Animal Facts

Puffins spend most of their lives at sea, resting on the waves when not actively swimming. They are wonderfully adapted to life on the ocean, using their wings to stroke underwater with a flying motion like the Water Ouzel. They steer with rudderlike webbed feet and can dive to depths of 200 feet (61 meters) - but usually stay underwater for only 20 or 30 seconds at a time - and typically hunt small fish like herring or sand eels which they swallow whole. In the air, puffins are surprisingly fleet flyers, flapping their wings up to 400 times per minute and reaching speeds of 55 miles (88 kilometers) an hour.