Ireland: Skellig Michael Island – Puffins & More

The Skellig Michael island draws visitors for its monastery (next post) and the scenery (previous post), but it’s thousands and thousands of Atlantic puffins that truly steal the show! They are absolutely everywhere, writhing a hand’s reach, and absolutely not afraid of humans that rarely come here. There are between 7,300 and 8,200 individual puffins on Skellig Michael!Puffins are known as “flying potato’s”, they look clumsy and heavy in the air. Because of their short wings and plump bodies, puffins have to work incredibly hard to stay airborne – they flap their wings up to 400 times per min and can reach flying speeds of 55 mph! But they are quite good underwater – puffins can dive up to 200 feet and collect dozens of fish in their spiky mouths.Puffin looks super colorful with their orange beaks and “makeup” eyes, but interestingly their colors are actually fluorescent and glowing at night. Scientists believe this hidden UV pattern helps them spot potential mates or evaluate health in the dim light of the ocean or a deep burrow. Once they find their perfectly glowing mate – puffins are extremely loyal and they mate for life and return to the exact same nesting burrow year after year. Skellig Michael was just a total puffin blowout and overload, just pure 100% “wow” factor Skellig Michael was the filming location for Luke Skywalker’s hidden island on the planet Ahch-To – and if you think puffins look a bit like Porgs from Star Wars, that isn’t a coincidence. When the film crew arrived, the island was absolutely overrun with thousands of puffins, and because the island is a strict UNESCO World Heritage site, the crew couldn’t move, harm, or digitally erase the birds. So the VFX team decided to digitally redesign the puffins into a brand-new fictional creatures – the Porgs – to match the exact movements and placement of the puffin birds on screen! Finally, while the puffins are indisputable stars of Skellig Michael island, the island is home to a massive supporting cast of specialized marine birds – black Razorbills and Guillemots, Black-Legged Kittiwakes, Northern Fulmars, and Stormpetrels.