Diving of Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula Arctica) » News

Heimaey is a volcanic island belonging to the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago located 10 km off the south coast of Iceland. The island has one of the largest puffin colonies in the world and therefore an ideal spot for studying patterns in the puffin's diving behaviour. The Vestmannaeyjar Research Centre in cooperation with Star-Oddi has been using Data Storage Tags to obtain information on the diving of Atlantic Puffin.

The main goal of this study was to monitor the feeding behaviour of the Puffin using Data Storage Tags (DST) programmed to measure temperature and depth (pressure) over time, but also to estimate diving parameters such as diving frequency, ascending and descending speed, average dive duration, the main foraging depth and the relationship between depths, dive duration, duration of pauses and diving speed.

See the poster along with very interesting information about the Puffin's behaviour along with pictures and a video taken from the tagging last summer.