GRIMSEY ISLAND, Iceland — Puffins are in trouble. The birds have been in precipitous decline, especially since the 2000s, both in Iceland and across many of their Atlantic habitats.

Official records indicate that in an average year, hunters in Iceland catch at least 260,000 puffins by this method, and about a quarter of those come from the Westman Islands.

"Some years the [puffin] eggs don't hatch, and the chicks only survive for a short time. I was in the Westman Islands last week, for example, and we found a whole lot of tiny, newly-hatched pufflings ...

Breiðavík, ICELAND - We are heading along the northwestern coast of this rugged, chilly, wind-swept and rainy North Atlantic island to see where the plump doll-like seabirds called puffins breed ...

Throwing thousands of baby puffins off a cliff is a yearly tradition for the people of Iceland's Westman Islands. It's part of what's known as "puffling season" and is a crucial life-saving endeavor.

And on the Westman Islands off Iceland's south coast—home to the world's largest Atlantic puffin colony—breeding has been a "total failure" since 2005, according to the South Iceland Nature ...

GRIMSEY ISLAND, Iceland — Puffins are in trouble. The birds have been in precipitous decline, especially since the 2000s, both in Iceland and across many of their Atlantic habitats.

Our visit to the island of Heimaey, in the Westman Islands, a ferry ride off Iceland, gave us a chance to rescue puffin chicks during ‘puffling season.’ Updated Sept. 28, 2024 at 6:02 a.m ...