The Puffin

• Vestmannaeyjar is the largest puffin colony in Iceland. As there are millions of puffins that nest near the islands every year.
• The puffins spend most of their lives on sea. They mate for life and can live to be about 37 years old (in human years).
• During winter the puffins stay on the sea by Greenland or Newfoundland.
• The puffin couple does not stay together during the winter.
• Puffins flap their wings up to 400 times a minute and they can fly up to 88 km an hour.
• They are great swimmers and divers. They can dive down about 60 meters under the water to catch their fish.
• The puffin’s beak is colorful in the summer to attract mates. The beak has a dull grey color in the winter time.
• In springtime the male returns to Vestmannaeyjar a week ahead his spouse. Then he gets the nesting hole clean for his spouse.
• Iceland is home for more than 60% of the world’s entire Atlantic puffin population
• In Vestmannaeyjar the puffins leave the islands and their nests the latest of all puffin colonies in Iceland.

How to see the puffin in the nature

• In all our boat trips you are able to see the puffins in their natural environment from May to mid September. There is less change to see them in the baytrip to the belugas.