What is the World Puffin Congress?
A short answer: The World Puffin Congress is a non-profit organization of marine biologists, artists, writers, educators and puffin protectors who celebrate Puffins and work together to conserve puffins and their marine habitats in the face of increasing threats from global warming, fisheries, pollutants and other negative side-effects of human activities.
A longer answer: The term “Puffin Congress” might bring to mind a noisy meeting of pontificating Puffin politicians (as pictured below). But the term “congress” can be used to describe any group of people from different regions that meet to identify common interests and resolve shared problems. Meanwhile, a “Puffin” is defined as any one of four related species of fish-eating seabirds in the Auk family that are widely distributed in northern oceans, where they breed at colonies located mostly on remote offshore islands. Puffins are iconic sea creatures beloved by people of all ages around the world.
Unfortunately, many Puffin colony populations are declining in number throughout their range because of persistent damage from global warming, fisheries, oil spills, hunting, and other human impacts on the marine ecosystems in which they live. So, the “World Puffin Congress” can be defined as an online gathering of diverse people from around the globe who come to learn more about the biology and behavior of Puffins, identify threats to the birds and their marine habitats, and help find ways to preserve Puffin populations wherever we can.
Why bother to help Puffins? Well, for one thing, they are extraordinary creatures that deserve our respect and protection. We like having them in our world today, and we hope our children and grandchildren can see them in the wild tomorrow. If that’s not reason enough, consider that healthy Puffin populations are a key indicator of healthy ocean ecosystems. An ocean that cannot sustain Puffins will likely not sustain humans either. So it is in our best interest to ensure Puffins remain healthy.
Our World Puffin Congress membership includes a diverse range of people, such as scientists and graduate students who study Puffin ecology and ocean science; refuge biologists and wardens who monitor and protect Puffins at their colonies; resource managers responsible for conservation of Puffin colonies; “Friends of the Puffin” non-profit organizations and community festivals that promote all things Puffin; land- and sea-based Puffin eco-tour providers who bring hundreds of thousands of people out in the wild to see Puffins each year; teachers and students interested in Puffins and their marine ecosystems; artists of all types, including graphic artists, photographers, videographers, and writers; and finally, the many Puffin lovers around the globe who share Puffin pictures online and tell stories about their puffin encounters. This web site is for all of you.