Thousands pitch in to rescue puffins near Witless Bay

A group of volunteers called thePuffin Patrolhas released 150 Atlantic puffin and petrel chicks into the wild so far this summer, providing a boost to young seabirds who get lost because of man-made lighting.

The patrol,established more than a decade ago, rescues lostsea birds along the coast ofNewfoundland's Avalon Peninsula.

"This is a full community-wide effort, and involves thousands of people in the summer," saidSebastienDespres, mayor of Witless Bay, home to North America's largestcolony of Atlantic puffins.

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The chicks become disoriented from artificial lighting along the coastline, and end up on roads and other places that can bedangerous for them.

Witless Bay Mayor Sebastien Despres says the group hasbeen averaging 30 releases a day, since the pufflings began to fledge or leave the nest last week.

"They go out and rescue these birds that have been distracted by the lights," he said.

"Then the next morning, we have the Canadian Parks and Wildlife Society who band them and measure them, weigh them, and then they're released back into nature, hoping to make it out to sea this time."

• Check out Puffin Patrol, aCBC Nature of Things documentary

Depres saidthe patrol has rescued more than 2,000 chicks over the last 10 years.

He saidsince the Puffin Patrol started banding puffins, volunteers havenever caught the same bird twice.

"That's great news because the puffin's job, once it's released, is to head out to sea for five years."

Thesmall birds breed mostly along Newfoundland's coastline, only givingbirth to one egg per year generally during the summer months.

Depres said the amount of people pitching in to helpsave the birds is amazing to see.

"The releases are incredible to see, so that attracts people from all over the world.Just this morning, we had people from Louisiana, Tennessee, Ontario, British Columbia and more."