0:00

So I have four nieces and nephews and

0:02

I was talking to my sister about IXL

0:04

and IXL learning is this fun online program

0:06

for kids and it covers math, language arts,

0:08

science, and social studies. My sister and my

0:10

nephew love it. The way it works is

0:12

it's powered by AI so IXL gives the

0:14

right help to each kid and IXL is

0:16

used in 95 of the top 100 school

0:19

districts in the US. Maybe you've been looking into

0:21

private tutoring but it's out of the budget or

0:23

this is a big school year for your kiddo.

0:25

So make an impact on your child's learning. Get

0:27

IXL now and Ologies Listers can get an exclusive

0:30

20% off IXL membership when they sign

0:33

up today at ixl.com/ologies. So visit ixl.com

0:36

slash ologies to get the most effective learning program

0:38

out there at the best price. This

0:42

episode is brought to you by Merrick Pet Care. And

0:44

if you've heard me talk about Grammy, you know that

0:46

she means the world to me. I wanted a dog

0:49

for probably 10 years and I was

0:51

living in an apartment, couldn't have dogs. When I finally

0:53

moved somewhere else, I adopted her within weeks and it

0:55

was love at first scratch. She's about two feet away

0:57

from me as I record this. She hangs out in

0:59

the studio and all I want to do is smooch

1:02

her and look at her and stare at her. I

1:04

also like feeding her because I see how happy it

1:06

makes her. And there's nothing like watching her lick her

1:08

chops after having yummy stuff like Grammy's Popeye or real

1:10

Texas beef and sweet potato, which are two recipes

1:13

she's been enjoying for Merrick. As her parent, I

1:15

like that they use deboned meat and fish or

1:17

poultry as the number one ingredient. I also like

1:19

that they have these real ingredients and you can

1:22

see them on the bag so you know what's

1:24

in each one. And watching her do a little

1:26

dance, especially with a Grammy's Popeye recipe, brings too

1:28

much joy to my heart. Is there such a

1:30

thing as too much joy? I'm not sure. But

1:32

check out Merrick online or in your local pet

1:35

store and look for their new packaging with real

1:37

ingredients shown on the bag and inside it. Thank

1:40

you. Oh

1:42

hey it's your girlfriend who never leaves the

1:44

house without a cardigan, Ellie Ward, and I

1:46

guess speaking of cold let's hit

1:48

the blustery shore and get pooped on.

1:51

It's puffins and people it's a good

1:53

time. So the year was

1:55

this one and many dozens of you

1:57

tagged me in an Instagram post with

1:59

a certified pauphonologist and I took that

2:01

as a calling from the universe and from

2:04

you to ask this bird person to please

2:06

spend some time with me electronically so I

2:08

can ask about her whole life and

2:11

that I did. So first off, is pauphonology

2:13

a real word? Would we be here if

2:15

it weren't? That's questionable. But

2:17

yes, pauphonology, it's well established in

2:19

news articles and ornithology circles so

2:22

it is game on. Now pauphins,

2:24

what are they? They are black

2:26

and white, orange-billed seabirds and

2:29

their name derives from the word

2:31

puffon which is thought to come

2:33

from the look of this swollen

2:35

salted meat but of

2:37

a completely different seabird, something called

2:40

a manx shearwater bird. It doesn't

2:42

even look like a puffin, it's

2:44

a small gray seagull looking thing

2:46

but it's named scientifically puffinus puffinus.

2:49

However, that manx seabird is

2:51

not a puffin. Puffinus puffinus,

2:54

not a puffin. What is a

2:56

puffin? The genus fratercula is all

2:58

puffins and it comes from fratur

3:00

for a monk dressed in a

3:02

dark cloak with its back. So

3:04

what the fuck? So puffins in

3:07

scientific terms are not puffins but

3:09

puffins aren't named puffins. It's

3:12

confusing. Fraterculology is not a word and

3:14

puffinology is so we're doing that. We're

3:17

talking puffins. Now hold on to your

3:19

butts because boy howdy it only gets

3:21

more revealing and cuter and by the

3:23

end you'll wish that you could give

3:26

birth to a puffin and love it

3:28

forever. But before we get there, quick

3:30

thanks to patrons at patreon.com/ologies who submitted

3:33

their fine questions for this episode. You

3:35

also can join for about 25 cents

3:38

an episode, you don't have to feel left

3:40

out. And if you would like to entertain

3:42

your small kiddos we have this new show

3:44

called Smologies and it has its own feed,

3:46

it's its own show, it's linked in the

3:49

show notes, we just launched it. It's all

3:51

classroom safe episodes of ologies. We also have

3:53

ologies merch at ologiesmerch.com, it's a good way

3:55

to find other ologites out there. And thank

3:57

you to everyone who leaves reviews and yeah

3:59

I do read them. all. They make my

4:02

day such as yesterday. I read them at

4:04

an airport and I cried partly because my

4:06

plane was delayed nine hours in Utah but

4:08

partly because your reviews were so nice. And

4:10

as proof thank you to classic RKR who

4:13

wrote absolutely in love with this podcast. It's

4:15

everything I would want from a science educator.

4:17

Classic RKR also noted that they have a

4:19

little chupacabra dog named Gremlin like I do

4:21

and they call their dog Gremmy like I

4:23

do. Classic RKR, uncanny. Tell

4:26

Gremmy that Gremmy said boof boof.

4:28

Also witchcraft wand thank you for

4:30

listening since you were nine. Sorry

4:33

for all the swears. Again we

4:35

now have smologies if anyone needs

4:37

them. Okay, Puffinology. Thisologist, absolutely delightful

4:40

and knowledgeable busted so much puffin

4:42

flim flam. They got their bachelor's

4:44

in biology at St. Mary's University

4:47

in Nova Scotia and they're now

4:49

a master's student at the Memorial

4:51

University of Newfoundland and they are

4:54

currently studying the world's most charismatic

4:56

seabird, the Atlantic Puffin. So get

4:58

in a blanket burrow, stare at

5:01

some lapping waves and open your

5:03

ears to learn whether you should

5:05

kiss one. Who eats them? If

5:08

they are neat freaks or not?

5:10

They're surprising life expectancy. The journey

5:12

puffins go on before they settle

5:15

down, how monogamous they are, why

5:17

they are disco birds, how they

5:19

make their marriages work so well,

5:22

the toilets with the best views,

5:24

why someone would toss a puffin,

5:26

Star Wars trivia, serial lore and

5:29

who should not become a puffinologist

5:31

and so much more with ornithologist,

5:33

field researcher and legit puffinologist Jillian

5:36

Taylor. Hi, my name is Jill

5:38

Taylor and my pronouns are she

5:40

they and puffinologist correct

5:55

yeah has a nice ring to it doesn't it

5:58

I got tagged so many times

6:01

on an Instagram post of yours about

6:03

Puffinology. So I please, like

6:05

please from so many people, did you start

6:07

calling yourself a Puffinologist? Like tell me a

6:10

little bit about the background of the word.

6:12

And also would you be

6:14

called in academic circles frater

6:18

colonologist or is it just

6:20

straight up Puffinologist? Anything goes.

6:23

The Latin names are yeah, I

6:27

can't even say it properly.

6:29

Fratercula artica is the Atlantic

6:32

Puffin scientific name. And that sounds horrible.

6:34

So Puffinologist is way better. It's official.

6:36

When did I start calling myself a

6:39

Puffinologist? Probably

6:41

after spending two

6:43

complete summers, the entire of

6:45

those summers watching Puffins for eight hours a

6:47

day. I

6:50

don't know if that's official qualifications,

6:52

but. Yes. Yes.

6:54

That qualifies you as a Puffinologist. Anyone

6:56

who studies something is anologist. So I

6:58

think you count as someone who's expert

7:00

level Puffinologist, because that's more time than

7:03

anyone listening has probably spent watching

7:05

Puffins. Almost too

7:07

much time, arguably, a lot, many

7:09

hours in the field. There's never.

7:14

So many people were so excited

7:16

because Puffins, they're

7:18

so cute. I mean, they are the

7:20

cutest. How much of it is just

7:22

marveling at how cute they are and how much is like, I

7:24

got to take notes on this. You

7:27

just implode inwardly at how cute

7:29

they are. Their cuteness doesn't wear

7:31

off as tired and wet

7:34

and soggy and sleep deprived. You might be

7:36

in the field. The Puffins

7:38

cuteness stays the exact same

7:40

throat. I can believe that. First off,

7:43

what is a Puffin? Is it

7:45

just an upright penguin? Is it

7:47

closer to a seagull? I've

7:49

never seen a Puffin in real

7:51

life, especially in the wild. So start

7:54

with me there. So Puffins are part

7:56

of the Auk family, which so also

7:58

today there's four species. of puffins,

8:00

the Atlantic puffin, which I study,

8:02

the horned puffin, the tufted puffin,

8:04

and the rhinoceros oculit,

8:07

which actually used to be known

8:09

as the horn-billed puffin, but isn't

8:11

officially a puffin anymore. Okay, side

8:13

note, the rhinoceros oculit is mostly

8:15

gray, and it has a nose

8:17

horn during the breeding season, and

8:19

it also lives for drama. Rather

8:22

taxonomist, too, because it's been called not

8:24

a puffin, and then it turned out it

8:27

was misnamed, and it's actually genetically

8:29

the most original puffin, but it's not

8:31

in the fraturcula genus. But because of

8:34

that, puffinologists can be split on whether

8:36

to actually include it, but in general,

8:39

don't let the name fool you. The rhinoceros

8:41

oculit is a puffin. It is not a

8:43

rhinoceros either. Isn't it comforting to know how

8:45

much of history is just built on oopsies?

8:48

So don't be so hard on yourself. We're

8:50

all humans and puffins. But

8:52

the Atlantic puffin holds up the bulk of

8:54

the world's puffins. The other three

8:56

species are found on the Pacific side. You're

8:59

in LA, right? Yeah, yeah. So

9:01

yes, that's your corner of the world.

