{"id":20,"date":"2011-04-12T10:02:46","date_gmt":"2011-04-12T14:02:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/puffin.jacobtanenbaum.com\/?page_id=20"},"modified":"2011-06-11T21:40:42","modified_gmt":"2011-06-12T01:40:42","slug":"about-project-puffin","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/puffin.jacobtanenbaum.com\/?page_id=20","title":{"rendered":"About Project Puffin"},"content":{"rendered":"
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An Atlantic Puffin<\/p><\/div>\n

In 1973 Audubon Scientist Stephen Kress began an experiment. \u00a0He had decided to try to restore a puffin colony on and island off the coast of Maine called Eastern Egg Rock. \u00a0There once were puffins on Egg Rock, but people had hunted them and the colony had been destroyed. \u00a0 People had destroyed bird colonies like this before, but no one had ever tried to bring one back. \u00a0Stephen wanted to try.<\/p>\n

First Stephen took a trip to Newfoundland, Canada, where there is a huge healthy colony of Puffins. \u00a0With the help of scientists and volunteers in both countries, Stephen brought puffin chicks that had just hatched in Canada down to Egg Rock. \u00a0He and his volunteers raised them on Eastern Egg Rock. \u00a0At the end of the summer, the Puffins went to sea. \u00a0Stephen knew that puffins come back to the island where they were born in order to raise their own chicks. \u00a0But he also knew he would have to wait. \u00a0Puffins don’t come back to their island for several years. \u00a0Would any come back to Egg Rock?<\/p>\n

Stephen and his volunteers brought Puffin chicks to Egg Rock for eight summers before he knew the answer. \u00a0Puffins returned to Eastern Egg Rock to make their nests! \u00a0The experiment was a success. \u00a0Today over 100 pairs of birds nest on Egg Rock each summer. \u00a0You can read more about Stephen Kress’s story in the children’s book\u00a0Project\u00a0Puffin: \u00a0How we Brought Puffins Back to Egg Rock<\/a><\/em> by Stephen Kress as told to Pete Salmansohn. \u00a0Teachers may also enjoy the Teacher’s Guide<\/a><\/em> to this book by the same authors.<\/p>\n

Today Project Puffin continues to restore and protect several puffin colonies along the Maine Coast. \u00a0Thanks to their efforts, puffins once again flourish along the coast of Maine.<\/p>\n

References:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n