Carisbrooke Vets on the Island confirmed they have received reports of puffins appearing on the Island — far from their more typical wintering areas off Cornwall, northern France and the far North Atlantic.
They said: “We have had reports of puffins being spotted on the Island this week. As wonderful as this is, they should be a little further down towards Cornwall or up north.”
A dead puffin was spotted on Brighstone beach, according to a post on Isle of Wight Nature on Facebook.
The public has been urged to be vigilant and to report any distressed or dead puffins directly to DEFRA.
Their warning comes as significant puffin mortality events are being recorded elsewhere in Europe.
What to do if you find a puffin on the Island
DEFRA stress the importance of proper reporting:
Do not touch or pick up any dead wild birds.
Avoid close contact with visibly sick or distressed seabirds.
Report dead wild birds directly to DEFRA using the government’s online reporting service. This helps track disease, monitor unusual mortality events, and guide wildlife protection measures.
Anyone who comes across a live, but distressed puffin should contact a local veterinary practice or wildlife rescue organisation for advice.
In northern Spain, around 1,000 puffins — many ringed and traced back to the UK and Ireland —have washed up dead or severely weakened, following weeks of intense Atlantic storms, according to conservation group SEO/BirdLife, reported in The Olive Press in Spain.
The storms left many birds starving, exhausted and unable to feed at sea.
In Cornwall, wildlife groups have also reported a “higher than usual number” of puffins washing ashore in recent weeks — again, likely linked to prolonged storm conditions and poor feeding opportunities.
Local strandings teams have been receiving daily reports of exhausted or deceased seabirds along the Cornish coast, according to the Mousehole Wild Bird Hospital in Cornwall.
Further north, thousands of puffins have reportedly died across the wider region — including parts of France, Spain and Portugal — with more than 10,000 seabirds believed to have perished during this winter’s sequence of severe storms, according to the Alderney Wildlife Trust and wildlife monitors in the Channel Islands and South West England.
Cornwall Wildlife Trust reported 262 puffins found dead on local beaches this year, compared with just two last year, the BBC has said.
Multiple dead puffins have also been discovered recently on beaches in Cornwall, with DEFRA confirming it is investigating these incidents under its national wild bird surveillance scheme, according to County Press sister publication, The Falmouth Packet.