WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.880 --> 00:00:03.680 Oh hey, it's your girlfriend who never leaves the house 2 00:00:03.720 --> 00:00:06.400 without a cardigan, Alli Ward, and I guess, speaking of cold, 3 00:00:06.879 --> 00:00:10.119 let's hit the blustery shore and get pooped on. It's 4 00:00:10.160 --> 00:00:13.160 puffins and people, it's a good time. So the year 5 00:00:13.960 --> 00:00:17.160 was this one, and many dozens of you tagged me 6 00:00:17.239 --> 00:00:20.559 in an Instagram post with a certified puffinologist, and I 7 00:00:20.600 --> 00:00:23.359 took that as a calling from the universe and from 8 00:00:23.399 --> 00:00:26.239 you to ask this bird person to please spend some 9 00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:28.440 time with me electronically so I can ask them our 10 00:00:28.480 --> 00:00:31.199 whole life, and that I did so. First off, is 11 00:00:31.399 --> 00:00:34.520 puffnology a real word? Would we be here if it weren't. 12 00:00:34.960 --> 00:00:39.079 That's questionable, but yes, puffonology. It's well established in news 13 00:00:39.159 --> 00:00:43.719 articles and ornithology circles, so it is game on. Now puffins. 14 00:00:43.759 --> 00:00:47.240 What are they? They are black and white, orange billed seabirds, 15 00:00:47.640 --> 00:00:51.280 and their name derives from the word poofon, which is 16 00:00:51.359 --> 00:00:55.320 thought to come from the look of this swollen salted meat, 17 00:00:55.880 --> 00:00:59.200 but of a completely different seabird, something called a Manx 18 00:00:59.359 --> 00:01:02.759 shearwater doesn't even look like a puffin. It's a small 19 00:01:02.799 --> 00:01:08.840 gray seagull looking thing, but it's named scientifically puffiness Puffinus However, 20 00:01:09.280 --> 00:01:13.200 that Manx sea bird is not a puffin. Buffinis puffinis 21 00:01:13.239 --> 00:01:16.760 not a puffin? What is a puffin? The genus Fraturcula 22 00:01:17.040 --> 00:01:20.319 is all puffins and it comes from frattre for a 23 00:01:20.400 --> 00:01:23.280 monk dressed in a dark cloak with its back. So 24 00:01:23.400 --> 00:01:26.680 what the fuck? So puffins in the scientific terms are 25 00:01:26.680 --> 00:01:33.480 not puffins, but puffins aren't named puffins. It's confusing. Fraterculology 26 00:01:33.760 --> 00:01:37.159 is not a word and puffinology is. So we're doing that. 27 00:01:37.400 --> 00:01:40.920 We're talking puffins. Now, hold on to your butts because 28 00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:44.359 boy howdy, it only gets more revealing and cuter and 29 00:01:44.400 --> 00:01:46.719 by the end you'll wish that you could give birth 30 00:01:46.760 --> 00:01:49.280 to a puffin and love it forever. But before we 31 00:01:49.319 --> 00:01:51.519 get there quick, thanks to patrons at patreon dot com 32 00:01:51.599 --> 00:01:54.599 slash ologies who submitted their fine questions for this episode, 33 00:01:54.760 --> 00:01:57.280 you also can join for about twenty five cents an episode. 34 00:01:57.319 --> 00:01:59.040 You don't have to feel left out. And if you 35 00:01:59.079 --> 00:02:01.480 would like to entertain and your small kiddos, we have 36 00:02:01.519 --> 00:02:04.040 this new show called Smologies and it has its own feed, 37 00:02:04.079 --> 00:02:06.040 it's its own show. It's linked in the show notes. 38 00:02:06.079 --> 00:02:09.960 We just launched it. It's all classroom safe episodes of ologies. 39 00:02:10.280 --> 00:02:13.360 We also have ologies merchant ologiesmerch dot com. It's a 40 00:02:13.360 --> 00:02:16.439 good way to find other ologites out there. And thank 41 00:02:16.439 --> 00:02:18.360 you to everyone who leaves reviews, and yeah, I do 42 00:02:18.439 --> 00:02:21.360 read them all. They make my day, such as yesterday 43 00:02:21.439 --> 00:02:23.680 I read them in an airport and I cried, partly 44 00:02:23.719 --> 00:02:26.680 because my plane was delayed nine hours in Utah, but 45 00:02:26.800 --> 00:02:29.080 partly because your reviews were so nice and as proof. 