9:04

And the oc family includes

9:07

smirs, gilmonts, puffins, murlets, and

9:09

razorbills. And fun fact, there

9:11

are actually no oc species in the Southern

9:13

Hemisphere, only in the Northern Hemisphere. How

9:16

is an oc different from a penguin?

9:19

Penguins and puffins are actually not related.

9:21

I know they look like they are,

9:23

but that's only because of convergent evolution.

9:26

So similar environmental pressures, but they're not

9:28

related. No. I mean, they're both birds,

9:30

but that's about it. I

9:32

figured that, of course, they were related.

9:35

They must be. I

9:37

had no idea. They're similar coloration

9:39

though, right? Very similar coloration. Okay,

9:42

let's go back to the penguinology

9:44

episode with Dr. Tom Hart, where

9:46

we first learned why these unrelated

9:48

ocean species get confused at first

9:50

sight. It's amazing how many

9:52

species are both black and white and

9:54

that counter shading like

9:57

cormorants, like so many.

10:00

seabirds and also a lot of

10:02

killer whales and things like that.

10:05

This counter shading is

10:08

camouflage. If you

10:10

look at them in the water from

10:12

above, they're dark against a

10:14

dark background. If you look at them from underneath,

10:16

they're light against a light background. Oh my God.

10:19

You just see black and white

10:22

animals everywhere because that seems

10:24

to be just a natural way

10:26

to camouflage yourself in the ocean. I

10:29

never even thought about that. Orcas

10:31

and penguins, they're wearing the same fabulous

10:33

outfit and just slaying and getting

10:35

slayed, but I don't want to think about that. So

10:38

aside from being a snack for whales, what

10:40

else do they have in common with penguins? Similar

10:43

diving habits too. They're both very

10:45

ocean oriented birds, but

10:47

yes, you're not the first person. It's either

10:50

penguins or toucans are the two other ones

10:52

that people are like, oh, puffins,

10:54

penguins, toucans. These are

10:56

not the same. More bonkers facts

10:58

about the puffins bright toucanny bill and

11:01

a bit hang tight. Were

11:03

you drawn to ornithology or marine

11:05

science? How did you become a

11:07

puffinologist? How did you come to

11:09

study one of the cutest species

11:11

of birds? So

11:14

for full disclosure, I am

11:16

not a bird person. I beg your pardon. I,

11:19

yeah, puffins are the

11:21

first bird I've actually ever studied. It

11:23

started with in my undergrad, I was

11:25

studying black and gold howler monkeys in

11:27

Paraguay. And then we were

11:29

on to American eels and then

11:31

it was snapping turtles. So it was primates,

11:34

fish, reptiles. And then I was like, okay, well

11:36

to complete this set, I guess I got to

11:38

do birds and I guess insects next maybe, but

11:41

I knew it had to be a seabird and

11:43

puffins are really good divers. And

11:46

scuba diving is, is one of my favorite things in

11:48

the world. I find them

11:50

quite relatable and likable that way. It

11:53

had to be something next to the ocean. So

11:55

that's kind of how I just stumbled upon puffins. It

11:57

was never a planned thing. I was

11:59

not. raises an ornithologist from

12:01

birth, but I've come

12:04

to appreciate the ocean quite a bit and

12:06

the puffin also appreciates the ocean. How did

12:08

you get involved in scuba diving? Did you

12:10

grow up near the ocean or did you

12:12

grow up like landlocked and the

12:14

ocean seemed like something you were

12:16

drawn to? I grew up

12:19

in Nova Scotia and Halifax Nova

12:21

Scotia, so right next to the Atlantic

12:23

Ocean and yeah that's where I learned

12:25

to scuba dive. So I'm going to Memorial

12:27

University of Newfoundland and Labrador now so

12:29

next province over. So if you think that

12:31

Nova Scotia isn't real like I did

12:33

for a while like Narnia or Xanadu I

12:36

regret to inform you that we are

12:38

living lies. Nova Scotia exists and it is

12:40

this chicken tender shaped piece of seaside

12:42

land about the size of Sri Lanka but

12:44

right off the coast of Maine and

12:47

yes New Fendlands and Labrador Retrievers

12:49

are named after those places because

12:51

apparently they descend from really great

12:53

working dogs for some old-school seafaring

12:56

fishmongers. But yeah Jill has spent

12:58

her academic career up and down

13:00

the eastern seaboard of Canada. But

13:02

same Atlantic Ocean a lot of

13:05

the same species. The

13:07

Atlantic Ocean is very near and dear to

13:09

my heart. How thick is your diving suit?

13:11

Very very thick. The warmest the

13:13

ocean temperatures get in New

13:20

Fendland. If you're lucky October

13:22

it's around 14 degrees Celsius.

13:25

I don't know what that is in Fahrenheit I'm

13:27

sorry. Cold 57.2 degrees Fahrenheit which

13:32

for me personally is not like coconut

13:35

shell bikini season. I'm not having it.

13:37

Cold yes so it's a two-piece 7

13:39

mil so 14 millimeters in the core

13:41

and then 7 millimeters everywhere else. Oh

13:44

my gosh. You can't move your arms at

13:46

all. Your little

13:49

flappy wings. Exactly. So Jill's

13:51

master's advisor is a visual ecologist

13:53

meaning he studies how animals use

13:55

their sight or their lack thereof

13:57

to their advantage. And she says,

14:00

puffins are very visual creatures, people.

14:02

And a spot opened up in

14:04

her advisor's lab, and she says

14:06

it just fell into place perfectly.

14:09

And because of her, now even more people care

14:11

about puffins. So it worked out for us, too.

14:13

And you do some outreach, too, on

14:16

social media, and people

14:18

are stoked about your work with

14:20

puffins. Hi, my name is Jill,

14:22

and I'm a puffin ecologist. I work on the

14:24

largest puffin colony in all of North America, second

14:26

only to Iceland in the world. I've come along

14:29

for a day in the life of a puffinologist

14:31

on a remote island off the East Coast of

14:33

Newfoundland. What is a myth? What

14:36

is some flim flam that you find

14:38

yourself busting over and over again? Like,

14:40

what is the biggest lie people believe

14:42

about puffins that you're constantly correcting? Well,

14:45

besides thinking that they're penguins, they

14:48

are, they're so much

14:50

smaller than everyone thinks that they are. You

14:53

see these beautiful zoom lens photos, and

14:55

you think that this bird is going

14:57

to be like this nice big bill.

15:00

And they're actually really tiny.

15:02

They're only like 20 centimeters tall.

15:04

They're really, really small. They only

15:06

weigh about like a small sack

15:08

of rice, like 500, 600 grams max. Eight

15:12

inches tall and around one pound of sweet,

15:14

cute, stinky birdies. I

15:16

love them. So, yeah, they're much smaller than everyone thinks that

15:18

they're going to be before they see them in real life.

15:21

Another misconception that I feel like a lot

15:23

of people don't know about is that these

15:26

very conspicuous bright orange bills that they

15:28

have, they don't have them all year

15:30

round. This is only a breeding color

15:32

and they lose those bill plates in

15:34

the winter. So in the winter, they're

15:36

this fairly drab gray color. And

15:39

like the first people studying puffins

15:41

thought it was a completely different species

15:43

because it looks so different. And

15:46

I don't know if I would use the word ugly, but they're

15:49

definitely not as pretty. They're much prettier in this every time. What

15:52

is a bill plate? Is that something that they just

15:54

shed? Do they shed the whole bill or they just

15:56

shed like scales off of the bill? Yeah,

15:59

just the odor. Bill play date is

16:01

the best way I can describe it. They keep

16:03

their bill. It just is this Dark

16:06

gray color and then they

16:08

develop these bright orange Red

16:11

and yellow bill plates and other

16:13

eye ornaments and I looked it

16:15

up in the eye ornaments that

16:17

they grow and shed Make

16:19

their little round eyes look kind of triangular

16:22

Like if you had a witch hat or

16:24

a candy corn with an eye in the

16:26

middle of it or like a heavy straight

16:28

eyeliner in the bottom lash and then a

16:30

black triangle like a clown on the lid

16:32

and this was confusing

16:34

for some early old-school puffinologists

16:36

because after the beak and

16:39

eye Ornamentation is shed and

16:41

falls off these birds get the fuck out

16:43

of dodge on the offseason and they don't

16:45

come back Until it's

16:47

mating time again, and they're gussied

16:49

up ornamentally again Also, if you

16:52

were to google like me puffins

16:54

plus ornaments You're gonna find all

16:56

kinds of holiday tree decorations Celebrating

16:59

these little birds and not a lot

17:01

of close-ups of their beaks falling off

17:04

Unfortunately, yeah, their bills are quite elaborate

17:08

and so how many months out of the year

17:10

are they flashy like that? Only

17:13

about four their breeding season they come

17:15

back to Newfoundland every year from April

17:17

to August the other eight months

17:20

the year They're just out

17:22

at sea cruising The North

17:24

Atlantic is very large So they're just out

17:26

there chilling for eight months a year and then they come

17:28

back to the same islands every year to breed How

17:31

far can they fly before they need to touch down

17:34

or do they touch down in the water and just

17:36

take a nap? Bob it up and

17:38

down. They're bobbing most of the time. They're

17:40

just bobbing. Yeah Mm-hmm. Do

17:43

they tend to hang out in big groups just

17:45

in case a shark happens to

17:47

surface and try to scoop a bunch of

17:49

Them up like are they herders or are

17:51

they pair kind of birds? I've

17:54

heard in the winter months that they are

17:56

a little more isolated. They go off in

17:58

like groups of small like

18:01

ones or twos, but at least in the breeding

18:03

season, which is where I've spent most

18:05

of my time looking at puffins, is they

18:07

do something called rafting, where they'll come

18:09

together as, like, hundreds

18:12

of birds on the water and just

18:14

hang out together, bobbing. Yeah, it's really

18:16

fun. They're just cruising

18:18

through the waves together. Sersa.

