'Animal,' Episode 2: Puffins

hey it's Michael today we have something. really special for you a blissful break. from the news it's a new series from nyt. audio called animal my colleague Sam. Anderson from the Times magazine. traveled the world to have encounters. with animals not to claim them or to. tame them but just to appreciate them. each episode is a journey to get closer. to a creature that Sam loves for the.

next 6 weeks we'll be running this. limited series every Sunday here on the. daily feed but if you want to hear all. the episodes right now you can search. for it wherever you get your podcasts. today episode 2 take a. listen Walnut stop. it. hey hey. hey wet.

no oh there once was a puffin just the. shape of a muffin and he lived on an. island in the bright blue. sea smells like a fish yeah you smell. that yeah where's that coming from the. boat he ate little fishes that were most. delicious sound like fish and he had. them for supper and he had them for tea.

hello but this poor little Puffin he. couldn't play nothing for he hadn't. anybody to play with at all it's the. boat that smells like fish so he sat on. his Island and he cried for a while. smells so much like fish and he felt. very lonely and he felt very. small then Along Came the fishes there's. no doubt about what it smells like it. smells like fish and they said if you. wishes you can have us for Playmates in. instead of for tea so they now play.

together in all sorts of weather and the. Puffin eats pancakes like you and like. me where we're. going driving off the ferry I recently. went to iand foggy and rainy yeah with. my colleague Caitlyn Roberts like a. movie set yeah it really is and not just. a regular Iceland the green is so green. I'm talking about extra super remote.

sea spray Rocky Cliffs tiny Island way. off the south coast of Iceland Iceland. proceed to theout we want to be going. because on that island maybe it's up. here there is a single fishing Village. up stairs and in that fishing Village. there is a house with a white. door and when you knock on that door. hi you will be greeted by a very polite. family Sam hia a mom named saava and her.

teenage son Tristy Tristy Tristy and the. dad this is my dad siky siky hello Sam. all of whom have invited you over for. dinner delicious food thank you very. good very good thank. you where are you from. America I from the Far West West Coast.

from a place called. Oregon. yep have you been to the United States. no and at first it's going to be really. awkward because you're strangers our. daughter is going to wedding now in. Texas. Texas very American mhm but now I know. all kinds of accents from America over. the course of the dinner I'm going to go. rock the train with my horse called.

Buckley Buckley and. Australian do you came here to die no I. came here you have to die things will. loosen up I play guitar and uh vocals in. general. vocals that. sounds this is our sleepy music.

and eventually you'll get around to the. real reason you're here but uh. puffins yeah Puffin. Puffin. puff from The New York Times I'm Sam. Anderson this is. animal episode two puffins. why do you have some interest in.

puffins good question good question um. well I first learned about puffins in. second grade when a girl in my class. stood up and read a poem about them I. think I must have been seven years old. about this lonely little Puffin stranded. on an island with no friends and somehow. he ends up eating pancakes that fish. cooked for him I was.

enchanted and ever since then I've held. puffins deep in my heart these black and. white seabirds with rainbow colored. little beaks who can swim and fly and. carry like 20 fish and their beak at. once they're amazing see and I always. thought about puffins from then on and. then somewhere along the line I heard. about this far away Island where. something unbeliev able.

happens at the end of every summer every. year in the middle of the night baby. puffins start falling out of the sky and. I just couldn't believe that that was. real they crash onto doorsteps on top of. people's cars into storefronts parking. lots. everywhere it sounds almost. biblical but it's just part of how. puffins grow up in this part of the. world I'm in Iceland yeah you're.

in a baby Puffin is called and get ready. because this is very adorable a puffling. puffling or in Icelandic lunia. lunaa I got to write it down the Luna. spends all summer deep in a burrow this. muddy hole that's been tunneled into the. cliffs and puff and parents only have. one egg at a time so.

it's down there all by itself it sits. there and it waits for its parents to. bring big glistening beak fulls of. silver Floppy Fish and when the baby. Puffin is theoretically big enough to. survive on its own the parents just. leave they ditch it and the Little Baby. Luna is abandoned in its. hole until one night.