46 00:02:29.120 --> 00:02:32.039 Thank you too. Classic RKR, who wrote absolutely in love 47 00:02:32.039 --> 00:02:34.240 with this podcast. It's everything I would want from a 48 00:02:34.280 --> 00:02:37.560 science educator. Classic RKR also noted that they have a 49 00:02:37.599 --> 00:02:41.159 little chupacabra dog named Gremlin like I do, and they 50 00:02:41.159 --> 00:02:44.719 call their dog Remy like I do. Classic RKR. Uncanny 51 00:02:44.960 --> 00:02:49.479 tell Gmy that Gmy said woof woof. Also witchcraft wand 52 00:02:49.639 --> 00:02:51.840 thank you for listening since you were nine. Sorry for 53 00:02:51.879 --> 00:02:54.120 all the swears. Again, we now have smologies if anyone 54 00:02:54.159 --> 00:02:58.560 needs them. Okay, puffinology. This ologist absolutely delightful and knowledgeable. 55 00:02:58.800 --> 00:03:01.360 Busted so much puff in flim flamm. They got their 56 00:03:01.400 --> 00:03:04.400 bachelor's in biology at Saint Mary's University in Nova, Scotia, 57 00:03:04.800 --> 00:03:07.680 and they're now a master's student at the Memorial University 58 00:03:07.719 --> 00:03:11.280 of Newfoundland and they are currently studying the world's most 59 00:03:11.360 --> 00:03:15.319 charismatic seabird, the Atlantic puffin. So get in a blanket, 60 00:03:15.319 --> 00:03:18.479 burrow stare at some lapping waves and open your ears 61 00:03:18.479 --> 00:03:21.719 to learn whether you should kiss one who eats them, 62 00:03:21.840 --> 00:03:25.719 if they are neat freaks or not. They're surprising life expectancy. 63 00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:29.400 The journey puffins go on before they settle down. How 64 00:03:29.439 --> 00:03:32.879 monogamous they are, why they are disco birds, how they 65 00:03:32.919 --> 00:03:36.120 make their marriages work so well, the toilets with the 66 00:03:36.159 --> 00:03:39.960 best views, why someone would toss a puffin, star Wars, trivia, 67 00:03:40.120 --> 00:03:43.280 serial lore, and who should not become a puffinologist? And 68 00:03:43.360 --> 00:03:47.360 so much more with ornithologist, field researcher and legit pufphonologist. 69 00:03:47.639 --> 00:04:07.400 Jillian Taylor, Hi. 70 00:04:07.439 --> 00:04:10.400 My name is Jill Taylor and my pronouns are she. 71 00:04:10.639 --> 00:04:14.599 They and puffenologist. Correct. 72 00:04:14.680 --> 00:04:16.519 Yeah, has a nice ring to it, doesn't it. 73 00:04:17.600 --> 00:04:20.920 I got tagged so many times on an Instagram post 74 00:04:20.920 --> 00:04:25.639 of yours about puffinology, so I like, please from so 75 00:04:25.720 --> 00:04:29.079 many people? Did you start calling yourself a puffinologist? Like, 76 00:04:29.160 --> 00:04:31.079 tell me a little bit about the background of the word, 77 00:04:31.120 --> 00:04:36.399 and also would you be called in academic circles uh 78 00:04:36.800 --> 00:04:41.759 fred orcolologist or is it just straight up puffologist. Anything goes. 79 00:04:42.439 --> 00:04:46.439 The Latin names are yeah, fraught to I can't even 80 00:04:46.480 --> 00:04:51.439 say it properly, for turcula ortica is the Atlantic puff 81 00:04:51.439 --> 00:04:54.600 and scientific name, and that sounds horrible, So puffonologist is 82 00:04:54.600 --> 00:04:56.959 way better. It's a visual. When did I start calling 83 00:04:56.959 --> 00:05:03.879 myself a puffinologist? Probably after spending two complete summers, the 84 00:05:04.040 --> 00:05:06.959 entire of those summers watching puffins for eight hours a day. 85 00:05:08.600 --> 00:05:12.000 I don't know if that's official qualifications. 86 00:05:11.199 --> 00:05:15.439 But yes, yes, that qualifies you as a puffinologist. Anyone 87 00:05:15.439 --> 00:05:18.399 who studies something as an ologist, So I think you 88 00:05:18.439 --> 00:05:21.519 count as someone who's expert level puffinologist because that's more 89 00:05:21.519 --> 00:05:25.120 time than anyone listening has probably spent watching puffins. 90 00:05:25.759 --> 00:05:29.040 Almost too much time, arguably, I guess a lot many 91 00:05:29.079 --> 00:05:29.839 hours in the field. 92 00:05:29.879 --> 00:05:35.800 There's never so many people were so excited because puffins 93 00:05:37.240 --> 00:05:40.639 they're so cute. I mean, they are the cutest. How 94 00:05:40.720 --> 00:05:42.800 much of it is just marveling at how cute they are? 95 00:05:42.839 --> 00:05:44.560 And how much is like I got to take notes 96 00:05:44.560 --> 00:05:44.800 on this. 97 00:05:45.800 --> 00:05:48.639 You just implode inwardly on how cute they are. Their 98 00:05:48.680 --> 00:05:53.439 cuteness doesn't wear off as tired and wet and soggy 99 00:05:53.839 --> 00:05:56.360 and sleep deprived you might be in the field. The 100 00:05:56.399 --> 00:05:59.600 puffins cuteness stays the exact same throughout. 