18:21

Do they ever go from the

18:23

Atlantic coast to,

18:25

say, the coast of Europe or

18:27

the North Sea, or do they stay kind

18:29

of out in their islands and then come back to

18:31

the same coast? Or do they

18:33

migrate? They do migrate in that they are

18:35

away for eight months of the year. They've

18:38

been found throughout the Mediterranean wintering, as well

18:40

as New York on the west coast of

18:43

the North Atlantic. Some of them have

18:46

been found to travel quite a great deal, but

18:48

they make it back to their

18:50

islands every year, and these islands

18:52

are... Some are

18:54

far out to sea, and some are

18:57

quite close to land, but these islands

18:59

provide them quite a bit of protection

19:01

from predators in that there's

19:03

no foxes or minks to come and

19:07

bother their chicks. Oh.

19:10

Do they nest in cliffs, or

19:12

are they sand nesters

19:14

or rock nesters? What are their nests like?

19:17

So, they live in something called

19:19

a burrow. They like grassy slopes,

19:23

and they dig this really cool maze of

19:25

tunnels. It's really hard to walk on. You

19:27

basically need to make sure you're not gonna

19:29

bust through anyone's roof when you're on the

19:31

islands. They lay their egg inside

19:33

this burrow, and then they raise that chick in the

19:35

burrow, and then six weeks after

19:37

that, chick hatches. They're

19:40

booted out, and they're on their own. So,

19:42

when you're studying it, are you hanging

19:44

out in a tent on the shore

19:47

with binoculars? What is

19:49

it like studying them? What

19:51

kind of excursions are you up to?

19:53

Yeah, so, all of

19:55

my field work has happened on Great

19:58

Island, which is one of the four

20:00

islands. and Whitlis Bay Ecological Reserve. The

20:02

island is not the easiest

20:04

to access on our little zodiac

20:06

that we take in. You basically land and

20:08

you have to climb up this really steep cliff to

20:10

get to the top. We do have a cabin on

20:13

the island. I'm very fortunate

20:15

to say not everyone's field site has a

20:17

cabin on it. It's very basic. There's no

20:19

toilet and then there's one light bulb

20:22

of electricity if we ever get sunshine from the

20:24

solar panels. But the actual

20:26

studying of the puffins we construct

20:29

a semi-permanent blind close to the

20:31

plot that we're studying them from

20:34

and that's just so that they can't see us

20:36

and they're not disturbed. As soon

20:38

as they see us they're taken off. They don't

20:40

like being near humans. I don't blame them. We're

20:43

massive compared to them and

20:45

they're just they're scared and understandably. A

20:48

lot of the studying of the

20:50

research looks like sitting in the blind

20:53

and really early mornings when the puffins

20:55

get up and then also in the

20:57

evenings they seem to be most active

21:00

in the mornings and the evenings and

21:02

it's binoculars and it's sitting. That's just

21:04

the observational part though. There's other parts

21:06

when we're banding them that always happens

21:08

at night time. Are you

21:10

taking notes in like a moleskin or are

21:13

you doing your laptop and you're noting things like oh

21:15

what are you looking for when you're staring at them?

21:17

No moleskin

21:19

and the laptop isn't super

21:22

rain friendly. I try

21:24

not to bring that but your typical right in

21:26

the right notebook but there's two

21:28

main studies that I was a part of for

21:31

this research project. There was one that

21:33

was looking at the social network of

21:35

the colony so who interacts with who?

21:37

We go and band them and we

21:40

can monitor how they do in subsequent

21:42

years which burrows have chick success that

21:44

sort of thing but we

21:46

can also use those bands to identify

21:48

individuals on the plot to know okay

21:51

that's Bob and he likes to hang out

21:54

with Bruce and they spend all their time

21:56

together and that sort of thing. It's a

21:58

very like there's hundreds of thousands of birds.

22:00

on this island and they have a really

22:02

complex social colony. Yeah, we're trying to

22:04

keep track of that. We're trying to map that. And

22:07

we, this is a side note. This

22:10

is part of my project, which is

22:13

a very strange project in itself, but cool

22:15

nonetheless in that I actually

22:17

taxidermied six

22:19

owl puffins that we found

22:22

dead, don't worry. And we

22:24

presented them to live birds to see

22:26

how they'd react to a novel individual

22:28

in that this is

22:30

a really complex social colony. They're long

22:32

lived. They see the same neighbors year

22:34

after year and we don't know how

22:37

they recognize each other. And

22:39

what'd they do? Well, I can't tell you

22:41

quite yet. Oh my God. I'm

22:44

presenting those results at a conference next

22:46

month. So I can't spoil too much,

22:49

but let's just say there were

22:51

some sex differences, what we saw between males

22:53

and females. And you

22:55

mentioned Bob and Bruce hanging out. Do

22:57

they have same sex friends? Do

23:00

they sometimes pair up

23:02

in non-heterosexual pairs? What

23:05

are their friendships like when you say a

23:07

complex social structure? Does that mean people are

23:09

shit talking, people are having affairs? What's going

23:11

on? Probably all

23:13

of the above. I will

23:15

say anecdotally, this is fun. To

23:18

give some context, puffins are monogamous. They

23:20

do make for life. They

23:22

live to be about 25 years old. So

23:25

they're with the same mate for about 25 years, yeah? Which

23:28

is impressive in itself. I will maintain

23:31

that I think that's only possible because they spend

23:33

eight months of the year apart at sea. But

23:38

anyway, so they mate for life, really low divorce rates. So

23:40

they're with the same mate every year. So

23:42

whenever you're doing burrow checks, you're always finding one

23:45

male, one female and a chick

23:48

or an egg, depending on what part of the breeding

23:50

season you're in. But my coworker

23:52

found a burrow where there was actually

23:54

two males and one female inside this

23:57

nest. You know what I'm saying? That

23:59

potentially we're all raised. one trick together.

24:01

So do what you want with

24:03

that. But I think that's really sweet. Are

24:06

they good parents? Do they co-parent? Like do they both

24:09

go out and get a fish and then barf

24:11

it into their baby's mouth or what kind of parenting roles

24:13

do they have? They

24:15

are really good parents. They

24:18

actually both males and

24:20

females take turns incubating the egg

24:22

and fishing for food for

24:24

the baby puffling. Baby puffins are called

24:26

pufflings, which is just really cute in

24:29

itself. And they are literally

24:31

a ball of fluff. Like think of the fluffiest

24:33

thing you've ever seen and then it's fluffier than

24:35

that. I can't handle that. Right? Yeah, it is

24:37

a lot. There's

24:41

a lot to take in. But yes,

24:43

they're really good parents. Some studies have

24:45

found that the males do spend a

24:47

little more time on burrow maintenance, which

24:49

is fun. They're kind of getting their

24:51

architecture business in order. And then the

24:54

females will, in their

24:56

activity budget, spend a little bit more time

24:58

foraging for fish for the puffling. But

25:00

they both attend to the chick, which

25:02

is really nice because that can't be

25:04

said for all species. For lack of

25:06

better term, a lot of parents just

25:08

fuck off. And the puffin parents are

25:10

attentive. Yeah. Do

25:13

they ever see their chicks again or after six

25:16

weeks is like, see, or does that chick disperse

25:18

to a totally different colony or is it like

25:20

they might be in the city of 100,000 puffins?

25:23

They peace out. Once they're at six weeks, it's

25:26

like you're on your own, learn how to fish.

25:28

It must be a really steep

25:30

learning curve. Your whole life has been

25:32

darkness in this beautifully muddy burrow for

25:34

your entire existence. And then you're thrust

25:36

into the world and you have to

25:38

go fish for yourself as

25:40

a harsh reality. So puffins take

25:43

about four to five years to sexually mature.

25:45

They will return to the islands that they

25:47

were born on. So they'll come back,

25:49

but they need a little bit of time before they're

25:51

ready. What are they

25:53

eating? I'm going to guess fish, fish, fish,

25:56

fish, fish, fish. You

25:59

got it. it right on the head. Yeah,

26:03

capelin, sand land, tearing. Fish are their

26:05

favorite, but if those aren't available, they

26:07

will eat krill

26:09

or other crustaceans like copepods,

26:12

but no, fish is

26:14

their main buffet. When it comes

26:17

to their appearance, why

26:19

are they so cute? Why do you

26:21

think they look the way they

26:23

do? You said that they're visual. They have a

26:25

lot of visual attributes. Do

26:29

they have big eyes to take that in, especially

26:31

if they're in the burrows a lot? How are

26:33

they well suited to their evolution? Yeah, that's a

26:35

great question. Their

26:37

colorization, I think, is a

26:39

part of why they're so cute, like this bright red-orange

26:42

bill only coming through in the breeding

26:44

season to signal, hey, I'm ready to

26:47

breed. There's also very intricate

26:49

individual differences in bill morphology, so

26:51

they're quite elaborate and they have

26:53

these intricate ridges and they

26:55

have a rosette patch, which is like

26:57

a fleshy yellow patch where their bill

26:59

meets their face. They have

27:02

eye ornaments as well, and they are

27:04

considered a fairly developed

27:07

visual animal. Other

27:10

birds, like songbirds, have very unique vocalizations

27:13

and can recognize each other

27:15

from their unique songs. Puffins

27:20

don't... They do make sounds, but

27:22

they're very different than what you'd

27:24

think. I think the best way

27:26

I could describe it is it

27:28

sounds like an angry chainsaw. You'll

27:32

have to look it up what it sounds like. It's

27:46

a very unique sound. When

27:49

it comes to making that bill color, is

27:52

it expensive to make? Where are they getting

27:54

the fuel to make those colors? Yeah,

27:57

so a lot of

27:59

the bill coloration and... puffins

28:01

is definitely partially due to

28:03

the carotenoids in their diet.

28:05

So, capelin are fish that have

28:07

a fairly high level of carotenoids,

28:09

same with krill and crustaceans, the

28:11

other food sources that I mentioned.

28:14

So, they're able to use that to

28:16

display this beautiful bill that is

28:19

very, very recognizable. You

28:22

mentioned earlier that you're behind a blind. Yes.

28:24

And I'm trying to figure out what that looks like.

28:27

Is it a scrim? Is it like a ghillie suit?