all alone very hungry the puffling. climbs up to the opening of its burrow. and it looks out at the ocean where all. the food is and It prepares to jump off. the cliff and glide down to the freedom. of the Open Sea they float for a while. eat sleep on the ocean where it will. spend the next several years never. touching land swimming around learning. how to be a grown-up Puffin diving for. fish.

finding a mate and eventually returning. to the same Cliffs to start the cycle. again to have its own. puffling but every year some Pufflings. get confused they don't see the. ocean they think they're headed toward. the beautiful moonlight reflected on the. water but instead they end up drifting. down toward a well-lit gas station or. someone's porch light because they're. not able to fly as Puff Wings they only.

know how to Glide and when they land. they are. stuck their little wings are really only. good for gliding so they can't take off. again they're landlocked and. stunned and if a puffling is just left. there in the street all kinds of. Terrible Things Can. Happen long story short it will not be. growing up and having babies of its own. which just means a world with fewer. puffins.

which is not a world you or I want to. live. in so for Generations during puffling. season the families of VES minire have. been staying up all night to rescue. these baby birds and release them back. to the Sea.

oh yeah she was telling me there is. there is one place on the island where. people could go on their balcony and. Hunt puffins from their house there's. only one place in the in the world. hunting puffins is also a family. tradition here this part of Iceland is. home to the biggest Puffin Colony on. Earth there are way more puffins than. there are people living there and never. eating a puffin would be like living in. the middle of the greatest Vineyard on. Earth and never trying a grape but.

you've never hunted puffins no that's. not in our. family we are not the. killer we just eat it yeah we just buy. after it's been. killed it is very. very nice. food I like I love it we smoke. it and have new potatoes and. butter m but I'm not here to eat puffins.

I've come here to save them are they. hard to catch are they quick or what. what is it like try to they can be very. hard to catch some are just very calm. and since Tristy has been doing this. since he was Tiny he's offered to be our. Luna guide what kind of mood is it in. confused and Mad puffling Season only. comes once a year and it only lasts for. a few weeks so we had to come to vestman.

Aire at this exact moment even though. for me personally the timing is. awkward because my daughter Greta my own. little precious fuzzy puffling is. getting ready to go off to college. little and if you're wondering how this. is going to go for me the other day at. the grocery store I started crying when. I saw her favorite brand of applesauce. like to come Wild still bright and I.

could maybe try to show you some puffins. but these birds don't care about me and. my stupid human timeline they will jump. when they jump which I'm hoping is soon. so that I can hurry up and rescue them. and still get home in time to send Greta. off here you sit in the front seat and. it'll be yeah. okay do you want to hear what uh my mom. says it's unhealthy for my soul yeah.

yeah. yeah but it's called to the Hellfire so. as we head down toward the harbor Tristy. cranks up the music this is the ultimate. puff ins surching song this will get. them to come to. [Music]. us K do you want the music maybe just is. just a touchdown um because I just want. to ask about like what what the strategy.

here it is just patience and looking out. for the tiniest little dots that might. resemble a puffin okay what does a. puffin look like what are we looking. for a little black uh ball of. feathers let's go up here you know those. very dark British crime dramas where. every day there's a grizzly murder down. at the Docks yeah you just got to.

search every nook and cranny this looks. like that and then if you see something. scream out like torn chain link fences. huge buoys industrial spools of rope ah. no I don't think it is I think it's just. a shadow yeah it's just a. shadow we're staring so hard our eyes. are popping out of our heads we're just. looking for the tin EST hint of motion.

where are you little guys where are you. when we don't see anything down at the. harbor we check out the rest of this. tiny Island we drive past the school do. you see anything past the golf course no. past this giant sculpture of a soccer. ball on the side of a hill I don't see. any out there again and again sometimes. I think a lava rock is a puffin. sometimes I think a little clump of. grass is a puffin yeah everything is a.