101 00:06:00.120 --> 00:06:03.959 Believe that, first off, what is a puffin? Is it 102 00:06:04.079 --> 00:06:07.600 just an upright penguin? Is it closer to a seagull? 103 00:06:08.240 --> 00:06:11.120 I've never seen a puffin in real life, especially in 104 00:06:11.120 --> 00:06:13.040 the wild, so start with me there. 105 00:06:13.240 --> 00:06:16.800 So puffins are part of the auk family, which so 106 00:06:16.920 --> 00:06:20.519 a'l Today there's four species of puffins, the Atlantic puffin 107 00:06:20.560 --> 00:06:24.319 which I study, the horn puffin, the tufted puffin, and 108 00:06:24.639 --> 00:06:27.720 the Rhinoceros oklet, which actually used to be known as 109 00:06:28.079 --> 00:06:31.680 the horn billed puffin but isn't officially a puffin anymore. 110 00:06:31.879 --> 00:06:35.199 Okay. Side note, The Rhinoceros auklet is mostly gray and 111 00:06:35.240 --> 00:06:38.199 it has a nose horn during the breeding season, and 112 00:06:38.240 --> 00:06:42.399 it also lives for drama, rather taxonomists do because it's 113 00:06:42.399 --> 00:06:45.240 been called not a puffin, and then it turned out 114 00:06:45.240 --> 00:06:49.839 it was misnamed, and it's actually genetically the most original puffin, 115 00:06:50.279 --> 00:06:54.079 but it's not in the Fratercula genus. But because of that, 116 00:06:54.079 --> 00:06:56.800 puffinologists can be split on whether it actually included, but 117 00:06:56.959 --> 00:07:00.240 in general, don't let the name fool you. The rhinos 118 00:07:00.319 --> 00:07:03.519 auklet is a puffin. It is not a rhinoceros either. 119 00:07:03.879 --> 00:07:05.759 Isn't it comforting to know how much of history is 120 00:07:05.800 --> 00:07:08.399 just built on Oopsi's so don't be so hard on yourself. 121 00:07:08.439 --> 00:07:10.759 We're all humans and puffins, but. 122 00:07:10.720 --> 00:07:14.120 The Atlantic puffin holds up the bulk of the world's puffins. 123 00:07:14.560 --> 00:07:17.000 The other three species are found on the Pacific side. 124 00:07:17.759 --> 00:07:21.279 You're in La right, yeah, yeah, so yes, those are 125 00:07:21.319 --> 00:07:23.959 your that's your corner of the world. And the Auk 126 00:07:24.079 --> 00:07:29.680 family includes Mrs Gillemont's puffins, mulets, and razorbills. And fun fact, 127 00:07:29.680 --> 00:07:32.800 there are actually no ox species in the southern hemisphere, 128 00:07:32.839 --> 00:07:34.120 only in the northern hemisphere. 129 00:07:34.680 --> 00:07:37.720 How is an oc different from a penguin? 130 00:07:38.079 --> 00:07:40.720 Penguins of puffins are actually not related. I know they 131 00:07:40.759 --> 00:07:43.800 look like they are, but that's only because of convergent evolution, 132 00:07:44.040 --> 00:07:47.120 so similar environmental pressures. But they're not related. 133 00:07:47.279 --> 00:07:47.519 No. 134 00:07:47.800 --> 00:07:49.720 I mean, they're both birds, but that's about it. 135 00:07:50.720 --> 00:07:54.120 I figured that, of course they were related, that they 136 00:07:54.279 --> 00:07:58.800 must be. I had no idea. They are similar coloration. 137 00:07:58.399 --> 00:07:59.959 Though, right, very similar color. 138 00:08:00.759 --> 00:08:03.480 Okay, let's go back to the Penguinology episode with doctor 139 00:08:03.560 --> 00:08:07.199 Tom Hart, where we first learned why these unrelated ocean 140 00:08:07.240 --> 00:08:09.680 species get confused at first sight. 141 00:08:10.120 --> 00:08:13.040 It's amazing how many species are both black and white, 142 00:08:13.160 --> 00:08:20.040 and that countershading, like cormorants, like so many seabirds, and 143 00:08:20.079 --> 00:08:23.639 also a lot of killer whales and things like that. 144 00:08:24.040 --> 00:08:28.959 This counter shading is camouflage. So if you look at 145 00:08:29.000 --> 00:08:33.080 them in the water from above, they're dark against a 146 00:08:33.159 --> 00:08:35.519 dark background, and if you look at them from underneath, 147 00:08:35.559 --> 00:08:37.399 they're light against the light background. 