28:29

Does it look like moss and rocks, but you have

28:31

peepholes? Like, what does it look like? We

28:34

don't need to be that incognito. It

28:36

is just a little wooden shack for

28:38

lack of a better term.

28:41

And we've cut out, it is

28:43

a peephole. So, we have a

28:45

glass opening that we can look through

28:48

and then we put, it's like

28:50

camouflage burlap. I guess it's more of a

28:52

peephole than I first thought. You weren't too

28:54

far off. There's

28:56

two openings of the burlap so we can see

28:58

through. So, they can't really see

29:00

us, which is nice because I

29:03

can't imagine going about your everyday life

29:05

on a busy puffin colony and

29:07

you look over and you see these two naked

29:10

primates just staring at you all day. It

29:12

would be a little unnerving. And

29:16

I know you're naked metaphorically

29:18

as an ape, but how are you

29:20

staying warm in a shack on an

29:22

island looking at seabirds?

29:25

Are you in so many parkas?

29:27

Do you have a thermos of

29:29

hot chocolate? What's happening? Yeah. May

29:32

and Newfoundland is very chilly, very

29:34

foggy, very rainy. Yeah, these islands

29:37

are quite cold, but many, many

29:39

layers, more layers than you think you're going

29:41

to need. But then it's

29:43

hard because then come the dead of

29:45

July, you can get some really hot

29:47

days where this

29:49

blind is baking in the sun.

29:51

And so, we have in our

29:53

blind, you can have them at

29:57

the dollar store. They're little spray bottles with

29:59

water in the water. I'm a fan and

30:01

you go places and it gives you a

30:03

little reprieve of coolness. So it's

30:06

hot cold, all the extremes in between. And

30:09

then are you typically sleeping in that cabin or are

30:11

you taking the Zodiac back every night or are you

30:13

in the cabin for like a week? We're

30:16

in the cabin for like a week. Yeah.

30:18

There's no running water on the island. So

30:21

we have to bring in all our water

30:23

with us. And we thankfully

30:26

at the end of the week, get a boat

30:28

ride back so we can shower, do some

30:30

laundry, and then head back out. Which

30:33

doesn't sound like too much time. Like five days

30:35

on the island. You're like, Oh, that's nothing. Like

30:37

I could go on a camping trip for five

30:39

days, but when you're in

30:41

a remote island and there's not really great

30:44

cell service and it's just,

30:46

yeah, it's very remote. You got

30:48

to really like your coworkers. I was

30:50

going to say, is it typically two of you? And

30:52

is it the same person? So you kind of know

30:54

each other's rhythms or is it like, you might be

30:56

paired with Zach one week and Melanie the next and

30:58

you just kind of we're going to see what happens.

31:01

No, you're typically with the same person, at least

31:03

for the field season. And you get to know

31:05

that person very well. I'm sure. A

31:09

little too well. And

31:12

no toilets. So if you're

31:14

hydrating, you got to get used to getting

31:16

through your layers and going off and peeing somewhere,

31:18

right? Yep. Many, many,

31:20

many pee breaks. Peeing is not

31:22

so much an issue, but I

31:24

will say for anything else, we

31:27

do have a makeshift toilet in the bushes,

31:29

which is nice. It's basically a bucket we've

31:31

sawed off and nailed on

31:33

a toilet seat lid. So at least it's

31:36

a little comfortable. But

31:38

there's no covering. So it's a little wet if

31:40

it's raining, but you do get to see whales

31:42

while you're on the shitter. So I don't know.

31:44

That's pretty good view. You

31:47

can't beat that view. What kind

31:49

of whales are you seeing? Mostly humpbacks and minkeys.

31:52

Just casual. Just casual. Just casual. Another

31:54

day in the office. Yeah. When

31:58

you're banding them at night, why are you... doing it

32:00

at night? Are they more chill at night so it's

32:02

easier to grab them and put an anklet on them?

32:07

It is an anklet. That is exactly what it

32:09

is. It's a little piece of jewelry. We go

32:11

at night for two reasons. One,

32:14

we want to be as

32:16

least disruptive to them as possible so

32:18

we don't want to disturb their daily

32:21

habits. So they're out fishing, they're out

32:23

socializing, they're coming back and feeding their

32:25

chick. And yeah, we

32:28

want to keep that rhythm as normal as possible

32:31

and it'd be almost

32:33

as if we're not there. The second

32:35

thing is that it's least disruptive but it's

32:37

also so we can find them because if

32:40

they're just out and about they could be out rafting on

32:42

the other side of the island, they could be out wheeling

32:45

in the air, which is also cool behavior

32:47

they do. They find a circular pattern. Just

32:50

a PS. I found out on Cornell's

32:52

All About Birds website that quote, non-breeders

32:54

at the colony often form flocks and

32:56

they spend hours flying in wide circular

32:58

or figure eight paths over the colony

33:01

cliffs. Behavior called wheeling, which is I

33:03

guess like if all your single friends

33:05

just gathered to do donuts in a

33:07

Walmart parking lot for hours a day

33:09

for months out of the year. Just

33:12

like screw it, Katie, let's go and

33:14

have some fun. But back to their

33:16

nocturnal habits and why Jill is kind

33:18

of skulking around the island at night

33:20

giving out puffin friendship anklets. By the

33:23

way, they're in their burrows, it's easier

33:25

to find them and then we can

33:27

map out where their burrows are and

33:29

which banded birds are in which burrow.

33:31

It's just easier to track them and

33:34

it's more data points. Very

33:37

few people on this earth have

33:39

gotten to embrace a puffin. You're

33:41

one of them. Are they cuddly?

33:43

When you have to handle them

33:45

with permits, are they soft

33:47

and cuddly? They're

33:49

very soft. They're not cuddly in

33:52

the slightest. They

33:54

may be small but they can pack a

33:56

really mean bite. Oh really? Which can leave

33:58

scars and I don't blame them. like this

34:00

is their only line of defense, so you

34:02

can't fault them for that. But they have

34:04

a really strong bill, and they really are

34:06

good at clipping down when they want to

34:08

take a chunk out of you. Why

34:10

is that bill so bulky if they're

34:12

just eating small fish? They give that

34:15

quite a few fish

34:17

inside too. So two things, social

34:19

behavior-wise, they use their

34:21

bills for a behavior called billing, which

34:23

is when they take two birds come

34:26

together and basically rub their bills and

34:28

tap them back and forth. They

34:30

do this as a pair bonding

34:32

behavior with their mates, but

34:34

they also do this with neighbors as well sometimes.

34:38

It's very fun to watch two mates

34:40

that are clearly in a little billing

34:42

fest, and then you have a third

34:44

individual trying to nudge its way in.

34:46

It's like, hello, I'd like some attention too, this is

34:48

fun. Then as well, the

34:51

strength of it, I would argue, is

34:53

also likely due to, they

34:56

have to fight each other for space. This is

34:58

a cool complex social colony,

35:00

which has some fun friendly behaviors, but

35:03

this also means you're fighting for resources and space,

35:05

and you want to make sure that someone's not

35:08

coming in to steal your mate or try to

35:10

take your burrow that you've worked so hard to

35:12

dig out. Actually, when they

35:14

fight, it's very fun to watch, it's

35:17

very entertaining. They will do this thing,

35:19

you can tell a puffins getting angry

35:21

at another puffin, they'll basically look at

35:24

the other bird and open up their

35:26

bill and raise their tongue slightly, and

35:29

they just pause in this position, and

35:31

you're like, oh, something bad is about to happen. Then

35:33

if it escalates, they

35:36

will escalate to a fight where they

35:38

actually interlock bills, and

35:40

they fight so aggressively that they actually

35:42

will interlock bills, hold onto each other,

35:44

and rumble tumble together all the way

35:46

down a slope. They do not give

35:48

up. Is that

35:50

how they land a mate?

35:53

Do they have to do anything like bring

35:55

a pebble or fight their neighbor

35:57

in order to get a lady? no

36:00

pebbles, but I imagine the first season

36:02

there's a little bit more of a

36:04

scramble to try to find a mate.

36:06

But once they've established that partnership, that's

36:08

pretty secure. So they're not squabbles

36:10

of the heart, but they're

36:12

like neighbors getting pissy over fence

36:15

lines and parking spots. I'd

36:17

say burrows are more of a hot commodity to

36:19

make sure that someone hasn't gotten

36:21

there sooner and you have to fight someone for your

36:23

burrow that you lived in last year. And you're like,

36:25

that was a really nice house. I'd like to live

36:27

there again this year. What

36:30

if one dies? Do they get a new

36:32

mate and inherit the same burrow? Do people

36:35

do people do puffins ever use a

36:37

burrow that's been abandoned? First

36:39

part, if a mate dies,

36:41

they will repartner with somebody else,

36:44

which is a sad outcome to

36:46

think about. But also your way

36:49

for eight months. Who knows? I

36:51

guess it's a waiting game to

36:53

see if they're back when you

36:55

get back in the summer. Okay,

36:57

so from late summer until early

36:59

spring, puffin pairs take a break,

37:01

they part ways, and some of

37:03

them have similar flying locations and

37:05

routes, but some kind of bug

37:08

off and they take a completely

37:10

different path. And puffinologists aren't quite

37:12

sure how they relocate their same

37:14

crush year after year. But the

37:16

location of their summertime breeding season,

37:18

pied-a-terre, likely helps out a bunch.

37:20

Studies have actually found that they

37:22

will stay within a

37:24

two meter radius of where they last

37:27

lived. So they're staying really close

37:30

to where they lived last year.

37:32

So sometimes that might be the same burrow. And

37:34

then sometimes that might be someone else has gotten

37:36

there faster and they have to find a new

37:38

spot. But they're sticking really

37:40

close to where they've been living.

37:44

Can I ask you some questions from listeners? Sure,

37:47

yeah. Okay. But before

37:49

she does, let's toss some money

37:51

into the sea for research as

37:53

she selected the Canadian Parks and

37:55

Wilderness Society in Newfoundland and Labrador,

37:58

which has rescued thousands of Atlantic

38:00

puffins and leeches storm petrel chicks to

38:02

species who are globally listed as vulnerable.