puffin when you're searching for them. it's the middle of the night and there. are no. [Music]. puffins I feel like this is like when my. grandpa used to take us out to see Santa. Claus on Christmas Eve night we'd look. up at the sky and everyone would be. searching around and and at some point.

he would act like he saw Santa Claus and. we would all sort of pretend like we saw. little lights in the sky. and we have 13 Santa Claus is in. Iceland what. yeah so the Santa Claus is in. Icelandic culture they are like. pranksters and kind of just just.

they all break into your house. it's not like they sneak in through the. chimney it's and we just keep looping. around past the school past the golf. course he steals your candles pass the. soccer ball cute Coker he steals from. your meat patry pass the school pot leer. pass the golf pass that soccer ball laal. which means uh like an patch looser past.

the docks past the school Golf Course. their mom eats naughty children past the. piece of lava that looks like a puffing. but is not driving now through the golf. course past the schools the golf course. feel like we're never going pass the. soccer ball the golf course soccer ball. soccer ball so many times School Golf. Course soccer ball soccer. ball should we get out and walk around. we can do that it is now 10 million o00.

in the. morning this is all about patience it's. just being patient then enjoying the. walk enjoying the. smell or trying to enjoy it at least and. then out of. nowhere we see.

it. puffling it tries to run but it has. nowhere to go it's hemmed in by concrete. walls and so we all go. sprinting toward this teeny panicking. blob of feathers and Tristy lunges at it. and just catches it with his bare. hands. hi and here it is a real live puffling. nice job down here in the loading dock.

Sleek with a black face and a bright. white body it has this long sharp pointy. beak got one you got. one my go it's very. tiny you're being. rescued really. flapping the puffling has some fuzzy. gray down on the back of its head which.

is a sign that it might still be a. little on the young side and maybe. wasn't quite ready to leave its burrow. oh wow he very tiny but it did leave. burrow it climbed right out to the edge. of that hole and it made this Brave leap. of faith toward its new life and it. totally failed everything went wrong it. smashed into pavement a and now here it.

is clamped in a pair of human hands it. must feel like it's being abducted by. aliens well got bite. you the biting doesn't hurt at all it's. the most adorable anger. possible and we all just stand around. beaming at this little guy Overjoyed we. can't believe our luck all the little. Shadow and I was like ah no that's just. a pipe and then it twisted.

Pipe Stone twist like that this has to. be by far the worst night of this baby. animals. life but it's one of the best nights of. my. life I'm finally standing face to. face beak to. nose with a living breathing squealing. baby Puffin thank you so much this puff. have fun sleeping tonight so we pack up. our little bird into a cardboard box.

where she will spend a long sleepless. night scratching and squeaking in making. terrible smells I don't recommend. cuddling with it right at the foot of my. bed you will wake up covered in poop and. he will have to search for it while I am. also not sleeping but it'll all be worth. it because tomorrow we'll be sending her. back out to sea good night good night. thank you.

there he is oh. yeah hello hi our friend Tristy had to. go to rikic on band business so he. called in some backup to help us okay. so tour guide mode activated uh his. friend arar my name is arar. arar yeah it's probably a little hard to.

roll the AR right I think I'm just gonna. say arar I'm sorry to him Tristy and me. we are best friends arar and Tristy are. in a band together do you sing too or. you oh yeah uh we me and try we do joint. guitar and vocals okay and I always say. vocals cuz it's not really singing is it. it's can you do the uh. [Applause]. you know that's like the gremlin sound.

you. know and then you can just do like more. General stuff. yeah I guess what I'm asking is for you. to improvise a song about rescuing. Pufflings in your heavy metal. voice you totally don't have to do this. but oh no I am so going to do. this searching down in the darkness. below for the puff fit off my.