148 00:08:37.879 --> 00:08:39.559 Oh oh my god. 149 00:08:39.159 --> 00:08:43.080 Just see black and white animals everywhere, because that seems 150 00:08:43.080 --> 00:08:46.080 to be just a natural way to camouflage yourself in 151 00:08:46.120 --> 00:08:46.559 the ocean. 152 00:08:47.759 --> 00:08:51.080 I never even thought about that orcs and penguins were 153 00:08:51.080 --> 00:08:55.080 in the same fabulous outfit, just laying and getting slaid. 154 00:08:55.080 --> 00:08:56.960 But I do want to think about that. So aside 155 00:08:56.960 --> 00:08:59.519 from being a snack for whales, what else do they 156 00:08:59.519 --> 00:09:00.840 have in common with penguins? 157 00:09:01.159 --> 00:09:05.600 Similar diving habits too, they're both very ocean oriented birds. 158 00:09:06.360 --> 00:09:08.960 But yes, you're not the first person. It's either penguins 159 00:09:09.039 --> 00:09:11.519 or two cans. Are the two other ones that people 160 00:09:11.519 --> 00:09:15.399 are like, Oh, puffins, penguins two cans, these are not 161 00:09:15.440 --> 00:09:15.799 the same. 162 00:09:16.519 --> 00:09:20.240 More bonkers facts about the puffins, bright two candy bill 163 00:09:20.279 --> 00:09:24.519 and a hang tight were you drawn to ornithology or 164 00:09:24.720 --> 00:09:28.159 marine science? How did you become a puffinologist? How did 165 00:09:28.200 --> 00:09:30.960 you come to study one of the cutest species of birds? 166 00:09:32.120 --> 00:09:36.000 So, for full disclosure, I am not a bird person. 167 00:09:36.240 --> 00:09:39.639 I beg your pardon. I yeah, puffins are the first 168 00:09:39.679 --> 00:09:42.399 bird I've actually ever studied. It started with in my 169 00:09:42.519 --> 00:09:45.960 undergrad I was studying black and gold howler monkeys and 170 00:09:46.039 --> 00:09:50.240 paraguay and then we were onto American eels, and then 171 00:09:50.320 --> 00:09:54.919 it was snapping turtles, so it was primates, fish, reptiles, 172 00:09:55.080 --> 00:09:56.720 and then I was like, okay, well the complete this said, 173 00:09:56.759 --> 00:09:58.240 I guess I got to do birds, and I guess 174 00:09:58.240 --> 00:10:00.639 insects next maybe, But I knew it had to be 175 00:10:00.639 --> 00:10:04.600 a seabird, and puffins are really good divers, and scuba 176 00:10:04.639 --> 00:10:07.480 diving is one of my favorite things in the world, 177 00:10:08.159 --> 00:10:10.480 so I find them quite relatable and likable. That way, 178 00:10:11.480 --> 00:10:13.919 it had to be something next to the ocean, so 179 00:10:13.919 --> 00:10:16.480 that's kind of how I just stumbled upon puffins. It 180 00:10:16.519 --> 00:10:19.679 was never a planned thing. I was not raised as 181 00:10:19.679 --> 00:10:23.519 an ornithologist from birth, but I've come to appreciate the 182 00:10:23.519 --> 00:10:27.759 ocean quite a bit, and the puffin also appreciates the ocean. 183 00:10:27.960 --> 00:10:29.960 How did you get involved in scuba diving. Did you 184 00:10:29.960 --> 00:10:31.639 grow up near the ocean or did you grow up 185 00:10:31.840 --> 00:10:35.559 like landlocked and the ocean seemed like something you were 186 00:10:35.679 --> 00:10:36.080 drawn to. 187 00:10:37.200 --> 00:10:40.519 I grew up in Nova Scotia, in Halifax. Nova Scotia 188 00:10:40.600 --> 00:10:43.399 so right next to Atlantic Ocean, and yeah, that's where 189 00:10:43.399 --> 00:10:45.639 I learned to scuba dive. So I'm going to Memorial 190 00:10:45.759 --> 00:10:48.960 University of Newfoundland and Labrador now. So next PROBN is over. 191 00:10:49.240 --> 00:10:51.759 So if you think that Nova Scotia isn't real like 192 00:10:51.840 --> 00:10:54.120 I did for a while, like Narnia or Xana, do 193 00:10:54.320 --> 00:10:56.879 I regret to inform you that we are living lives. 194 00:10:57.039 --> 00:11:00.759 Nova Scotia exists, and it is this chicken under shaped 195 00:11:00.879 --> 00:11:03.639 piece of seaside land about the size of Sri Lanka, 196 00:11:03.759 --> 00:11:07.159 but right off the coast of Maine. And yes, Newfoundland's 197 00:11:07.200 --> 00:11:10.879 and Labrador retrievers are named after those places because apparently 198 00:11:10.879 --> 00:11:13.960 they just send from really great working dogs for some 199 00:11:14.159 --> 00:11:17.960 old school seafaring fishmongers. But yeah, Jill has spent her 200 00:11:18.039 --> 00:11:22.559 academic career up and down the eastern seaboard of Canada. 