A brief update about oil production’s past and present

NAME: Atlantic puffin SCIENTIFIC NAME: Fratercula arctica ENDANGERING STATUS: ENDANGERED FAMILY: Alcidae

DESCRIPTION: An adult Atlantic puffin is about 28-34 cm in length. Males are generally larger and heavier than the female, but they look alike. Chest, top of the head, back and the upper side of the wings are black, while the bottom of the hull is white. The face is striking: Both sides of the face are set off with grey. The Atlantic puffin has an triangular and especially high beak. It is patterned in light red, orange and yellow. The birds feet are red. The brown irises have a red orbital ring on each site. During the winter the beak fades to grey.

DISTRIBUTION: The home of the Atlantic Puffin is the colder water of the Northern Atlantic. From the end of August to the start of April, which is the period between breeding seasons, the bird lives far away from the coast in the open sea. More than 90% of the global population is found in Europe. During the breeding season, they are found on the coasts of Norway, Greenland and Newfoundland. Other colonies are found on the British Isles, on Iceland and on the coast of France.

SPACE CLAIMS: Rocky cliffs, grasses

DIET: Piscivorous, Polychaeta, Crustacean

BEHAVIOUR: Most of the year, Atlantic Puffins live solitarily at the open sea. Only during breeding season do they visit the coastal area. They usually breed in large colonies, because it is a sociable bird. To build their nests the birds often select precipitous, rocky cliff tops, which they line with feathers or grass. Females lay a single egg, and both parents take turns incubating it.

ENEMIES: foxes, gulls, birds of prey, humans

THREATS: A growing number of natural enemies, contanimation by toxic residues, drowning in fishing nets, oil spills, climate change, tourism, hunting.

ABOVE THE SEA

Top: Spectators watching Brent Delta coming to shore. www.shell.co.uk

Left: More than 250,000 seabirds, including Northern Gannets and Black-legged Kittiwakes, nest on the Bempton Cliffs in the UK. Photo: John Giles/PA/AP

North Sea

Problem: Oil spills and water pollution are especially dangerous for birds such as the Atlantic Puffin, who spend their winters on the open ocean. Oiled plumage has a reduced ability to insulate, making the bird more vulnerable to temperature fluctuations and less buoyant in the water. Many birds die, while others ingest and inhale toxins while attempting to remove the oil by preening. This leads to inflammation of the airways and gut and, in the longer term, damage to the liver and kidneys. This trauma can contribute to a loss of reproductive success as well as harm developing embryos.1

1 Dunnet, G.; Crisp, D.; Conan, G.; Bourne, W. (1982). „Oil pollution and seabird populations“. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B. 297 (1087): 413–427 39