38:04

And more on that program in a

38:07

bit. And thanks to sponsors of ologies

38:09

who make these weekly donations possible. When

38:15

US Bank says they're in it

38:17

with you, they mean it. Not

38:19

just for the good stuff, the

38:22

grand openings and celebrations.

38:24

Although those are pretty

38:26

great, but for all the hard work

38:28

it took to get there. The

38:30

fine tuning of goals, the

38:33

managing of cash and

38:35

workflows and decision making.

38:38

They're in to help you through all of

38:40

it. Because together, they're

38:42

proving day in and

38:44

day out that there is nothing

38:46

as powerful as the power of

38:49

us. Visit usbank.com

38:51

to get started today.

38:53

Equal Housing Lender, remember FDIC, copyright

38:56

2024 US Bank. Well,

39:02

this show is sponsored by BetterHelp as so's

39:04

my brain. I use BetterHelp. Listen, we're almost

39:06

halfway through this year. What else do you

39:09

want for the rest of the year? What

39:11

do you want for you is the question.

39:13

If you're thinking of starting therapy, give BetterHelp

39:15

a try. It's entirely online. It's designed to

39:17

be convenient, flexible, suited to your schedule. You

39:19

fill out this brief questionnaire and get matched

39:21

with a licensed therapist. If for any reason

39:23

you are not vibing, you can switch therapists

39:26

anytime, no additional charge. When it comes to

39:28

starting therapy, it can be really intimidating. You

39:30

don't know who to call. You don't know

39:32

what specialties they do, how long till you

39:34

can see them. And I love that BetterHelp

39:36

makes that onboarding super easy. Take a quiz,

39:38

they say, I think these people would be

39:40

good for you. You say, great. Boom,

39:43

within 48 hours, you're matched with someone. I

39:45

have used BetterHelp. It helped so much, especially

39:47

through a lot of grieving process I was

39:50

going through. And I've learned how

39:52

to look after myself. So if you've been

39:54

wanting to start therapy, this is me saying,

39:56

go for it. Take a moment, visit betterhelp.com/ologies.

39:58

today and you get 10% off your first

40:01

month. That's

40:03

BetterHelp, h-e-l-p.com/ologies. You deserve

40:06

it, I deserve it.

40:09

Earning your degree online doesn't mean you

40:11

have to go about it alone. At

40:13

Capella University, they're here to support you

40:16

when you're ready. From enrollment counselors who

40:18

get to know you and your goals,

40:20

to academic coaches who can help you

40:23

form a plan to stay on track.

40:25

They care about your success and are

40:27

dedicated to helping you pursue your goals.

40:29

Going back to school is a big

40:32

step, but having support at every step

40:34

of your academic journey can make a

40:36

big difference. Imagine your

40:39

future differently at capella.edu. Listen,

40:43

around here, it's a joy to look at

40:45

peer-reviewed studies. And if you are the type

40:47

of person that can spot a too-good-to-be-true health

40:49

hack from a mile away and you enjoy

40:51

reading labels, congrats, you're one of me, you're

40:53

a skeptic. And when it comes to taking

40:55

supplements, you don't want to spend a lot

40:57

of money for taking things that are just

40:59

gonna end up in the toilet. Which is

41:01

why I really like Ritual. They have clinically-backed,

41:03

essential for women 18 plus. It's a multivitamin,

41:05

has a high-quality, traceable, key ingredients, and only

41:07

about 1% of supplement brands are USP verified.

41:09

Ritual is one of those, so you know

41:11

that you can trust what you're putting in

41:13

your body. They're also vegan, they're gluten and

41:16

major allergen-free, and Ritual has sustainability standards. Also,

41:18

I like that Ritual is a female-founded B

41:20

Corp, so that they're holding themselves accountable. I

41:22

personally have more energy and focus when I'm

41:24

making sure to take B vitamins. And also,

41:26

there's some minerals that I know when I'm

41:28

low on, I have more stress. So taking

41:30

a daily multivitamin isn't just good for my

41:32

body, I take it for my brain too.

41:34

So no more shady business. Ritual's essential for

41:36

women 18 plus is a multivitamin you can

41:38

actually trust. And get 25% off

41:41

your first month at ritual.com/ologies. So

41:43

start Ritual or add essential for

41:46

women 18 plus to your subscription

41:48

today. That's ritual.com/ologies for 25% off.

41:52

Down the hatch. Okay, questions.

41:54

Many of you, including Spexel, Sylvia

41:56

Trevario, Clark Bennett, Olivia Lester, and

41:58

Lisa Mangelsdorf. question asker,

42:00

wanted to know how human

42:03

puffin diplomacy is going. Are

42:06

they dangerous? Are we dangerous?

42:08

Are puffins enriching uranium? Hi,

42:10

Allie. This is Vanessa in Colton,

42:12

California. Two years ago,

42:15

I was fortunate to visit

42:17

Lunga Island, part of the

42:19

Tresnish Islands of Scotland. I

42:22

was able to visit a colony of

42:24

the adorable puffins. And one interesting thing

42:26

that I noticed was the birds would

42:29

come out of their little holes. When

42:31

people were around, they were pretty active.

42:34

They seemed habituated to the humans, and

42:36

they would go back into their little

42:39

holes and hide when there were less

42:41

people walking around. And I was just

42:43

wondering if becoming more habituated to the

42:46

humans, visiting their islands while

42:48

they're breeding is beneficial or

42:50

detrimental for their colonies? Thank

42:52

you. No,

42:54

that's a really good question. And yeah,

42:57

there's two lenses from a research standpoint

42:59

and also a tourist perspective. So on

43:02

these islands in this

43:05

reserve, they're protected areas. So not anyone

43:07

can just walk on. You have to

43:09

have a scientific permit. So the

43:11

only tourists these puffins are seeing are

43:13

from boats that come up and come

43:15

near. But they're not stepping foot. Boat

43:18

traffic is inevitable. And if it's located

43:20

to one place on a side where

43:23

there's not, yeah, you're not harming the

43:25

puffins that way. But being habituated is

43:27

definitely a good point. There are other

43:29

colonies on the island

43:31

of Newfoundland that have become more

43:33

habituated. There's a spot called Elistin.

43:35

And the puffins there are more used to humans,

43:38

absolutely. As for the research lens,

43:40

if we're in the blind or

43:42

in the cabin, we're not bothering

43:44

any birds. And then at

43:46

the end of that, it just is weighing

43:49

us researching them and monitoring them and making

43:51

sure that their populations are okay. There's

43:54

a good portion of that for a small

43:56

piece of disturbance. Let's leave them be. Take

43:58

your photos, get your

44:01

Zoom lens and admire from a

44:03

distance. So in general,

44:05

the Atlantic puffins in Newfoundland are

44:07

doing okay, but elsewhere, like in

44:09

Iceland, puffin populations have dropped by

44:12

70% since 1995

44:16

with warming seas killing their food

44:18

sources as a big factor. Puffin

44:20

hunting in Iceland was once considered

44:22

sustainable, but now scientists say it

44:24

is absolutely not. And it contributes

44:26

still to 10% of

44:28

the puffin population decline. So

44:31

Icelandic puffins kind of

44:33

in some deep shit. They're now marked as critically endangered. Other

44:36

species like the horned puffin and

44:38

the rhinoceros oculit, they're listed as

44:41

of least concern, as is the

44:43

tufted puffin of Alaska, but that

44:45

does not tell the tufted puffins

44:47

whole story. Carly and Tanner,

44:49

first time question askers, wanted to know

44:51

why are tufted puffin populations declining on

44:53

the West coast, especially when populations seem

44:55

to be doing so well in Alaska.

44:58

Good question. Yes. So according

45:00

to 2021 estimates, there are

45:02

553 lonely tufted puffins in

45:04

Oregon, down

45:08

from 5,000 in the late 1990s. Why

45:12

are these tufted puffins kicking ass

45:14

in Alaska, but succumbing on the

45:17

West coast? Oh, people. So

45:19

bombers like a decrease in fish

45:22

populations. We got fish and nets.

45:24

We got oil slicks, ocean

45:27

trash, and the seas warming. There's

45:29

part of it. And then our

45:31

species, more specifically colonizers, we introduced

45:33

some predators like Arctic foxes and

45:35

bears to tufted puffin Island habitats.

45:37

They're like, what is this? Who

45:40

are these guys? Why are they

45:42

eating my babies? So yeah, it's

45:44

us. It's usually us. And the

45:46

Oregon conservation strategy website says that

45:48

you can try to help tufted

45:50

puffins by not introducing any nest

45:53

predators. So don't bring any bears

45:55

to any islands. Also do your

45:57

best to prevent oil spills. in

45:59

case you drive a tanker to

46:01

work, because there's nothing better than

46:03

actual living puffins. On

46:06

that note, I'm shocked that

46:08

only two people had this

46:11

question. Susan Majrach and Doug

46:13

Pace wanted to know any thoughts

46:17

on the fact that the porgs from Star

46:19

Wars were only created because there were so

46:21

many puffins on Skellig Michael during

46:23

the filming of episode seven. Doug

46:26

says, trying to fit a fun fact into a question.

46:28

But when I think of puffins,

46:30

I think of porgs. Is

46:33

this lore among other puffinologists? I

46:35

have not heard this lore, but I'm

46:38

also not super familiar with porgs. I

46:40

need to look up what they look like actually.

46:42

If you need to look it up right now,

46:44

I do not follow you. So apparently the story

46:47

goes that they were filming and there were so

46:49

many freaking puffins that they were like, we can't

46:51

CGI these out of here. So instead we're just

46:53

gonna create a character that looks like a puffin.

46:55

That way they just look like they're just a

46:57

ton of them. They're so cute. They

47:00

have such big mouths. So

47:02

porgs have that characteristic seabird

47:05

dark back and white chest

47:07

and some burnt umber colors

47:09

around their eyes, but they

47:11

are beakless with only kind of the

47:14

wisp of a nose. So these fictional

47:16

creatures, they kind of look like a

47:18

puffin, but with the face of an

47:20

otter pup. I mean, 10 out of

47:23

10 would foster fail an orphaned porg.