[Music]. show right something like. that arnar is a couple years older than. Tristy they met in a karate class and. like many Islanders he's been rescuing. Pufflings for as long as he can remember. there's one memory that kind of sticks. out so I must have been around 8 years. old and we found a puffling that was.

like way too small so that means that. you have to take care of it for like a. couple weeks to let it grow bigger so we. did that uh we had him for 3 weeks if I. remember correctly and I gave him a name. I named him Ki and he like he became my. best friend he ate like cat food chicken. and like a bunch of different stuff that. we gave him and he was super funny as. well and then you know the day came that. he became big enough to release so we. brought him out to the cliff and you.

know I throw him up and he looks kind of. shaky at first but he eventually kind of. regains stability in flight and I'm like. yes okay finally he's safe see you in a. couple years but then he just starts. taking a nose dive down and I'm like. okay it's fine he just wants to be. closer to the ocean uh he. eventually basically gets turned around. and flies directly into the cliff and. just explodes basically oh and you know.

I was like no K and then I started. crying it was a it was a harsh lesson in. how brutal nature can. be and it's just. like what are you going to do. [Music].

so here we are at hammer or the. cliff this is the most common spot where. people take. them hey little buddy we're going to get. you out to the ocean. okay. okay he doesn't like my soothing. words I have to say it feels weird to be. rescuing a baby animal by throwing it.

off a cliff this is an exciting time. this is your first time releasing a. puffling yeah I know but that's what. Pufflings like and so that is what we're. doing I am afraid something's going to. go wrong and he's going to blow back. into the cliff and die well I believe in. you okay I mean the wind is blowing very. hard at the. cliff very very. hard it is really windy out.

here okay so you can just put the box. down here and pick them. up so you want to basically cradle him. with both of your hands you want to keep. the wings in the technique is basically. the same as swinging a kettle bell at. the gym yeah i' do the kettle bell it's. the easiest you got to spread your legs. really wide and hunch down and your arms. just hang straight between your legs so. if I throw him isn't he just going to. fly back under the land no cuzz they.

like to fly Against the Wind so I grip. the bird okay he's struggling it's. surprisingly light in my hands fall off. the cliff it almost feels like nothing. it feels like I'm about to throw a. Kleenex off this Cliff also do we need. to worry about these seagulls like. eating him no no they they don't go for. the puffins and I get in position okay. should I do it okay yeah I think just. give it the old College try and let's. see what happens okay one two.

[Music]. and the bird sails out beyond the. Cliff's. Edge it's flapping like a maniac. flapping its absolute brains out it. looks like a. hummingbird for a long terrible moment. we watch our bird drifting backwards. struggling and losing. altitude until. miraculously the puffling Taps into some.

deep root of strength it somehow manages. to gain one molecule of an advantage. over the wind and it goes zipping just. slightly forward just barely missing the. Rock and starts half flying half falling. down the cliff face then suddenly bursts. out over the ocean that's it into the. clear. y wo.

look at him this thing I just had in my. hands now we see it as this tiny. dot heading toward the Horizon. silhouetted against one of these distant. Islands still going and when we finally. lose sight of it our bird is very very. very far out to. [Music]. seea as we drive back down from The. Cliff I'm so happy I just can't stop.

thinking about how that little. struggling creature we saved is now. sailing out across the freezing water. into this whole new life a life we can't. even imagine and we did that we fixed. that mistake we literally saved its. life I'm not sure I've saved anything's. life before I don't think I've been. particularly helpful to anything before. and now I'm like a superhero good job.

this is all I want to do that. it yeah got it fortunately holy crap I. did it over the next couple of days. puffling season finally starts to pick. up you're a handsome fella the babies. are late oh hello SM but they are here. we have pu yes and we are catching one. after another you're good at catching. Pufflings oh thanks I make sure to give. every puffling a name puffer Nutter.

puffing stuff Puff the Magic Dragon. puffle puff just want to make sure. you're okay in. there okay ready and then one by one one. two three release them back to the Sea. yeah did. it before long I have fallen completely. in love with this island and its birds. and everything else about it one evening. I see the most spectacular Sunset of my.

life and then I turn around and behind. me at the same time there is a full. rainbow arcing across the sky ending in. a. volcano and then that same night while. we're out catching birds wa we see the. Northern Lights it's extremely green. yeah and you can see the little red and. purple the sky is overflowing with stars. very green very bright that is very. green everyone back home hates me. I text a bunch of breathtaking photos.

and my wife writes back good for you and. then she sends me a photo of the giant. pile of boxes she's packed up to ship to. our daughter's dorm room which totally. fair but you know what I'm also very. busy I have my own box to worry. about and inside it I'm coming down a. little birdie who happens to have an.

appointment with one of the world's. greatest authorities on. puffins we'll meet him in just a minute. after the break well I think we're here. I feel like he is up here. [Music].

