The Puffin Path
People of all ages walk the path of the Tufted Puffin labyrinth. They enter one leg, meander through the tail, wind into and out of the wing, circle around the eye, then travel through the tuft, crown, beak, neck, and breast before exiting through the other leg. Many approach the labyrinth with curiosity then, when walking the path, express delight. Children, especially, pick up the pace, often running whenever possible. The journey is joyful, influenced as well by being at the beach, near ocean waves, and in the presence of a towering basalt sea stack colonized by nesting birds, such as murres, cormorants, and puffins.
It is Springtime at Cannon Beach! We are here to celebrate the return of tufted puffins to their nesting grounds. After a long season at sea, they reclaim their burrows high upon Haystack Rock and prepare to lay a single egg, one of perhaps 15 they will produce during their approximately 20-year lifespan.
Forty years ago, 600 tufted puffins nested on Haystack Rock. In 2020, there were an estimated 120 puffins. Last year, there were 95 nesting puffins at this location. There are many possible reasons for this decline, some natural and some human-caused—pollution of the ocean by oil spills and microplastics, an increase in predation by birds of prey, disturbance by drones or helicopters, erosion of long-established burrows, adverse impacts of climate change on habitat and sources of food, and more.
The Haystack Rock Awareness Program and Friends of Haystack Rock hosted the annual Welcome Home Puffins event to help educate people about tufted puffins and the marine ecosystem that supports them. Dedicated staff and volunteers also protect the marine garden at Haystack Rock during low tides and share their knowledge about the animals who dwell in tide pools and the diverse wildlife who inhabit coastal waters.
My partner, Mike, and I were honored to be able to participate in this special event. Over the last 23 years, we have vacationed regularly in Cannon Beach with our children, now grown, and it continues to be a favorite destination for our family. Also, as an environmental educator, I enjoyed being involved in this worthy endeavor to protect puffins.
I was inspired to design a tufted puffin labyrinth by a gallery owner in Cannon Beach who perceives the creation of public art as a way to advocate for the protection of vulnerable species and habitats. One of the artists she represents is sculptor Georgia Gerber who has created bronze sculptures of tufted puffins, including a public art installation of larger-than-life puffins in midtown Cannon Beach.
As an artist, I was thrilled with the outcome of our 2 ½ hour effort to carve my labyrinth design into the sand. Mike devised a mathematical way for us to scale-up the design to about 70 feet in length while maintaining accuracy in all its proportions and details. It is the largest labyrinth in the sand that we have made so far! We’re excited to carve other large-scale labyrinths in sand using the same approach.
As with all labyrinths we make, there is a prayerful aspect to our process. Whether carved in sand or made of rope, the labyrinths emerge through our sense of purpose, focus, and intention. Each labyrinth we create is not simply 2-dimensional art on a canvas of sand, soil, or grass, but a multi-dimensional experience waiting to happen. Step into the labyrinth and it suddenly becomes 3-dimensional, one’s body, motion, and energy giving it shape and form. Walking the tufted puffin labyrinth brings it to life and is a way to honor the inherent value and vital ecology of puffins.
For all that is,
A first grader named Poppy also participated in the Welcome Home Puffins event. Though she is only six years old, Poppy created a puffin design for t-shirts. She donates all proceeds from the sale of the shirts to Friends of Haystack Rock for efforts to help protect tufted puffins.
Haystack Rock Awareness Program
Friends of Haystack Rock
Poppy's Puffin T-Shirts
Northwest By Northwest Gallery
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