow slowly, become vulnerable to cold stress, and may die of starvation or exposure before fledging. Extensive monitoring of breeding success and prey availability shows clear links between food availability and welfare outcomes. The root cause — climate-driven ocean warming and productivity changes — requires systemic response. Protecting fishing areas near colonies from commercial harvesting reduces competition for limited prey.