Captivating film documents tough little puffin

The Atlantic puffin is an iconic seabird that comes to Canada’s eastern coast to breed after spending months alone at sea in punishing conditions. Scientists don’t know much about the birds, but what we do know is a set out in a documentary prepared for a leading science program called The Nature of Things.

Puffins are only about 25cm tall, but they can beat their wings up to 400 times a minute and they are great swimmers. “What really struck me first was what tough, amazingly tough birds they are,” says Rosemary House, a co-producer of the documentary.

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Townspeople rescue confused fledglings

Called Puffin Patrol, it shows all aspects of the puffin’s life and even uses a special camera to go into the burrows to record single eggs hatching and fledgling birds at their earliest stages. When they leave the burrow, the tiny birds use the light of the moon to navigate to the sea, but there is so much light from increasing development on shore, that they get confused and often end up in town.

A German executive with a summer home nearby kept finding dead fledglings and decided to save them. He and others go out at night and catch the confused birds, keep them overnight in little boxes and then put them out to sea in the morning.

Climate change taking a toll

Puffins face other challenges from climate change. Many of those that feed in the Gulf of Maine have died because the water has warmed, and the little fish they eat have been replaced by larger butter fish which are too big. More extreme weather has also taken a toll on puffins at sea.

“When we talked to scientists we found out that because they have such great, amazing abilities to survive in very difficult locations, that when puffins are in trouble it means that a lot of other species are in trouble too,” says House.

See puffins kissing, fighting, socializing

Gull Island, where much of the footage was shot, is rocky with no electricity or water and only a small shed for shelter. Making the documentary involved scaling a cliff, hiding in a blind, and waiting patiently for some 45 days. But the results were well worth the effort, says House.

“We wanted pictures of every behaviour, whether it be puffins kissing or puffins fighting or puffins socializing…And that’s what makes the film so amazing because we have just gorgeous footage of the birds.”

The film will be shown on Canada’s public broadcaster, CBC, on November 19, 2015 at 8pm. It looks like it will be picked up by Arte France and translated. Producers hope it will be distributed in other countries as well.