How One Man Brought Puffins Back to Maine

Despite facing harsh criticism from scientific colleagues, a determined biologist managed to restore puffins to Maine after they had vanished for nearly a century. His success story shows how passion and creative thinking can overcome seemingly impossible odds.

The Disappearance of Maine's Puffins

Puffins once thrived along Maine's coastline. These small seabirds with their colorful beaks were a common sight. But overhunting changed everything. By the late 1800s, puffins had almost completely disappeared from the state.

Enter the Puffin Man

In 1973, Steven Kress, now known as "The Puffin Man," decided to take action. As a young biologist, he launched Project Puffin with the goal of bringing these birds back to their native habitat.

His ideas were revolutionary in wildlife conservation circles. When he shared his plans, many fellow scientists dismissed his efforts. They called it a lost cause and predicted failure. Some critics went so far as to try getting his work permits revoked.

But all this pushback only made Kress more determined to succeed.

The Innovative Approach

Kress began by moving six 10-day-old puffin chicks (called pufflings) from Newfoundland to Eastern Egg Rock, an island off Maine's coast. His team carefully raised these young birds and tagged them before they naturally headed out to sea.

Then came the waiting game. Puffins spend their first few years of life at sea before returning to land to breed. The team hoped their relocated birds would come back to Maine rather than Newfoundland.

Decoys and Success

Four years later, the first puffins returned. But Kress had another clever idea to boost numbers. Knowing that puffins are highly social creatures that take cues from other puffins, he placed wooden puffin decoys and mirrors around Egg Rock.

This strategy proved brilliant. The fake puffins made the area look more appealing to real puffins searching for a breeding colony. More birds began to settle on the island.

The Legacy Continues

Today, over 3,000 puffins inhabit Maine's coastal islands - a remarkable comeback for a species once eliminated from the state. Even more impressively, the techniques pioneered by Kress are now used worldwide to help restore other seabird populations facing similar challenges.

The story of the Puffin Man shows how persistence and unconventional thinking can lead to extraordinary conservation success, even when experts say it can't be done.