We did it! We 'adopted' a sea bird, a 31-year old female Atlantic puffin. She is really cute.
We recently traveled to Maine and visited the Project Puffin information center in Rockland, Maine (www.projectpuffin.org). We were impressed by the hard work and dedication exhibited by Dr. Stephen Kress, founder of the Project Puffin, a seabird restoration project of the Audubon Society. We watched a video about the efforts started by Dr. Kress in 1973 when he discovered only one breeding pair of puffins on one Maine coast nesting island (where there were hundreds in the 1900s). Because the largest puffin colonies in North America were found in Newfoundland, he went to Newfoundland to work with the Canadians to reintroduce Puffins back to the Maine nesting islands.
They used wooden decoys to attract puffins to return to breed on the islands. It was not until July 4, 1981, eight long years after the start of the relocation did they finally spot a puffin return to the island delivering fish to its newly hatched chick. Today, there are over 600 nesting pairs of puffins on two islands! This amazing story about sea bird restoration due to the tenacity of one person led us to support Dr. Kress' effort -- so we contributed to adopt. You too can adopt a puffin!
Check out our new 'adopted' daughter! Download Adopted Puffin Oct 2011
© Baldwin H. Tom CMC
www.tbgroupconsultants.com
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