201 00:11:21.960 --> 00:11:25.080 But same Atlantic Ocean, a lot of the same species. 202 00:11:25.480 --> 00:11:27.639 The Atlantic Ocean is very near and dear to my heart. 203 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:30.360 How thick is your diving suit. 204 00:11:30.720 --> 00:11:35.159 Very very thick, But the biggest wisus fay Sell. And 205 00:11:35.200 --> 00:11:38.960 in the summer, the warmest the ocean temperatures get in 206 00:11:39.039 --> 00:11:42.759 you from land. If you're lucky. October it's around fourteen 207 00:11:42.759 --> 00:11:45.879 degrees celsius. I don't know what that is in fahrenheit. 208 00:11:45.919 --> 00:11:51.320 I'm sorry, cold fifty seven point two degrees fahrenheit, which 209 00:11:51.320 --> 00:11:54.759 for me personally is not like coconut shell bikini season. 210 00:11:55.120 --> 00:11:56.559 I'm not having it cold. 211 00:11:56.720 --> 00:11:59.720 Yes, So it's a two piece seven mil so fourteen 212 00:11:59.720 --> 00:12:02.639 militer in the core and then seven millimeters everywhere else. 213 00:12:03.080 --> 00:12:05.799 Oh my gosh, you can't move your arms. 214 00:12:05.519 --> 00:12:11.200 At all, your little flappy wings exactly. So Jill's master's 215 00:12:11.240 --> 00:12:15.279 advisor is a visual ecologist, meaning he studies how animals 216 00:12:15.440 --> 00:12:18.679 use their site, or their lack thereof, to their advantage, 217 00:12:18.840 --> 00:12:22.200 and she says puffins are very visual creatures people, and 218 00:12:22.360 --> 00:12:25.159 a spot opened up in her advisor's lab, and she 219 00:12:25.200 --> 00:12:28.799 says it just fell into place perfectly, and because of her, 220 00:12:28.960 --> 00:12:31.559 now even more people care about puffins. So worked out 221 00:12:31.559 --> 00:12:34.639 for us too, and you do some outreach too on 222 00:12:34.679 --> 00:12:40.120 social media and people are stoked about your work with puffins. Hi, 223 00:12:40.240 --> 00:12:42.440 my name is Jill and I'm a puffin ecologist. 224 00:12:42.480 --> 00:12:44.759 I work. I'm the largest puffin colony in all of 225 00:12:44.759 --> 00:12:47.600 North America, second only to Iceland in the world. Come 226 00:12:47.639 --> 00:12:50.120 along for a day in the life of a puffinologist 227 00:12:50.240 --> 00:12:52.519 on a remote island off the east coast of Newfoundland. 228 00:12:53.000 --> 00:12:56.399 What is a myth? What is some flimplam that you 229 00:12:56.440 --> 00:12:59.360 find yourself busting over and over again? Like, what is 230 00:12:59.399 --> 00:13:03.320 the biggest lie people believe about puffins that you're constantly corrected? 231 00:13:04.240 --> 00:13:08.519 Well, besides thinking that they're penguins, they are, they're so 232 00:13:08.639 --> 00:13:11.759 much smaller than everyone thinks that they are. You see 233 00:13:11.759 --> 00:13:15.759 these beautiful zoom lens photos and you think that this 234 00:13:15.840 --> 00:13:18.440 bird is going to be like this nice big bill 235 00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:22.639 and they're actually really tiny. They're only like twenty centimeters tall. 236 00:13:22.720 --> 00:13:26.039 They're really really small. They only weigh about like a 237 00:13:26.120 --> 00:13:29.519 small sack of rice, like five hundred and six hundred 238 00:13:29.559 --> 00:13:30.279 grams max. 239 00:13:30.399 --> 00:13:33.000 Eight inches tall and around one pound of sweet, cute, 240 00:13:33.039 --> 00:13:33.879 stinky birdies. 241 00:13:34.799 --> 00:13:36.960 I love them, so, Yeah, they're much smaller than everyone 242 00:13:36.960 --> 00:13:38.720 thinks that they're going to be before they see them 243 00:13:38.759 --> 00:13:42.600 in real life. Another misconception that I feel like a 244 00:13:42.600 --> 00:13:45.799 lot of people don't know about is that these very 245 00:13:45.840 --> 00:13:48.759 conspicuous bright orange bills that they have, they don't have 246 00:13:48.840 --> 00:13:51.600 them all year round. This is only a breeding color 247 00:13:51.960 --> 00:13:54.159 and they lose those bill plates in the winter, so 248 00:13:54.200 --> 00:13:57.840 in the winter they're this fairly drab gray color. And 249 00:13:58.240 --> 00:14:01.080 like the first people study puffins thought it was a 250 00:14:01.080 --> 00:14:05.600 completely different species because it looks so different. And I 251 00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:06.919 don't know if I want to use the word ugly, 252 00:14:06.960 --> 00:14:09.000 but they're definitely not as pretty. They're much prettier in 253 00:14:09.039 --> 00:14:09.639 this everytime. 