What’s the finest puffin tour to affix? When is one of the best time to see puffins? The place is one of the best spot to see puffins? These are the sorts of questions our guides at Hidden Iceland get every day within the lead as much as the summer season puffin season. So we thought we’d element the elusive little birds and provides just a few recommendations on how finest to see them with out disturbing them.

What’s a puffin?

The Atlantic puffin is a small brilliant billed seabird sufficiently small to suit into the palm of each fingers. They stay for round 20-25 years. They’re typically in comparison with the flightless penguin resulting from their black and white coat and brilliant beak. Each the puffin and penguins are most at house within the sea. In contrast to the penguin, the puffin can nonetheless fly expertly onto perches of a steep cliff face. Right here, with their mate for all times, they’ll nest and hopefully elevate a chick (puffling).

Regardless of the puffins potential to fly in sturdy winds and land on cliff edges they’re happiest when at sea. The Atlantic puffin will spend as much as 9 months at sea. They’ll duck waves and dive as much as 60m beneath the floor seeking meals. They solely come again to land so as to discover their lifelong pair and mate to hatch one solitary egg annually. Even then they keep as near the ocean as potential to have the ability to fish. A continuing train throughout nesting season. This implies steep sea-cliffs are usually their favorite spot for nesting. This will make it tougher for budding ornithologists to identify these little sea birds. Apart from easy accessibility to the ocean these distant perches additionally assist them in keep away from predators. The puffin wants to fret about mink, human hunters, and predatory birds just like the Nice Skua.

When is one of the best time to see puffins?

Between 8 and 10 million puffins come to Iceland to breed annually, which is greater than half of all Atlantic puffins with the bulk being within the south of Iceland and on remoted islands just like the Westman Islands or Grímsey. They are going to begin returning to the land in massive numbers in late April with the bulk arriving round mid-may for the remainder of the summer season. Slightly unusually just a few puffins have already been noticed this 12 months (first week of April) which many attribute to the beneficial temperatures. They are going to stay near the ocean for your complete summer season with a mass exodus occurring in early September. They spend their total time both caring for his or her puffling or fishing. As quickly because the puffling is sufficiently big to fly (often round 40 days) it’s time to return to the ocean till the next 12 months.

Icelandic Puffin. Hidden Iceland

The place is one of the best spot to see puffins? Ought to I guide a puffin tour?

We now have the same sentiment to the Northern lights as we do to the puffins. You need to by no means plan a day with one factor in thoughts. There’s so many different issues to see in Iceland on any given day so we advise pairing your puffin tour with different actions in case the little critters are busy fishing whenever you cease by to say hey. So with out additional ado listed below are the 5 finest locations to see puffins in Iceland.

THE 5 BEST PLACES TO SEE PUFFINS IN ICELAND

1. Puffins from beneath | Reynisfjara Black Sand Seaside, South Iceland

In the event you be a part of our South Coast: Fire & Ice day trip, or our multi day trips along the south coast of Iceland you’re certain to cease on the black sand seaside between strolling to the entrance of glaciers and strolling behind waterfalls. We aren’t so daring as to name these puffin excursions however they definitely provide you with a terrific probability to see them. Apart from the spectacular basalt columns, volcanic sands and crashing waves of the seaside, additionally it is house to a colony of puffins in summer season. You received’t see them waddling alongside the bottom. Nevertheless it’s a terrific vantage level to see the puffin swooping again to land of their nests throughout the cliffs overhead.

Reynisfjara Black Sand Seaside in South Iceland by Norris Niman

2. Puffins from above | Látrabjarg sea cliffs, Westfjords

The Westfjords is a really lengthy option to journey solely to see puffins. However in the event you can embrace this distant a part of Iceland in your plans, you’ll get an unbelievable journey. We spend four days up on this distant and forgotten a part of the nation. Alongside the best way we drive via glacier carved fjords, steep mountains, fishing villages and witness the ability of the thunderous waterfall Dynjandi. Puffins aren’t the one wildlife we are going to spot. The area is house to whales, arctic foxes, seals and different birdlife. On the far west facet of the Westfjords the land drops instantly into the ocean, plummeting vertically 440m at its highest. It’s the oldest a part of the island at round 15 million years and is closely weathered by waves and wind. The proper place for puffins to perch throughout mating season. This space is exclusive as a result of you may (fastidiously) crawl to the sting of the cliff and peer down into to nests beneath, typically being just a few ft away from resting puffins and pufflings. If that wasn’t sufficient sightings we additionally take a half day puffin tour on Vigur Islands the place we wander round recognizing puffins and different wild birds.

