All aboard for puffin cruise off the Flamborough cliffs
THEY are the nation’s best loved and most recognisable seabirds, but they are also quite shy, so I was delighted to be invited to join a special “puffin cruise” out of Flamborough’s North Landing, just north of Bridlington, in the hope of seeing some of the first arrivals to the towering chalk cliffs after a winter at sea.
Conditions meant this was the first “Living Seas Safari” of the season for the Summer Rose, a 50-year-old traditional fishing coble owned by the Emmerson family – time and tide have to be right even for curious members of the media and we had had to wait four more days past our scheduled cruise date to embark on our mission.
We were the guests of the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust (YWT), hosts of the Yorkshire Puffin Festival, whose Flamborough Cliffs reserve is the perfect haven for puffins and thousands of other seabirds, who return year after year to the headland to safely nest and raise their young.
It is one thing to see the birds flying to and from the sheer “walls” of chalk from a clifftop vantage point, hundreds of feet above sea level; it is another thing entirely to witness the spectacle from the water.
A LIVING SEAS SAFARI
This is a boat trip out of Flamborough’s picturesque North Landing, a sandy cove flanked by stunning chalk cliffs, organised as part of the YWT’S popular Puffin Festival (other cruises do take place in the spring and summer season).
It is an opportunity to get an entirely different perspective on Yorkshire’s “Seabird City”, led by a wildlife guide.
WHAT DOES IT ENTAIL?
You park in a pay and display car park above the cove, where there are toilets and a café, and have to be able to negotiate a steep slope down to the beach from which the cobles are launched.
I found it (slightly) easier on the knees and lungs going down than coming back up; it’s an enchanting view, top or bottom.
All aboard the Summer Rose, we had to stay seated for the coble to be literally shoved out into the water using a caterpillar tractor and the primitive method of man-handling pieces of timber along under her flat hull until she was afloat.
WHAT CAN YOU SEE?
Grey seals – a good number of inquisitive heads broke the surface to see what we were about; thousands of seabirds, including guillemots, razorbills, gannets, kittiwakes, shags and, yes, those elusive puffins.
Twenty minutes into our trip, one of our guides spotted a solitary puffin bobbing near a buoy, then it was off and furiously flapping its wings (up to 400 times a minute) towards its cliff-face burrow.
To see the magnificent cliffs, topped by Flamborough Head’s iconic lighthouse, and all of these wonders of nature going on while we rocked in our comparatively miniscule boat made me feel very small and insignificant.
We saw a handful more puffins on our return sail, their bright bills (smudgy grey outside the breeding season) a beacon against the grey-green water of the North Sea, plus a couple of puffins perched on a cliff ledge once we were back on dry land.
HOW LONG DOES IT LAST?
A Living Seas Safari normally lasts about 45 minutes; do prepare for it to feel much colder out at sea than it does on land.
On a day when the mercury was hovering around the 20 degree mark inland, it was touching 11 degrees at the east coast and I was glad of the four layers I had on while we cruised the coastline.
WHAT WAS THE YORKSHIRE PUFFIN FESTIVAL?
It is a weekend celebration of all things puffin and took place on Saturday and Sunday, May 14 and 15.
If you missed the festival, there is plenty to enjoy online where you can also become a puffin protector.
Download your free pack full of puffin facts, activities to do at home, advice on where to see them, puffinthemed gifts and competitions, and ideas to help you protect puffins.
David Craven, YWT’S regional manager, said: “Puffins are wonderful birds and we’re very fortunate to have them here in Yorkshire.
“This is the perfect time to see them on the spectacular white cliffs at Flamborough after spending the winter at sea, and their famous, colourful bills are at their brightest.
“But, like so many species of wildlife in the UK, puffins need our protection.
“Being there and soaking up the sounds and sights of all these birds and the sea is a real experience, and a reminder that we must do all we can to protect our wild places and creatures.”
Bex Lynam, North Sea marine advocacy officer, said the puffin population is “stable” in this part of the world, but the health of the North Sea is paramount for their future survival.
“All of these things you can see are wonderful, the cliffs and all these birds, but it’s the things that are out of sight that are important – on a non-murky day, stick your head under the water and you are going to see an incredible reef that is home to many species of life.
“When it comes to the seabirds, they are here because they nest in these amazing cliffs above the water, but it’s what’s going on below the surface that supports all of this life.
“The chalk is absolutely and literally the foundation of everything that is here.”
Martyn Coltman, Yorkshire Coast BID director, said: “We are thrilled to once again be supporting this year’s Yorkshire Puffin Festival.
“Not only is the festival jam-packed with activities for all the family to enjoy but it is a fantastic way to raise awareness and learn more about what we need to do to protect their welfare.
“Flamborough’s Headland provides one of the best places in the country to view these distinctive birds, with puffins attracting many visitors each year - it’s a real hotspot.
“Here at the Yorkshire Coast BID we aim to promote the incredible coast while ensuring we are protecting it for the future and the Yorkshire Puffin Festival is the perfect example of this.”