47:26

Give me it. Really big eyes too. And

47:29

how close is that to puffin eyes? Puffin

47:32

eyes are not that big. I feel like it's

47:34

like those really cute little like baby animals you

47:36

see with the really, really big googly eyes. Right.

47:40

Very, very cute. I'd say the feet look

47:42

like puffins, but that's a

47:44

maybe about it. Props to the

47:46

CGI team that were like, let's make

47:48

this into our

47:50

story. Would puffins even

47:53

be on cliffs? Would they use

47:55

those slopes to burrow into? They

47:57

love hanging out on cliffs. called

48:00

party rocks. So puffins will come

48:02

and congregate on these rocks together

48:05

and just socialize during the day.

48:07

They burrow in the grassy areas

48:09

but these islands in the

48:12

North Atlantic have really really steep cliffs

48:14

and are very rocky so they're definitely

48:16

hanging out on the cliffs. Party

48:19

rock in the house tonight that's

48:21

amazing. Exactly. Rebecca Rawlings wants to

48:24

know what are those bright orange

48:26

patches you mentioned to the side

48:28

of their beaks, sensory organs perhaps,

48:31

or are they just mac and

48:33

cheese colored decor? That's funny.

48:36

I agree. The little fleshy bit I

48:38

mentioned earlier is called a rosette and

48:40

that's just part of their visual

48:42

display. Oh it is just... It's

48:44

ornamental. Fancy. Okay. fluorescence.

48:48

Nick Wirth, Dorit and Jen Skrull

48:50

Alvarez wanted to know in Jen's

48:52

words what's the purpose of having

48:55

rave beaks? They glow in

48:57

UV light? What? Yeah yeah.

48:59

Puffins can see in the ultraviolet so this is

49:01

something that they can see. A lot of what

49:03

we study in the visual ecology lab is trying

49:06

to, and it's really hard, but to

49:09

place ourselves in another animal's perspective

49:11

to be like okay well what sort of things

49:13

and what cues do they need from their environment.

49:15

I know in

49:18

other bird species

49:21

ultraviolet colorization is

49:23

sometimes used in like nighttime

49:26

foraging so they can see other birds. Like they're

49:28

not always in their burrows at night and also

49:30

when they're underwater they spend a great deal of

49:33

time. They're really good divers. Puffins can dive up

49:35

to I think it's

49:37

around like 50 meters deep which is

49:39

really deep and this probably allows them

49:41

to see other puffins. There's definitely some

49:44

sort of communication going on there but

49:46

definitely more studies need to be done

49:48

on that. Okay so birds have four

49:50

cones in their eyes and

49:52

for more on eyes and cones you

49:55

can see the ophthalmology episode but we

49:57

have three which sucks for us. So

49:59

birds have a totally different experience of

50:01

color and light. And they

50:03

live in this hidden world of glow

50:05

stick visuals that would just dazzle

50:08

your friends on drugs. So why is

50:10

this happening? According to the 2019 paper,

50:13

photo luminescence in the bill of

50:15

the Atlantic Puffin, researchers note that

50:18

photo luminescent properties serve a number

50:20

of important roles in nature, such

50:23

as deterring predators, luring underwater prey

50:25

and signaling between individuals and that

50:27

the photo luminescent parts of the

50:30

bill are shed during the nonbreeding

50:32

season, which leads scientists to infer

50:34

that these glowing ultraviolet colors make

50:37

other birds down to get it

50:39

on, or they scare away

50:41

competition, or they help puffins catch food

50:44

for the babies. Now, wait,

50:46

how did we come to know that they have

50:49

glowing beaks? Who figured this

50:51

out? So I tracked down the author

50:53

of this study, one Dr. Jamie Dunning,

50:55

who is a bird flu expert at

50:57

Imperial College of London. And one

50:59

day in 2018, he

51:01

just casually tweeted a photo of this

51:04

dayglow blue neon beaked puffin under black

51:06

light with a caption, birds have additional

51:08

color cones in their retina that are

51:10

sensitive to ultraviolet range. I exposed some

51:13

of my specimens to UV light. The

51:15

puffins bill was pretty cool. I wonder

51:17

if it's related to signaling. Just

51:19

like with a shrug. I mean, he went on

51:22

to write a whole paper about it, but he was just

51:24

like, cool. I have tweeted

51:26

more dramatic statements about parking

51:28

and a sale at Macy's. So puffinologists,

51:30

I hope you know just how impressed

51:33

we all are with you. I hope

51:35

you know. In terms of behavior, Michael

51:37

Brandt wants to know what

51:39

happens in the summer? Do

51:41

their eating and sleeping cycles change

51:43

with like the extreme daylight? So

51:46

we noticed there's definitely some sort

51:48

of pattern here where there's like

51:51

this cyclical pattern of colony attendance.

51:53

So there's some days you'll go out and we're in

51:56

our blind looking for the birds and there's no one,

51:58

they're all gone. And you're like. Where

52:00

did everyone go? And then other days

52:02

you're out and you can't write fast enough in

52:04

your notebook to collect all your data because there's,

52:07

the slope is completely covered

52:09

in birds and

52:12

it's really hard to keep track of them all. There's

52:15

work on that being done looking into what

52:18

the cyclical pattern is, if it's related to

52:21

weather or if it's moon cycle

52:23

related. But as for like the

52:25

actual daylight, they're up when the

52:27

sun is up and they go

52:29

to bed when the sun is down. Unlike

52:31

me. What about their intelligence?

52:33

Earl of Gramelkin, Elizabeth Meena and

52:35

Olivia Lester want to know how

52:37

smart are they? Do they have

52:39

a bird brain is what they

52:41

want to know. Yes, yes. Earl

52:43

asked, are they puff

52:45

for brains or puffing geniuses? Okay,

52:48

animal intelligence is one of those things where it

52:50

really depends on what rule are you using to

52:52

measure that. Humans love to

52:54

think of ourselves on the top of this hierarchy, but

52:57

we're also measuring all other animals

52:59

to this ruler, which is completely

53:01

unfair. I'd

53:03

say puffins are awkward

53:06

on land to maneuver, but

53:11

brain wise, I'd say they're

53:13

fairly intelligent in

53:16

that they have

53:18

to interact with many individuals.

53:20

There's normally correlation generally of

53:22

the higher sociality an animal

53:25

has, the higher intelligence

53:27

if you will. I don't even know if

53:29

intelligence is the right word to use, but

53:31

I'd say they're fairly intelligent. Their brains

53:33

get them to do what they need to do for

53:35

their little puffin lives. They're such

53:37

long lives. I can't believe that they're around for

53:39

25 years. 25,

53:43

that's a good chunk of time. I would have guessed

53:45

that they were alive for like two, three years, but

53:47

they don't mature until they're even five years old. Yeah,

53:49

so they take a little while to mature and then

53:51

they have about 20 years of breeding, yeah. Are

53:54

they just sort of like dicking

53:56

around, flying around at sea, getting to

53:58

know each other? learned to fish.

54:01

Yeah, yeah, they're taking that time to

54:03

figure themselves out. This is more of

54:05

a spiritual journey.

54:07

They typically don't return

54:10

back to those colonies until they're ready to

54:12

breed, but there have been a

54:15

few exceptions to that. But there's

54:17

always an exception to everything. Well, I know

54:19

that we love them, but a

54:22

few people, Katie Hammond, Erin,

54:24

Celeste Constineau, Helios, want

54:26

to know, in Erin's words, someone told

54:28

me at some point that puffins are

54:30

kind of cranky. Is that true, or

54:32

was whoever told them that a jerk?

54:36

No, they're definitely cranky. Oh, really?

54:38

They look so nice. They

54:42

are very cute. I think it's hard to

54:44

distinguish that in that they're always cranky when

54:46

they're around us, but that

54:49

makes sense. We're these little blob,

54:52

white light aliens coming in at night and taking

54:54

them from their homes, putting an anklet on them

54:56

and then returning them back. So I'd be cranky

54:58

too. Right. I'd be pissed.

55:00

Are you kidding? And then some jewelry you

55:03

can't take off yourself? Exactly. Do wildlife biologists

55:05

ever have to worry like, oh, now that

55:07

we put this anklet on them, they're being

55:10

treated differently or do puffins just not care?

55:12

No, definitely thought is put into that of

55:14

just how they... Well, first of all, we

55:16

don't want to bother the actual birds.

55:19

We want the bands to

55:21

fit on their ankle away from any joint

55:23

so that they're not even

55:25

going to notice them and that it's not going to

55:28

hinder their movement or their walking and their flying. But

55:30

do they get hazed? Just if they're like, oh,

55:33

Bruce got a... Oh, I don't like

55:35

this. Yeah. Do they treat each other

55:37

differently? Not much attention is given to

55:40

each other's legs. All the social information

55:42

is really in the eyes and the

55:44

bill area. So I don't think they're

55:46

not checking out each other's ankles. That's

55:49

good. News to me,

55:51

but a ton of questions from a

55:53

ton of listeners. Hello patrons, Jamie, Malia,

55:56

associate, Michelle Smith, Laura McLean, Lexi Cable,

55:58

Peyton Henderson, and Eric. and

56:01

Dana Sprouse for some question-askers, asked

56:03

in Erica's words, why do people throw pufflings

56:06

off cliffs? How can I help do this?

56:08

Dana asked, are the Icelanders really

56:11

helping them by throwing

56:13

them off cliffs? What? What's

56:17

happening? What's with all these viral videos

56:20

of people throwing baby puffins off cliffs?

