COMMON PUFFIN ( Fratercula arctica ) 



Status . --Probably uncommon winter visitant to waters over the outer 

 Continental Shelf and slope beyond the 30 fathom contour (ca 11 km offshore. 

 Fig. 34). 



Records . --53 individuals sighted between 1 February and 16 March. 



Maximum counts . --16 in 1.5 h, in vicinity of Baltimore Canyon, HI km ESE 

 Ocean City, 2 February 1975; 7 in 2.5 h, 94-113 km ENE Ocean City, 16 March 

 1975. 



Remarks . --The occurrence of the common puffin in the northern Chesapeake 

 Bight was first reported by Rowlett (1975). Most were singles or pairs and 

 were seldom observed in flight. Puffins prefer to dive when approached by a 

 boat. Their reluctance to fly leads me to suspect that puffins reach the 

 latitudes of the Chesapeake Bight by drifting with surface currents, which 

 generally flow southward over the Continental Shelf at speeds of 7 - 18 km per 

 day. Common puffins are present in these waters during the latter half of the 

 winter, when surface water temperatures are the lowest in the year. 



E 

 o 



■»-• 



1000-1 



500 - 



100 



40 - 



30 - 



20- 



10 







X X 



X 

 X 

 X 



X 

 X 



— I 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 — 



JFMAMJJASOND 



month 



1=0.1-1.0 1=1.1-5.0 H=5.1-10 



MEAN NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS OBSERVED PER HOUR 

 X = ZONE NOT SAMPLED IN THIS MONTH 



Figure 34. Seasonal abundance and seaward distribution patterns of the common 

 puffin in the northern Chesapeake Bight, 1971-1977. 



47 