254 00:14:10.840 --> 00:14:12.960 What is a bill plate? Is that something that they 255 00:14:13.080 --> 00:14:15.039 just shed? Do they shed the whole bill or they 256 00:14:15.120 --> 00:14:16.759 just shed like scales off. 257 00:14:16.639 --> 00:14:20.120 Of the bill, Yeah, just the outer bill plate. It 258 00:14:20.200 --> 00:14:22.000 is the best way I can describe it. They keep 259 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:26.519 their bill It just is this dark gray color. And 260 00:14:26.559 --> 00:14:31.720 then they developed these bright orange, red and yellow bill 261 00:14:31.799 --> 00:14:33.759 plates and other eye ornaments. 262 00:14:34.080 --> 00:14:36.360 And I looked it up, and the eye ornaments that 263 00:14:36.440 --> 00:14:40.279 they grow and shed make their little round eyes look 264 00:14:40.360 --> 00:14:43.080 kind of triangular, like if you had a witch hat 265 00:14:43.200 --> 00:14:45.320 or a candy corn with an eye in the middle 266 00:14:45.360 --> 00:14:47.799 of it, or like a heavy straight eyeliner in the 267 00:14:47.799 --> 00:14:51.000 bottom lash, and then a black triangle like a clown 268 00:14:51.039 --> 00:14:54.639 on the lid. And this was confusing for some early 269 00:14:54.919 --> 00:14:59.240 old school puffinologists because after the beak and eye ornamentation 270 00:14:59.480 --> 00:15:02.360 is shed and falls off, these birds get the fuck 271 00:15:02.360 --> 00:15:04.399 out of dodge on the off season and they don't 272 00:15:04.440 --> 00:15:07.879 come back until it's mating time again and they're gussied 273 00:15:07.960 --> 00:15:12.080 up ornamentally again. Also, if you were to google, like me, 274 00:15:12.279 --> 00:15:16.480 puffins plus ornaments, you're gonna find all kinds of holiday 275 00:15:16.519 --> 00:15:20.759 tree decorations celebrating these little birds, and not a lot 276 00:15:20.759 --> 00:15:24.080 of close ups of their beaks falling off unfortunately. 277 00:15:24.440 --> 00:15:26.360 Yeah, their bills are quite elaborate. 278 00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:29.120 And so how many months out of the year are 279 00:15:29.159 --> 00:15:30.240 they flashy like that? 280 00:15:31.799 --> 00:15:34.639 Only about four they're breeding season. They come back to 281 00:15:34.679 --> 00:15:38.320 Newfoundland every year from April to August. The other eight 282 00:15:38.360 --> 00:15:42.919 months the year they're just out at sea cruise. The 283 00:15:42.960 --> 00:15:45.480 North Atlantic is very large, so they're just out there 284 00:15:45.559 --> 00:15:47.360 chilling for eight months the year, and then they come 285 00:15:47.399 --> 00:15:51.240 back to the same islands every year to read. 286 00:15:50.440 --> 00:15:53.080 How far can they fly before they need to touch 287 00:15:53.120 --> 00:15:54.879 down or do they touch down in the water and 288 00:15:54.960 --> 00:15:56.919 just take a nap? Bobbin up and down. 289 00:15:57.200 --> 00:16:00.759 They're bobin most of the time. They're just bobbin' Yeah. 290 00:16:01.519 --> 00:16:03.840 Do they tend to hang out in big groups just 291 00:16:03.879 --> 00:16:07.000 in case a shark happens to surface and try to 292 00:16:07.000 --> 00:16:09.440 scoop a bunch of them up? Like are they herders 293 00:16:09.600 --> 00:16:11.559 or are they pair kind of birds. 294 00:16:12.840 --> 00:16:15.519 I've heard in the winter months that they are a 295 00:16:15.600 --> 00:16:18.480 little more isolated. They go off in like groups of 296 00:16:18.519 --> 00:16:21.600 smaller like ones or twos. But at least in the 297 00:16:21.639 --> 00:16:24.240 breeding season, which is where I've spent most of my 298 00:16:24.279 --> 00:16:27.480 time looking at puffins, is they do something called rafting 299 00:16:27.639 --> 00:16:31.600 where they'll come together as like hundreds of birds on 300 00:16:31.639 --> 00:16:35.000 the water and just hang out together bobbing. Yeah, it's 301 00:16:35.039 --> 00:16:38.559 really it's really fun. They're just cruising through the waves together. 