Atlantic puffins face population pressures from climate change affecting prey availability and breeding success, with direct welfare implications for individual birds and chicks.
Chick starvation during years of sand eel shortage causes prolonged suffering and high mortality. Adult puffins that cannot find sufficient food to raise chicks face energetic stress from repeated failed foraging dives. Climate-driven prey shifts force puffins to travel much further for food, increasing energetic costs. The welfare implications of climate change for seabirds like puffins are significant and will intensify as ocean warming continues.