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19th Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Natural World
Puffin at Borgarfjörður Eystri, Iceland

While travelling the ring road this June in Iceland, we were swimming in the warm hot springs and met up with a couple who told us how many puffins they had just seen the day before in Borgarfjörður Eystri. They said it was a simple two hour drive away so of course, puffin-lover that I am, we had to make the trek. Little did we realize that the "simple" two hour drive was around a treacherous curve without and any guard rails, but it was still worth it to see over 200 puffins nesting and flying up and around the rocky cliffside. From May to early September, Iceland becomes home to 8-10 million Atlantic puffins which is 60 percent of the world’s entire Atlantic puffin population.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 06.2021
Date Uploaded: 11.2021
Photo Location: Borgarfjörður Eystri, Iceland
Camera: NIKON D7200
Copyright: © Paula White