302 00:16:39.320 --> 00:16:39.720 SUSA. 303 00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:45.360 Do they ever go from the Atlantic coast to say, 304 00:16:45.399 --> 00:16:47.279 the coast of Europe or the North Sea or do 305 00:16:47.360 --> 00:16:49.679 they stay kind of out in their islands and then 306 00:16:49.720 --> 00:16:52.080 come back to the same coast or do they migrate? 307 00:16:52.399 --> 00:16:55.320 They do migrate in that they are a way for 308 00:16:55.360 --> 00:16:58.080 eight months of the year. They've been found throughout the 309 00:16:58.120 --> 00:17:01.360 Mediterranean wintering as well in New York on the west 310 00:17:01.360 --> 00:17:04.759 coast of the North Atlantic. They some of them have 311 00:17:04.839 --> 00:17:07.960 been found to travel quite a great deal, but they 312 00:17:08.039 --> 00:17:10.920 make it back to their islands every year. And these 313 00:17:10.960 --> 00:17:14.960 islands are some are far out to sea and some 314 00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:17.880 are quite close to land. But these islands provide them 315 00:17:17.960 --> 00:17:22.119 quite a bit of protection from predators in that there's 316 00:17:22.200 --> 00:17:27.240 no foxes or minks to come and bother their chicks. 317 00:17:28.759 --> 00:17:33.240 Do they nest in cliffs or are they sand nestors 318 00:17:33.359 --> 00:17:35.240 or rock nestors? What are their nests like? 319 00:17:36.160 --> 00:17:39.440 So they live in something called a burrow. They like 320 00:17:39.839 --> 00:17:45.160 grassy slopes and they dig this really cool maze of tunnels. 321 00:17:45.359 --> 00:17:47.599 It's really hard to walk on. You basically need to 322 00:17:47.640 --> 00:17:49.440 make sure you're not going to bust through anyone's roof 323 00:17:49.480 --> 00:17:52.160 when you're on the islands. They lay their egg inside 324 00:17:52.200 --> 00:17:54.759 this burrow and then they raise that chick in the burrow, 325 00:17:55.279 --> 00:17:59.279 and then six weeks after that chick hatches, they're booted 326 00:17:59.319 --> 00:17:59.960 out and they're on there. 327 00:18:01.039 --> 00:18:03.960 So when you're studying it, are you hanging out like 328 00:18:04.039 --> 00:18:07.880 in a tent on the shore with binoculars? What is 329 00:18:07.920 --> 00:18:09.799 it like studying them? 330 00:18:09.920 --> 00:18:10.000 Like? 331 00:18:10.400 --> 00:18:12.359 What kind of excursions are you up to? 332 00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:15.720 Yeah, so all of my field work has happened on 333 00:18:16.079 --> 00:18:18.839 Great Island, which is one of the four islands in 334 00:18:18.839 --> 00:18:23.200 Waitless Bay Ecological Reserve. The island is not the easiest 335 00:18:23.240 --> 00:18:26.200 to access. On our little zodiac that we take in, 336 00:18:26.680 --> 00:18:28.599 you basically land and then you have to climb up 337 00:18:28.599 --> 00:18:30.680 this really steep cliff to get to the top. We 338 00:18:30.720 --> 00:18:33.799 do have a cabin on the island. I'm very fortunate 339 00:18:33.799 --> 00:18:36.599 to say not everyone's field site has a cabin on it. 340 00:18:36.599 --> 00:18:40.119 It's very basic. There's no toilet and then there's one 341 00:18:40.200 --> 00:18:42.720 light bulb of electricity if we ever get sunshine from 342 00:18:42.759 --> 00:18:46.559 the solar panels. But the actual studying of the puffins, 343 00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:51.400 we construct a semi permanent blind close to the plot 344 00:18:51.480 --> 00:18:54.000 that we're studying them from, and that's just so that 345 00:18:54.039 --> 00:18:57.559 they can't see us and they're not disturbed. As soon 346 00:18:57.559 --> 00:18:59.759 as they see us, they're taken off. They don't like 347 00:18:59.799 --> 00:19:02.200 being your humans, which I don't blame them. We're massive 348 00:19:02.240 --> 00:19:06.799 compared to them, and they're just they're scared, and understandably 349 00:19:07.160 --> 00:19:11.000 a lot of the studying. The research looks like sitting 350 00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:14.720 in the blind and really early mornings when the puffins 351 00:19:14.759 --> 00:19:17.640 get up, and then also in the evenings. They seem 352 00:19:17.680 --> 00:19:20.279 to be most active in the mornings in the evenings, 353 00:19:20.640 --> 00:19:24.200 and it's binoculars and it's sitting. That's just the observational part, 354 00:19:24.240 --> 00:19:27.400 though there's other parts when we're banding them that always 355 00:19:27.400 --> 00:19:28.319 happens at nighttime. 