Scott Hall
Research Coordinator, Seabird Restoration Program
National Audubon Society
118 High Street, Suite 2 #26
Belfast, ME 04915
shall@audubon.org
www.projectpuffin.org

Most information about Atlantic puffins comes from studies of individual colonies. Puffins leave their nesting areas to find food, and little is known about where they travel or where foraging and wintering areas are located; some studies suggest they usually stay within seven kilometers of their colony, but when food is scarce, they may travel more than 100 km. Puffins nesting on Eastern Egg Rock could overlap with an offshore wind energy test area near Monhegan, depending on how far they travel to eat.

Fourteen micro GPS units were taped to the backs of nesting puffins in July 2010 to gather information about foraging movements and locations. After one to four days, Hall and his research team attempted to recapture the tagged puffins. One puffin was successfully recaptured in its burrow, but no data were recorded on the GPS. Only one puffin was seen feeding, otherwise, puffins with GPS were absent from burrows and colonies. Nine days after initial deployment two puffins were recaptured in burrows, both had lost their GPS units. Although these particular GPS units have previously been successfully used to study diving seabirds in Alaska and Peru, Hall's experience suggests that the units or combination of unit, attachment and weight are unsuitable for puffins.

Science is a slow process full of uncertainty and failures. While the lack of success in delineating puffin foraging habitat in the Gulf of Maine is disappointing, researchers now know what not to do as they attempt to know more about how humans can best serve and protect the iconic puffin.

Equipment funding, $4,000