Running out of puff! Is much-loved seabird doomed to breeding extinction on mainland Britain's south coast?

                                                

Puffins - once 'thick as grass' on Dorset coast but now in rapid decline

DOUBTS are growing over whether Puffins will remain as a breeding species on the south coast of mainland Britain.

In recent years, no more than three  pairs have been present at Purbeck in Dorset  - none of which has raised any chicks.

It is a far cry from the 1930s when the species was  described as "thick as grass" on the Dorset coast. In 1958, 85 birds were recorded in Purbeck.

The Puffins are monitored by the National Trust whose coast project officer, Ben Cooke, says:

"We fear that even if just one of the Purbeck birds were to have been  lost to the storms of winter, it would be another step closer to the loss of the whole group. 

"We are waiting with some trepidation to see if all six birds reappear this spring."

In 2024 and 2025, birds were seen nest‑building, but no fish deliveries to sites where there might have been chicks.

It was thought they may have  succumbed to predators such as rats or Carrion Crows, but a study of no fewer than 70,000 photographs taken by cameras installed on the breeding ledge revealed no predators.

It is now thought that any eggs laid may not have hatched for reasons that are unclear.

Human disturbance is not thought to be factor because this is minimal between 5am and 8am when the birds are most active.