PUFFINS!

So glad I didn't eat one of these little creatures! Seeing them in their natural habitat has been the absolute highlight of this journey, and I am thoroughly indebted to Svenni for taking us to these cliffs. The Westman Islands, off Iceland's southern coast, are home to the world's largest Puffin breeding colony, but the past few years have seen a decline in the bird's numbers. An article in this week's issue of The Grapevine, Reykjavik's English language paper, reports a 25% drop in the Islands' Puffin population, qualifying it as an endangered species. Islanders haven't stopped hunting them, but the paper says that local hunters have at least agreed to cut back on the killing. In addition to hunting the birds, scavenging for Puffin eggs on the cliffs is another popular sport on the Islands. When I saw Svenni drop to the ground and land on his back, I assumed he'd been knocked over by the formidable winds (Heimay is apparently the third windiest place in the world, according to some official list from some official office). Turns out he was egg hunting, laying on his back, one arm shoulder-deep in a Puffin hole, expertly searching for a precious, sizable egg. He didn't find one. Did you know that Puffins lay only one egg a year? Yet another factor in their current crisis. But enough with the depressing factoids. Here is an adorable little anecdote: When Puffin chicks hatch, their mothers abandon them so they can learn to fly on their own. In order to fly, a Puffin must be able to see the ocean, for reasons I don't fully understand. Sometimes, the tiny Pufflets get confused and slightly hypnotized by the city lights beaming from Heimay, and they mistakenly fly into town instead of towards the water. This happens every year in late August, prime Puffin season, and I can only imagine what it might be like to stroll down a street crowded with bewildered Puffin chicks. It's become a tradition for all the children on the island to go around and collect the chicks in baskets, bring them back to the shore and set them free. With the ocean back in sight, the birds are able to fly again, a ridiculous sight that everyone should witness in their lifetime. Puffins are terrible at flying, so awkward and clumsy, but so cute. Moral of the story: Don't eat Puffins!