FLUORESCENT FLYERS

By: Samantha Darin, UHM MOP Student

Puffin beaks have been widely studied for many years. It is a general consensus that the bright colors that distinguish them play a large role in attracting a mate. However, Jamie Dunning, a student at the University of Nottingham, was studying a puffin sent to him and decided to see what would happen if he projected an ultraviolet light on the beak. Surprisingly enough, it glowed. This is due to fluorescence, a property that many animals have in which they reflect blue light and instead emit a different color, which appears to glow.

This adaptation had previously gone undetected by humans because humans are unable to see the fluorescence with the naked eye. However, puffins, with their superior vision, are able to view the ultraviolet spectrum, allowing them to see the fluorescence of the beak without an aid.

When Dunning made this discovery, he immediately wrote up a paper. Another researcher by the name of Tony Diamond, read his paper and wrote to him explaining that he had observed the same exact thing. He shared pictures and the fluorescence was the same in both birds. These studies, however, have only been done in dead birds thus far. Dunning, Diamond and their team are currently trying to figure out if this same phenomenon occurs in living puffins as well, and what role it may play in sexual selection. The iconic puffin beak is actually a temporary feature, one that manifests for the breeding season and then sheds in the winter. The upcoming study will test living puffins (outfitted with special sunglasses to protect their eyes) to see if the fluorescence is present and what its specific function may be.