CBC RADIO • June 5, 2023
The Atlantic puffin population in Maine is fairly stable today. But as recently as the 1970s, hunting had made the seabird nearly non-existent in the state. "They used to breed on at least five other islands in Maine, but had not recolonized any of those islands on their own in about 100 years," said Steve Kress, former executive director of the Audubon Society's Seabird Institute. Kress partnered with the non-profit National Audubon Society to launch Project Puffin on July 4, 1973. Over the next decade and a half, they transported almost 2,000 puffin chicks from Newfoundland to two historic breeding sites on Maine: Eastern Egg Rock Island and Seal Island National Wildlife Refuge. Their efforts are paying off. The puffin population in Maine has increased tenfold since 1973 — and they're even colonizing new parts of the state.