Puffins On Farne Island

I've been away for 10 days in Northumbria. I'd never been north of York, so it was interesting spending time in places like Alnwick, Bamburgh and Seahouses.

We took a 2 1/2 hour boat tour to the Farne Islands ... seals lounging on rocks, and a landfall for an hour on Inner Farne (arctic terns sweeping over head, thousands of puffins).

Only a day later, news broke that the number of breeding pairs of puffins has fallen from over 55 000 in 2003, to 36,500 this year.

Sandeels, the staple food of puffins in the summer, are in good supply. There is a lack of ground predators, so the puffins can breed.

The suspicion is that fewer puffins are surviving over the winter, and something is happening in the open sea (an intensification of storms due to climate change) that affects the ability of puffins to find winter food.

It's not just polar bears!