I feel like he is up here really yeah I. don't know oh wait here he is here he is. he. is let come over to the Dr Airpor snar. Hansen has been tracking the Puffin. population in vestment air for over a. decade we meet him at a place downtown. called the Puffin Rescue Center where. every puffling season scientists weigh.

measure and tag the baby. birds and we hand him our perfect little. puffling have a look at your guy weit it. right out of the gate whoa he's a bit of. a downer does he look smaller to yeah. when you grap on him you feel like his. muscles are slim Dr Hanson tells us that. this year's Pufflings were late which. was why it was so hard to find them at. first and they're also dangerously small. iMed when you do the and even though our. little bird is a little underweight so.

um we can go and release your friend or. you can he offers to help us release It. Up near some Cliffs where he's been. conducting puffing. research dominant Direction. here there's. one oh these Cliffs are really steep Dr. Hanson takes us up a terrifyingly narrow. little sheep Trail. first imagine that the first puffing.

Hunter he fell to his death on that. slope there down on the edge really yeah. but he doesn't seem worried at all about. falling yeah have you ever fallen down. uh no I'm still alive it's good I. brought along a six-pack of beer because. it had puffins on the label I must eat. nothing like a beer in a. fuel okay. way they're flying really close huh so. close you think I love it all around us.

there are adult puffins popping in and. out of their Burrows hopping around in. the grass flying in and out of the water. swooping right over us with beaks full. of tiny fish is's one yeah just popped. out God they're so. funny they work so hard to. fly yeah they beat their wings by 10 htz. I. think and that's why their energy. demands are so high it's so costly to.

fly they fly like 70 80 km per hour at. full. speed see they're bringing in food like. crazy. yeah wow given the. circumstances the circumstances he tells. us are. terrible he scribbles us this. ridiculously complicated map with graphs. all over it showing as far as I can. understand it that basically climate.

change is changing sea temperatures and. Shifting the ocean currents and so there. are fewer fish around for puffins to. eat this means that Puffin parents have. to work much harder to feed their babies. and sometimes they can't feed them at. all this year's Pufflings are late most. likely because they're undernourished. they're not ready to fly yet so what. what would happen to let's say this. puffling most likely is not going to. make it why not it just so way below the.

weight and we know the weight is highly. linearly correlated with survival and. it's most likely related to they don't. have enough power to deal with bad. weathers then they starve and then they. die something that that kind of sort. stuff seems like a bad time to be a. puffin think no it's hard times yeah. yeah so this is not a lot. normally oh no this is. is kind of sad actually.

but you're ruining my magical moment I. know but uh they're. [Music]. here my ass is hurting. Dr Hanson's ass is hurting so we head.

down to the beach to release our. bird you want to do. it why not he doesn't want to throw this. puffling and I'm guessing he wouldn't. name it either we named her Greta after. my. daughter probably a. man it's probably a man did you no I'm. do all right little girl all right. little Greta bird.

ready two. three Greta the puffling flaps hard and. she Glides out past the breakers into. calmer Waters where we see her land and. float and start to swim away she did. it so you think she'll survive. yeah well she has a chance I mean she's.

what 260 255 right yeah it's at the. lower end so is is more likely to perish. than. survive if I have to make a nasty. guess but you never. know but you never. know and that is the maddening thing. about letting. go you just have to stand there and.

watch your precious thing. disappear into a future over which you. have no. control and you're left holding nothing. but the terrifying lightness of your. suddenly empty. hands what a nice. day hi hello hello hi again saava of. stock it's last day on the island and we. stopped by trist's house to say goodbye.