56:22

So yeah, I've seen those videos too

56:24

of the Icelandic puffin. I'm assuming it's

56:26

similar to a puffin patrol here. So

56:29

when it's time for puffin chicks to fledge,

56:32

some of them go the wrong way and make it into

56:34

cities that are close to these islands where

56:36

they're at risk of being eaten by cats or

56:39

foxes or colliding with buildings. And in general, they

56:41

just don't have a food source there. And so

56:43

we wanna take those strandings and

56:45

get them back out to sea. So

56:47

yeah, the puffin and patrol patrol here

56:49

does that. They go around at night,

56:52

find stranded pufflings, and then release them

56:54

back into the ocean. These

56:56

fledglings have left the islands, so

56:59

they do know how to fly. So throwing them

57:01

up in the air is just giving them a

57:04

little boost. Puffins are really

57:06

bad at flying. They're really good at diving

57:08

and they're really comfortable in and around the

57:10

water. They're really bad at walking on land.

57:13

So they have to flap their wings really, really fast

57:15

to be able to stay afloat in the

57:17

air. And so anytime

57:20

they even take off from the colony,

57:22

they're basically walking up the slope to

57:24

find a taller spot, like a steep

57:27

cliff or something, and they'll just basically

57:29

jump off and help use

57:31

gravity to help them start flying. So throwing

57:33

them up in the air is

57:36

helping them, yeah. Who gets to do that?

57:38

Well, Allie, if you come to Newfoundland, we

57:40

can take you on the puffin and patrol

57:42

patrol. You too could throw puffins if you

57:44

wanted. Oh my God. I

57:48

don't do that so bad. Yeah, it's

57:50

a really cool program. Anyone can

57:52

sign up. Lots of people go with their families too,

57:54

so their kids get to see puffin

57:56

strandlings and help return them back

57:58

to sea. Oh my,

58:00

I had no idea that was even a possibility.

58:02

I'm gonna put it on your list now. I

58:05

gotta put that on my list. Let's get

58:07

right down to business. Michaela Marshall wants

58:09

to know why are they the smelliest

58:11

animals at the zoo? And

58:13

Autumn Knoll wanted to know why do they

58:16

poop he so ellipsis

58:18

violently? Anna Thompson wants to know if

58:20

a puffin colony stinks, so

58:23

does Erin Christie. What kind of smells are you dealing

58:25

with? Very stinky. You're gonna

58:27

smell them before you see them. It's

58:30

a mixture of their fishing

58:32

and the discarded parts of

58:34

the fish that they're not eating are

58:36

left to rot in the sun. They're

58:39

using the rocks as their toilet and

58:41

kitchen all at once. No.

58:44

So yes, they're very stinky. Anyone who's worked

58:46

on a seabird colony knows that that

58:48

smell will be forever permanently ingrained in

58:50

their brain. When

58:53

you get home, do you just take... You

58:56

jump in the shower. Yeah, I was gonna say

58:58

like, Dr. Braun. Yeah,

59:00

right into the laundry machine, you're

59:02

in the shower. Things are being

59:04

washed immediately, yes. Do

59:08

they poo in their burrows or no?

59:10

The chicks will. So they often have

59:12

like a little toilet space for the

59:14

chick. Their burrows are very tidy. A

59:17

lot of the times the adults

59:19

will do their business out on

59:21

the slope. I will say

59:23

this is anecdotal, but I'd say almost like nine

59:26

out of 10 times. The first thing

59:28

they do in the morning is they waddle out of

59:30

their burrows, the adults, and they'll step out onto their

59:32

foyer and then lift their little butts up in the

59:34

air and take their morning poo and then go on

59:36

their way. And if that's not relatable, I don't know

59:38

what is. So funny. They

59:41

have a tiny cup of coffee and then

59:43

they're like, whoop, ready to go. Gotta go,

59:45

yeah. Is it violent?

59:47

Would you say that the velocity of it

59:49

is violent? There is a propulsion. Well,

59:52

that's so hard, right? It's all liquid. So

59:54

it is, I feel

59:56

like liquid travel a little further faster

59:59

than it's possible. I

1:00:03

know this is a terrible segue, but let's get to

1:00:05

eating. Bjorn Fredberg wanted to know,

1:00:07

are they tasty? Did Charles Darwin eat

1:00:09

any and write about it? He was part of some kind

1:00:11

of society that wanted to try and eat every kind of

1:00:14

animal. That sounds like Darwin. It sounds. He's

1:00:16

like, got to get him in my mouth. Kelly,

1:00:19

do you want to know what's up with

1:00:21

those dogs bred for puff and hunting? Hanagori,

1:00:23

Naomi James, and Elder Zamora all wanted to

1:00:25

know. Do they

1:00:27

taste kind of fishy? You mentioned

1:00:29

that they've got a really work to fly.

1:00:31

I imagine they're probably all dark meat. I don't

1:00:33

know. Eating puffins, eating

1:00:35

puffin eggs, what's the scoop? The

1:00:38

scoop is you can't do that in Canada. I have

1:00:41

not tried puffin. I've got lots of comments

1:00:43

on my videos being like, puffins

1:00:46

are so tasty. Okay, thanks

1:00:49

for sharing. They

1:00:51

used to be hunted and

1:00:53

the eggs were collected. But

1:00:57

yeah, that hasn't happened for a

1:00:59

while now and they are protected species. No one,

1:01:01

at least on this side of the Atlantic, no

1:01:03

one is eating puffins. At least you

1:01:05

shouldn't be. And if you are, I'm going to come

1:01:07

find you and you'll be in trouble. But

1:01:10

I have no idea what they taste like. According to

1:01:12

reports of puffin eaters,

1:01:14

the meat is dark and

1:01:16

gamey and salty and

1:01:19

like a pastrami made out of liver.

1:01:21

Those are the tasting notes. So honestly,

1:01:23

some people are like, no

1:01:26

thanks, I'm good. But it's still

1:01:28

legal to hunt puffins in parts

1:01:30

of Northern Iceland, where older generations

1:01:32

also like to root

1:01:35

out the heart and eat it raw as a

1:01:37

delicacy. And then we'll typically smoke the meat kind

1:01:39

of like a jerky. So if you, you absolutely

1:01:42

have to eat puffin, you can hit

1:01:44

up Iceland before it's entirely illegal because

1:01:46

it's really not good news up there.

1:01:48

Otherwise, you know what, just settle

1:01:51

for like some dried smoky mushrooms

1:01:53

or eat some cat food, but

1:01:56

don't kill any puffins in

1:01:58

Jill's territory. You could be on

1:02:00

a puffinologist shit list. They're like, I don't

1:02:02

think so. You guys are not catching one

1:02:05

and roasting it in your

1:02:07

seaside cabin. That's not happening. Don't you

1:02:09

dare. Yeah. Can you imagine?

1:02:11

Well, speaking of eating though, a ton of people,

1:02:13

including Li Wang, Lizzie

1:02:15

Martinez, Lauren Seibert, so

1:02:17

many people wanted to know what's the

1:02:19

story with Barbara's puffin cereals? Also,

1:02:21

do you have a favorite? There is a puffin

1:02:24

cereal that's available here. Yeah,

1:02:26

slaps. What do you think

1:02:28

of it though? Not to influence you, but it's

1:02:30

pretty good, right? I've only, yeah, a

1:02:33

little ad in here for Barbara's puffin

1:02:35

cereal. You owe me. I've

1:02:38

only tried the maple flavor,

1:02:41

and it was good. I

1:02:45

will say I'm a Mini Weeds fan though. I'm not

1:02:47

switching chips, but yeah. I

1:02:49

think I did it. Puffinologists only eat

1:02:51

puffins for breakfast. It's

1:02:54

a little presumptuous, to be honest. We're

1:02:56

multifaceted, OK, guys? Maybe

1:02:58

Barbara just loves puffins. Who knows? So

1:03:01

according to Lore, it wasn't Barb

1:03:03

who loved puffins, but an employee

1:03:06

who, 30 years ago,

1:03:08

saw some puffins in Alaska and

1:03:10

rightfully became obsessed. And this employee

1:03:13

just began seeing all objects only

1:03:15

in terms of their relations to

1:03:17

puffins. So a puffed corn

1:03:20

cereal? Puff, puffins. Also, if

1:03:22

you were to go to Alaska, maybe

1:03:24

you have a cereal to name, you

1:03:26

would see tufted puffins, which have these

1:03:29

blonde bangs that curl behind their ears,

1:03:31

kind of like a ram's horns, or

1:03:34

the horned puffin, which has, over

1:03:36

its eyes, upright spikes

1:03:38

during the breeding season. Spikes

1:03:40

over its eyes. Horny

1:03:42

decor for horny birds. And patron

1:03:44

Dwayne Talifsred asked, would puffins be

1:03:46

as endearing if they had a

1:03:48

different name, like the horned squat

1:03:50

or the Atlantic muck bus? And

1:03:52

Dwayne, I think you should apply

1:03:55

for a job at Barbara because you have a

1:03:57

knack for naming. Those are great. curious

1:04:00

to know. What about pop culture? Is

1:04:03

there any representation of Puffins in

1:04:05

the media, good or bad,

1:04:07

that either make like you're so excited

1:04:09

about your cringe? Yes.

1:04:12

So there is

1:04:14

a Puffin in Elf, the Christmas movie,

1:04:17

in that scene where he's with the

1:04:19

Narwhal and the Narwhal's like, bye buddy,

1:04:21

hope you find your dad. There's a

1:04:23

Puffin in that team. And

1:04:25

he's really cute. Hey buddy, wanna put

1:04:27

some snowberries? Not now, Arctic

1:04:29

Puffin. There's that one moment where

1:04:32

both his eyes are on the same side of

1:04:34

his head, which anatomically is not

1:04:36

correct, but it's also a clay Puffin, so I

1:04:38

can't fault them too much for that. The

1:04:41

other reference that a lot of people mention to

1:04:43

me is there's a kids TV show called Puffin

1:04:45

Rock. I have one gripe with it

1:04:48

in that it follows this

1:04:50

Puffin family and they have

1:04:52

two children, which is

1:04:54

not accurate. They only raise one chick

1:04:56

per year. And on top of that,

1:04:59

the youngest little one is pure white,

1:05:01

which is not true of Puffins. Puffin

1:05:03

chicks are almost fully black

1:05:06

down. They have like a little

1:05:08

white belly, but they're definitely like

1:05:10

90% black in color and not

1:05:12

white. But I

1:05:15

get it. For the storytelling, it's okay. They

1:05:17

should send you a written apology though. Just

1:05:20

saying. I wouldn't say no. Last

1:05:23

listener question. Autumn Knoll, Jennifer Froh,

1:05:25

Denny, a lot of people, including

1:05:27

Susan Gottlieb, Natasha Garrison, Hazel, Marley

1:05:29

Moss, Nova Q, RJ Deutsch, Lauren

1:05:31

and Sarah King, Nicki Jervitz, and

1:05:33

Jacqueline Church, who asked and then

1:05:36

pleaded, why are they so adorable?

