Thousands of dead puffins are washing up on Europe’s beaches – why it’s been such a dangerous winter for seabirds

By Ruth Dunn, Senior Research Associate in Marine Ecology, Lancaster University

February 2026 has seen thousands of dead seabirds washing up along the coastlines of the UK, France, Spain and Portugal.

There’s evidence that these “wrecks” (where large numbers of seabirds are found along beaches) are becoming increasingly common because of climate change. Worse still, these dead birds – including Atlantic puffins and European shags – only tell a fraction of the story. Many more are likely to have been…

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