to our Island. family hell. yeah uh I brought two puffing beers yes. saava and Siggy have just gotten off. work and are relaxing in the Gard I. don't drink Puffs you don't drink. puffins I don't drink I eat puffins. don't don't drink the weather is perfect. feels more like California than Iceland. okay and we sit here enjoying the. sunshine watching the sun slide down the. sky until it touches the volcano cheers.

to the Puffin over drinks and snacks we. reminisce about our week about how I've. started to think constantly about my own. daughter leaving home what it means to. be a parent and how hard it is to let. go saava has five kids and all of them. except for Tristy have already left home. what what has it been like for you and. do you have any advice for me because I. have many feelings about.

it when K get out oldest. boy moved to reic 17 years old I was. very. very. depressed my my heart was broken for two. weeks and then I have to start he is. getting older he have to go to get out. to the life just like we. so you just have to feel the Heartbreak.

yes for two weeks you you live you live. okay you know when you have a your child. when you have your child the first time. you know right away you don't own it you. just have to take care of it and help. them don't you have one kid no I have a. she's our first so we have a son who. will be there for another few years yes. little Pufflings little yes.

yes. but we are always mom and dad for the 42. years old boy yeah I sometimes take. [Laughter]. him I always said you can change your. mother if you don't like. me okay would you like to have. pancakes uh um do you have Pancakes yes.

he want to make pancakes yeah I would. love to have pancakes if you don't mind. yes thank you a coffee or Siggy sets the. table with jams and syrups we have. coffee and we eat way too many. pancakes and then we say. goodbye maybe we will see each other. again yeah we will see each other again. very nice to meet you very nice to have. you very nice to meet you thank you so.

[Music]. much morning morning and the next. morning with my bags packed I board the. ferry to leave this magical Island and. go back to my family in New. York I sit up top on the deck because. I've brought something from the island. with me you have in the Box oh a.

puffling oh sweet oh my goodness yeah we. found him last night you've rescued him. yeah we're going to let it go once we. get out to the ocean Tristy told me that. releasing a puffling at Sea was one of. the best ways to send a baby bird out. into its new life there's no Cliffs no. cats great chance of survival this is a. good. spot yeah as we watch the island. shrinking. into the distance behind us I take my.

last puffling out of its box. Budd I raise the bird in my hand I count. to three and one last. time I Let Go. [Music].

this episode was produced by Caitlyn. Roberts with help from Crystal Dame it. was reported by me Sam Anderson and. edited by Wendy dor and Lissa Anderson. it was engineered by Maran Lozano the. executive producer is Paula Schuman.

original music by Marian Lozano Dan. Powell and Pat mccusker factchecking by. Naomi. sharp the poem there once was a puffin. is by Florence Paige. jqu thank you to Gail from Nebraska who. read it when I was in second grade. special thanks to Jake Silverstein and. Sasha Weiss and also to Lyn Levy Lisa. Tobin Austin Mitchell an bajo and Sam. doick and to all of our friends on vest.

minire for spending so much time with us. especially the Pufflings I hope you're. all out there swimming around in the. deep sea right now and that I will see. you again someday back on the cliffs. extra special thanks to my wife Sarah. uzel for packing and shipping all of our. daughters belongings to college while I. was busy on my dream. trip you can listen to all of our. episodes episodes wherever you get. podcasts or visit our website at NY.

times.com animal and special thanks to. the band mercur Tristy Mar Sigerson. Mikel Magnuson and arnar Julius who. wrote us a worldwide musical exclusive. death metal song about catching puffins. it's called puffling please. enjoy you might want to turn the volume. down in your headphones right about now.

[Music]. [Music].

Lo in the stret find their way. out they're all alone shelter The Shake. in the dark in the corners go. [Music].

[Music]. SE down in the darkness below for the. buing within my. soul searching down in the darkness. below for the p with. [Music].

[Music]. found. found look I found the puffing. [Music].

[Music]. [Music]. oh. [Music].