1:05:38

And please don't let them be

1:05:40

awful like otters. Still not over

1:05:42

that reveal. So you can see

1:05:44

the Lutronology episode on otters to

1:05:46

break your heart. But yeah, Puffins.

1:05:49

In Denny's words, why

1:05:51

are they so cute? Can I give them a

1:05:53

little kiss on their heads? Autumn wants to know,

1:05:55

do we know that they love them? Jennifer Froh

1:05:58

wants to know, why do I love them so

1:06:00

much? Anything. Sociologically. Why do I love them? Why

1:06:04

do we love them so much? I

1:06:07

think the bright colors are the contrast of the

1:06:09

black and white. Like,

1:06:11

they're really small. They're wearing a black and

1:06:13

white tuxedo and they have bright orange booties

1:06:16

in this beautiful bill. Anyone

1:06:18

is not to love about that. I

1:06:20

thought she meant orange butts and then I realized

1:06:22

she meant small boots, which is fine. And

1:06:25

Denny, without a permit, cannot give them a

1:06:27

little kiss on their heads. That's not legal.

1:06:29

Sorry, Denny. Sorry, Denny. They

1:06:32

also would not like that at all. They wouldn't like that.

1:06:34

They would maybe get a little chunk of your nose bitten

1:06:36

off. That's not good. Autumn

1:06:38

Knoll, do they know that we love them?

1:06:40

I don't think they care. It sounds like they're pretty grumpy and

1:06:42

they don't want to see you. Pretty

1:06:45

much. You summed it up. Like

1:06:47

you. This is

1:06:50

a pair of social relationships. This is

1:06:52

the thing. Yeah.

1:06:55

Okay. So, worst thing about

1:06:58

the job. You've described shitting

1:07:01

al fresco. You've described

1:07:04

coming home and having to take like

1:07:06

a radioactive shower and also

1:07:08

declining populations. What's the hardest thing

1:07:10

about your job, about

1:07:13

being a pophenologist? Something's got

1:07:15

to suck. I

1:07:17

am someone who really likes getting eight hours of

1:07:19

sleep a night. And

1:07:21

the sleep schedule we have is we

1:07:23

never get to sleep eight hours in

1:07:25

a row. You sleep for

1:07:28

four hours, you get up and you

1:07:30

do four hours and you go back and take a

1:07:32

little nap and then you do another four hours and

1:07:34

you just kind of repeat through this cycle. So,

1:07:37

in the summer months, it is a privilege to

1:07:39

be on these islands studying this animal. But

1:07:42

I will say a small part

1:07:44

of my feeble humanness is that

1:07:47

I just want a full night's sleep

1:07:49

sometimes. The

1:07:51

other eight months out of the year, are you

1:07:53

just 12 hours a day? I'm packing the

1:07:56

sleep in. Nine hours

1:07:58

if I'm lucky. What's

1:08:00

the best? I

1:08:02

feel like it's so cliche to say, I can't pick one. There

1:08:06

are several. I

1:08:13

think it's really cool to be so

1:08:15

removed from civilization and get to be

1:08:17

in such a wild space that you're

1:08:21

just away from humans, which is really nice, and

1:08:23

you get to see an ecosystem

1:08:25

that is just thriving on its own

1:08:27

and doing its own thing. That

1:08:29

goes hand in hand with the fact that not

1:08:32

many people have gotten to experience

1:08:34

these islands in the ways that

1:08:37

the small amount of researchers have, and I really

1:08:39

try not to take that for granted. They're

1:08:42

beautiful islands. They're absolutely gorgeous. It's

1:08:45

a bit of a culture shock going from so

1:08:48

much isolation and puffins, puffins, puffins

1:08:50

to then back into the real

1:08:52

world with cars and human attractions.

1:08:56

You kind of got to switch part of your brain on

1:08:58

and off. What a

1:09:00

great excuse, though, if you didn't get back to someone in time.

1:09:02

Just be like, I'm so sorry I was on a remote island.

1:09:04

Sorry I was on an island. I have

1:09:07

used that before. Shamelessly.

1:09:09

Oh, sorry. I was on a

1:09:11

remote island sending puffins. Sorry to see your email.

1:09:16

Dude, I would be sending that from my couch at home

1:09:18

on days that I didn't want to go out. Well,

1:09:22

you don't know which days I was in the field and which

1:09:24

days I wasn't. Perfect

1:09:26

excuse. Just a burrow of one's own.

1:09:28

Any advice for anyone that wants to

1:09:31

become a puffinologist? You

1:09:33

really got to be okay with

1:09:36

strong smells, but also just existing with

1:09:38

bird shit on you. You're

1:09:41

getting pooped up. You're getting fired

1:09:43

on from the skies. It's constant.

1:09:45

The air traffic is constantly above

1:09:47

you. So you're getting it

1:09:49

from that angle. And then if you're doing any kind of

1:09:51

burrow checks, the burrows are tidy.

1:09:54

They're so civilized. But

1:09:57

there's still little poop piles.

1:10:00

in there and the mud is sludgy and

1:10:02

it all just melds

1:10:04

together on your arm in this lovely

1:10:06

little paste of God knows what. So

1:10:10

yeah, you have to be comfortable being dirty. And

1:10:13

some people have quite a phobia, and I can understand

1:10:15

why, of things flying

1:10:18

above you in large numbers. If

1:10:21

you do not like birds, then do

1:10:23

not become a puffinologist. That's pretty obvious

1:10:25

though. There's a lot of birds. A

1:10:30

lot of birds in the job, yeah. This

1:10:32

is amazing. You're the only puffinologist I know. You're

1:10:34

also my favorite one. Thank you, Allie.

1:10:36

I gotta throw some babies off some cliffs. So

1:10:40

ask adventurous people ignorant questions because sometimes

1:10:42

the answers are not so simple. Do

1:10:45

follow Jill Taylor on Instagram and TikTok.

1:10:47

We have linked her pages right in

1:10:49

the show notes and she's wonderful on

1:10:51

both platforms. We are at AllieGeez on

1:10:54

Instagram and X. I'm at Allie Ward

1:10:56

on both. Allie has just one L.

1:10:59

Somologies again are shorter kid-friendly versions and

1:11:01

they have peeled off to

1:11:03

become their own show. So that's linked

1:11:05

in the show notes. So please tell your

1:11:07

friends with kiddos or anyone who needs shorter,

1:11:09

clean versions. We're super happy to launch. We

1:11:11

hope more people know about them. Thank

1:11:14

you to Aaron Talbert who admins the AllieGeez

1:11:16

Podcast Facebook group and congrats to my bonus

1:11:18

little brother, her actual brother, Tom, on tying

1:11:21

the knot this week. I've known him since

1:11:23

he was a two-year-old. Evelyn Malek

1:11:25

and The Wirdery makes our professional transcripts. Kelly

1:11:27

Ardwire does the website. Noel Deward schedules the

1:11:29

shit out of interviews as our scheduling producer.

1:11:32

Susan Hale manages and directs the whole thing

1:11:34

as managing director. Jake Chafee is our new

1:11:36

additional editor and lead editor who would never

1:11:38

throw any babies off a cliff unless it

1:11:40

was a puffin. It is Mercedes Maitland of

1:11:42

Maitland Audio. Nick Thorburn wrote the theme music

1:11:45

and if you stick around until the end

1:11:47

of the episode, I tell you a secret.

1:11:49

And while I was trapped in the

1:11:51

Salt Lake City Airport for nine hours

1:11:54

yesterday waiting for my connecting flight to

1:11:56

Chicago, which was so late, I was

1:11:58

sitting in this giant open space. smack

1:12:00

in the middle of the airport surrounded by a bunch

1:12:02

of people on their phones and laptops

1:12:04

a lot of heavy-sized tired

1:12:07

business travelers and this

1:12:09

abandoned piano behind me suddenly I

1:12:11

hear someone sit down and bust

1:12:14

out really melancholic classical music

1:12:17

no sheet music just from

1:12:19

memory just tinkering around While

1:12:21

I'm sitting there in an oversized blazer

1:12:23

crying So to the lovely girl who

1:12:25

braved a terminal full of strangers to

1:12:27

go tinker on those keys Made

1:12:30

my whole day if you see an

1:12:32

empty piano somewhere and you know how to

1:12:34

play it Please do because you never know

1:12:36

if there's a lady drinking a warm soda

1:12:38

saying hey, man. I needed that okay That's

1:13:02

the last time I'm kissing a fucking puffin At

1:13:06

Amika Insurance, we know

1:13:08

it's more than a life policy. It's

1:13:11

about the promise and the responsibility

1:13:13

that comes with being a new

1:13:15

parent, being

1:13:17

there day and night, and

1:13:21

building a plan for tomorrow, today.

1:13:25

For the ones you'll always look out for, trust

1:13:28

Amika Life Insurance. Amika.

1:13:31

Empathy is our best policy.

1:13:36

Hellman's plant-based Mayo is just as

1:13:38

deliciously rich and creamy as Hellman's

1:13:40

real mayonnaise And if you

1:13:42

find that hard to believe you may also find

1:13:45

it hard to believe that German chocolate cake Was

1:13:48

invented in Texas. I know

1:13:52

Hellman's plant-based Mayo is the perfect

1:13:54

swap for plant-based dishes like veggie

1:13:56

burgers salads or your favorite barbecue

1:13:59

sides delicious creamy. 100% Hellmann's.

1:14:01

Find plant-based mayo along with

1:14:03

delicious recipes at hellmanns.com.