Scientists studying the Atlantic puffin population off the coast of Maine say the birds are now recovering after suffering major losses in 2021.↳ Atlantic puffins look and walk similarly to penguins. Wildlife officials say reproductions for the animals on islands off the coast of Maine fell sharply in 2021. But last year, about two-thirds of puffins in the area produced young. While the numbers did not reach that same level this year, the birds still had a better year than in 2021. The main reason for the decreasing numbers is a drop in the population of small fish puffins feed on, such as herring. Two years ago, puffin colonies suffered one of the lowest reproduction rates in many years because of a lack of those fish. Only about one-quarter of the birds were able to raise young in 2021.

研究缅因州沿海大西洋海鹦种群的科学家表示，这些鸟类在 2021 年遭受重大损失后目前正在恢复中。 大西洋海鹦的外观和行走方式与企鹅相似。野生动物官员表示，2021 年，缅因州沿海岛屿上的海雀繁殖量急剧下降。但去年，该地区约三分之二的海雀产下了幼崽。虽然今年的数字没有达到同样的水平，但这些鸽子的表现仍然比 2021 年更好。 数量减少的主要原因是海雀以鲱鱼等小鱼为食的数量减少。两年前，由于缺乏这些鱼类，海雀群落的繁殖率达到了多年来最低的水平之一。到 2021 年，只有大约四分之一的鸟类能够抚养幼鸟。

Environmental groups have linked the lower fish populations in the area to warming ocean temperatures. The Gulf of Maine, which has puffin colonies on its islands, is warming faster than most of the world's oceans. Some recent years have been especially warm and local climate officials have said this summer appears to have been “still unusually warm.” Bill Sydeman is the president and chief scientist at the Farallon Institute, a conservation organization based in California. He told The Associated Press the reasons for the puffin population drop include deadly heat waves, loss of food, loss of islands to sea level rise and an inability to reproduce, or breed. “The problem with climate change is these breeding failures and low breeding productivity years are now becoming chronic,” Sydeman said. “There will be fewer young birds in the population that are able to recruit into the breeding population.”

环保组织将该地区鱼类数量减少与海洋温度升高联系起来。缅因湾的岛屿上有海雀栖息地，其变暖速度比世界上大多数海洋都要快。近年来，天气特别温暖，当地气候官员表示，今年夏天似乎“仍然异常温暖”。比尔·赛德曼 (Bill Sydeman) 是法拉隆研究所 (Farallon Institute) 的主席兼首席科学家，法拉隆研究所是一家位于加利福尼亚州的保护组织。他告诉美联社，海雀数量下降的原因包括致命的热浪、食物损失、海平面上升导致的岛屿消失以及无法繁殖或繁殖。西德曼说：“气候变化的问题在于，这些育种失败和育种生产力低下的年份现在已成为长期现象。” “种群中能够招募到繁殖种群的幼鸟将会减少。”

Maine's puffins are the only breeding Atlantic puffins in the United States. Worldwide, the species lives in the North Atlantic from Maine and Canada to Europe. Other countries with large puffin populations, such as Iceland, have also seen their bird populations drop. The Maine puffin population once fell to only about 70 pairs in an area known as Matinicus Rock. Hunters who went after the birds for their meat and feathers had nearly destroyed them by the early 1900s. Stephen Kress is a scientist with the Audubon Society who has sought to grow puffin colonies since the 1970s. His attempts included moving young puffins from Canada to Eastern Egg Rock, another small island in the area.

缅因海雀是美国唯一繁殖的大西洋海雀。在世界范围内，该物种生活在从缅因州和加拿大到欧洲的北大西洋。其他拥有大量海鹦的国家，例如冰岛，其鸟类数量也出现了下降。在马蒂尼库斯岩 (Matinicus Rock) 地区，缅因海鹦的数量一度减少至约 70 对。到 1900 年代初，猎人为了获取鸟类的肉和羽毛而猎杀鸟类，几乎将它们消灭殆尽。斯蒂芬·克雷斯 (Stephen Kress) 是奥杜邦协会 (Audubon Society) 的一名科学家，自 20 世纪 70 年代以来一直致力于培育海雀群体。他的尝试包括将幼海雀从加拿大转移到该地区的另一个小岛东蛋岩。

Wildlife officials say adult birds in the colonies appear fairly strong, and it's "likely the population is stable, and it could still be growing,” said Don Lyons. He is the director of conservation science at the National Audubon Society’s Seabird Institute in Bremen, Maine. The difficulties facing seabirds make successful breeding seasons especially important, said P. Dee Boersma. She is a University of Washington professor of biology and director of the university's Center for Ecosystem Sentinels. “What that means is we should be more cautious and concerned about reproductive failures and things like that to make sure that in good years everyone that wants to has a chance to breed, and do well,” Boersma said.

野生动物官员表示，这些栖息地的成年鸟类看起来相当强壮，“种群数量很可能稳定，而且可能仍在增长”，唐·莱昂斯说。他是不莱梅国家奥杜邦协会海鸟研究所的保护科学主任。缅因州。华盛顿大学生物学教授兼该校生态系统哨兵中心主任 P. Dee Boersma 说，海鸟面临的困难使得成功的繁殖季节变得尤为重要。“这意味着我们应该更加谨慎和关注布尔斯玛说：“关于繁殖失败和类似的事情，以确保在好的年份里，每个想要繁殖的人都有机会繁殖，并且做得很好。”