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Thursday, August 4, 2016

Dim the Lights, Good People



Small voyager,
you follow the stars
to find your way home
to your rookeries
to lay your single, precious egg.

Your baby,
moving to ancient ways of knowing,
will follow the moon out to sea,
when its life begins.

Dim, dim the lights
along the coast,
good people, 
so puffins
can see
the moon.


I saw a news item about puffins being confused by our lights along the coastline., which are impacting their natural migration patterns. Puffins return to their birthplace to lay their precious single egg with the same partner. When hatched, the puffling (cute!) follows the moon out to sea, to begin its life. When it follows our lights instead, it gets trapped inland. It can't live four days without food. I am heartened to discover there is a Puffin Patrol in Newfoundland, which drives around looking for stranded puffins, returning them to the sea. They have rescued two thousand babies so far. They also encourage people along the coast to turn off their lights during the summer fledgling season. 


3 comments:

  1. Imagine. this poem... the San Francisco shore

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  2. Oh, Sherry, I am so happy for the Puffin Patrol! And yes, dim those lights so the puffins can find their way.

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