In 1973 a young biologist hatched a plan to bring a charismatic seabird back to Maine. It was the start of a five-decade scientific adventure that would ultimately revolutionize seabird restoration.
Studying puffin populations on three Norwegian islands, scientists have uncovered the first evidence to connect a large-scale hybridization to 20th-century warming trends. Yet a serious decline in the birds’ genetic diversity does not bode well for their future.