Látrabjarg. Hidden Iceland | Photograph by Norris Niman

Látrabjarg. Hidden Iceland. Photograph by Norris Niman * Function

3. Puffins by sea | Speedboating, Westman Islands

The Westman Islands are a set of volcanic islands within the south of Iceland. The islands are well-known because of the 1973 eruption that threatened to destroy the city. With out some fast pondering actions by residents the harbour and city may have been misplaced. The islands are additionally house to the biggest puffin colony on the earth, so the proper place to see them. This may be carried out just by strolling to the cliffs on the island however we at all times provide the prospect on our day journeys for our friends to do a one hour speed boat ride of the island too. If it wasn’t for the lively volcano in the course of the island we doubtless would have simply known as this our Westman Islands puffin tour.

4. Puffins in individual | Sæheimar Aquarium, Westman Islands

If you’re nonetheless not glad with seeing the puffins in motion the Westman Islands are additionally house to SEA LIFE TRUST. This can be a newly constructed rescue centre for fledgling puffins and whales. In your brief puffin tour you get to see the scientists in motion, rehabilitating the puffins within the hope that they’ll fly out to see when the time is true. On personal journeys we be certain to cease right here on our day journey to the Westman Islands.

Annually lots of the pufflings will mistake the road lights of the islands for the moon. The moon is often a guiding mild and an indication that indicators their time to fly south. Consequently many pufflings are marooned on the sting of city alone, and in want of rescue. Fortunately, after being rescued by the native children they’re inspected and the overwhelming majority are re-released into the wild. Nevertheless, the odd puffling is simply too small or fragile to make the migration and is due to this fact adopted by the centre. That is nice for the puffling after all, but in addition nice for us to be taught extra up shut.

Puffin by Marcus Hoey

5. Puffins within the metropolis | Boat excursions from the Previous Harbour, Reykjavík

Sadly we’re conscious that many travellers have a restricted time-frame in Iceland and maybe can’t enterprise past the confines of the town. To not fear, there are a selection of whale watching tours that couple up as a puffin tour too. Seeing whales, dolphins and puffins in a single journey is a improbable option to spend a day within the metropolis.

The puffin is now a susceptible species

Sadly, regardless of the excessive probability of recognizing puffins and the hundreds of thousands that frequent the island yearly, they’ve not too long ago been categorised as ‘vulnerable’ on the endangered species listing. This isn’t resulting from a sudden lack of numbers, however fairly a decline over a sustained interval. Since 2003 the probability of paired puffins mating efficiently to maturity has dropped from round 75% to round 50%. Far decrease in some colonies within the nation. Which means far fewer puffins are being born annually. If traits proceed the numbers are set to drop by as much as 79% by the 12 months 2065. Many can be forgiven for pondering this is because of grasping vacationers and their style for the wild fowl. And though the 150,000 birds which are caught annually do play an element, the biggest affect is local weather change.

The Atlantic puffin must continuously feed itself and it’s puffling throughout mating season. For this reason they continue to be so near the ocean. However their fundamental meals supply, the sand eel, is disappearing quickly. Or fairly, relocating to colder waters. The water across the the south of Iceland has risen by as a lot as 1 Celsius lately. That is too heat for the sand eel, leading to them migrating additional north to colder climes. This forces the puffin to hunt for longer and fly farther making the probability of a puffling getting sufficiently big emigrate south for winter tougher.

How can I assist, and does my presence have an effect on them negatively?

The brief reply is not any. You aren’t having a unfavorable affect so long as you seek the advice of your information as to the suitable distance and finest space to see them with out disturbing. Very similar to with whales, Iceland makes more cash from puffin and whale watching than it does from searching. This places strain on the federal government to scale back searching intervals and areas. There’s a new vigour to ban all puffin hunting nationwide so carry on coming to Iceland and saying hey from the best distance.

If you wish to be a part of our most Puffin centric tour we suggest you take a look at our day journey to the Westman Islands.

Hello, I’m Ryan Connolly, I’ve guided in a number of nations and spent the final three years travelling throughout the globe. I’ve spent the previous 2 years finding out all the pieces associated to glaciers, local weather change, and Iceland in my spare time.