Every fall, the streets of Heimaey, Iceland, turn into an unusual wildlife rescue zone, resembling a chaotic Easter egg hunt — except these “eggs” are baby puffins on the move. The island, part of the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago, hosts the world’s largest puffin colony, and from August through September, baby puffins, or pufflings, wander off course from their nests in the cliffs and get lost in the glow of streetlights.

“They’re everywhere,” says Audrey Padgett, manager of the Sea Life Trust Beluga Whale Sanctuary on Heimaey. “It feels like puffins are raining from the sky.” Heimaey, with its population of about 4,500 people, is a puffin paradise during breeding season. Thousands of puffin pairs return to the island each spring, after spending most of the year at sea.

Families often get their kids involved in patrolling for pufflings. Photo courtesy of Kyana Sue Powers

These seabirds mate for life, nesting in burrows dug into the island’s grassy cliffs. Pufflings hatch in July, and after around six weeks, they’re ready to leave the nest, using the moon to guide them toward the ocean. But with the island’s artificial lights brightening the night, many young puffins lose their way, mistakenly heading toward the town instead of the sea.

For the pufflings, this mix-up is risky. Disoriented, they wander the streets, where cars, cats, and buildings pose dangerous obstacles. Fortunately, the island’s residents have devised a solution: the Puffling Patrol. Every evening during puffling season, locals grab flashlights and boxes, heading out to scoop up any wayward birds. “You get into the habit of carrying a puffling box everywhere,” said Ewa Malinowska, who helps run the puffin rescue efforts at the Sea Life Trust.

People will be out to dinner, then next thing you know, they’re chasing pufflings down the street.”

Once rescued, the pufflings are taken to the Sea Life Trust’s puffin hospital, where they are weighed, measured, and tagged. Then, it’s time for their grand return to the sea — via a gentle toss off the island’s cliffs.

The puffling release has become an annual tradition on Heimaey. Volunteers gather at the cliffs, carefully tossing the pufflings into the air to give them a head start on their long journey. “It’s not as dramatic as it sounds,” laughed Kyana Sue Powers, an American who joined the patrol while visiting Iceland. “You toss them underhand, like a little fluffy baseball, and off they go.”

People help launch pufflings into the sea. Photo courtesy of Kyana Sue Powers

For many of the volunteers, this unique experience is deeply rewarding. The pufflings will spend the next two to three years at sea before returning to breed. “It’s an emotional moment,” Powers said. “You’re watching them see the ocean for the first time, knowing they’re about to live out there for years. I always tell them, ‘Good luck, little buddy!’”

Puffin conservation is crucial to the island’s ecosystem, and the Puffling Patrol’s work is making a big difference. Puffins only lay one egg each year, and each generation is vital to sustaining the species.

“Every puffling matters,” says Rodrigo A. Martínez Catalán of the South Iceland Nature Research Center.  And everyone agrees. For the residents of Heimaey, puffling season is both a responsibility and a joyful celebration of their connection to nature. “It’s part of life here,” Padgett said. “People love their puffins.”

For a look at the island, puffins and the story behind puffin throwing season, watch the amazingly sweet video below.

Sources: Atlas Obscura | NPR