The Reasons People Throw Baby Puffins Off The Cliffs In Iceland

A woman in Iceland revealed the reason people are throwing baby puffins off the cliffs in Iceland and it’s far less sinister than it sounds.

Kyana Sue Powers was born in the United States but she now lives in Iceland and is sharing about her life in the country on TikTok (@kyanasue).

In one video, she shared an unusual tradition in which people from the Westman Islands gather up baby puffins, called pufflings, and throw them off the cliffs!

She explained, “Baby puffins are called pufflings and they’re born at the end of summer in the Westman Islands, and it’s called puffling season. The whole town goes out at night on puffling patrol. [Pufflings] jump from their burrows at night to fly out to the ocean, but they end up confusing the street lights with the moon and they crash into town.”

As people gather up the pufflings, they’re put in boxes to keep them safe. Kyana continued, “Even the puffers in the harbor need to be rescued. Even though [pufflings] are strong swimmers, the oil from the harbor can be too heavy on their wings and they could drown.”

The following morning after the pufflings are gathered, everyone takes their boxes of birds out to the cliffs to release them into the wild. She added, “They have to be thrown in the air in order to start flying.”

According to Hey Iceland, puffling patrol is a real thing. They explained: “It is a tradition that the children of the island will go out in the evening during this time period to collect any lost baby puffins whose parents have left them on their own. The baby puffins are then returned to a better location so they can begin their own journey out to sea.”

Kyana said people of all ages get involved in puffling season and it helps bring the community together.

@kyanasue I want a pet puffin 😫 I miss my Pufflings already #iceland #puffins #westmanislands #vestmannaeyjar #reykjavik #icelandtrip #traditions ♬ Love You So – The King Khan & BBQ Show

Kyana even got to participate in her own “puffin patrol” and shared about it on TikTok!

Along with others from the Westman Islands, she went out at night to gather pufflings from around town before tossing them off the cliffs the following morning. Check out the video below:

@kyanasue POV: Puffling patrol Iceland #icelandtrip #iceland #puffins #pufflings #westmanislands #vestmannaeyjar #tradition ♬ Funny Song – Cavendish Music

Fly high little guys!