356 00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:32.079 Are you taking notes in like a moleskin or are 357 00:19:32.119 --> 00:19:34.240 you do you have your laptop and you're noting things 358 00:19:34.279 --> 00:19:36.480 like well, what are you looking for when you're staring 359 00:19:36.559 --> 00:19:38.319 at them? 360 00:19:39.079 --> 00:19:42.799 No, moleskin and the laptop isn't super rain friendly, so 361 00:19:42.960 --> 00:19:45.440 I try not to bring that, but your typical rite 362 00:19:45.440 --> 00:19:48.559 in the right notebook. But there's two main studies that 363 00:19:48.599 --> 00:19:50.920 I was a part of for this research project. There 364 00:19:50.960 --> 00:19:54.200 was one that was looking at the social network of 365 00:19:54.240 --> 00:19:57.400 the colony, so who interacts with who We go and 366 00:19:57.440 --> 00:20:00.640 ban them and we can monitor how they do in 367 00:20:00.680 --> 00:20:04.079 subsequent years, which burrows have chick success, that sort of thing. 368 00:20:04.599 --> 00:20:08.039 But we can also use those bands to identify individuals 369 00:20:08.119 --> 00:20:11.680 on the plot to know, Okay, that's Bob and he 370 00:20:11.799 --> 00:20:14.000 likes to hang out with Bruce and they spend all 371 00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:16.240 their time together and that sort of thing. It's a 372 00:20:16.319 --> 00:20:19.039 very like there's hundreds of thousands of birds on this 373 00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:22.920 island and they have a really complex social colony. Yeah, 374 00:20:22.960 --> 00:20:24.359 we're trying to keep track of that. We're trying to 375 00:20:24.359 --> 00:20:28.759 map that. And this is a side note. This is 376 00:20:28.839 --> 00:20:32.720 part of my project, which is a very strange project 377 00:20:32.799 --> 00:20:36.519 in itself, but cool nonetheless, and that I actually taxi 378 00:20:36.599 --> 00:20:41.480 dermied six out puffins that we found dead don't worry, 379 00:20:41.920 --> 00:20:45.400 and we presented them to live birds to see how 380 00:20:45.400 --> 00:20:48.720 they'd react to a novel individual in that. This is 381 00:20:48.720 --> 00:20:52.599 a really complex social colony. They're long lived, they see 382 00:20:52.599 --> 00:20:56.200 the same neighbors year after year, and we don't know 383 00:20:56.200 --> 00:20:57.559 how they recognize each other. 384 00:20:57.519 --> 00:20:58.519 And what they do. 385 00:20:58.960 --> 00:21:03.920 Well, I can't tell you quite yet, but I'm presenting. 386 00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:06.519 I'm presenting those results at a conference six months so 387 00:21:06.680 --> 00:21:09.319 I can't spoil too much. But let's just say there 388 00:21:09.319 --> 00:21:12.960 were some sex differences. What we saw between males and females. 389 00:21:13.640 --> 00:21:15.839 And you mentioned Bob and Bruce hanging out. Do they 390 00:21:15.920 --> 00:21:20.200 have the same sex friends? Do they sometimes pair up 391 00:21:20.720 --> 00:21:24.839 in non heterosexual pairs? What are their friendships like? When 392 00:21:24.880 --> 00:21:27.240 you say a complex social structure, does that mean people 393 00:21:27.279 --> 00:21:30.440 are shit talking, people are having affairs? What's going on? 394 00:21:31.599 --> 00:21:35.559 Probably all of the above, I will say anecdotally. This 395 00:21:35.720 --> 00:21:39.480 is fun. To give some context. Puffins are monogamous. They 396 00:21:39.519 --> 00:21:42.440 do mate for life. They live to be about twenty 397 00:21:42.519 --> 00:21:45.160 five years old. They were with the same mate for 398 00:21:45.160 --> 00:21:48.680 about twenty five years. Yeah, which is impressive in itself. 399 00:21:48.960 --> 00:21:51.319 I will maintain that. I think that's only possible because 400 00:21:51.359 --> 00:21:53.759 they spend eight months of the year apart at seed. 401 00:21:55.920 --> 00:21:59.119