title: Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

text: During Suharto's rise to power Claret operations continued and, in March 1966, a Gurkha battalion was involved in some of the fiercest fighting of the campaign during two raids into Kalimantan. Minor action by Indonesian forces continued in the border area, including an attempt at counter-battery fire against a 105 mm gun position in Central Brigade (reports from locals said the British return fire had turned over the Indonesian gun, thought to be 76 mm).


title: Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

text: At the beginning of 1966, with Indonesia's political hiatus beginning to stabilise (it had stopped a major RPKAD operation to capture a British prisoner), the RPKAD linked up with PGRS to establish guerrilla forces in Sabah and Sarawak. The Sabah effort never crossed the border; however, two groups entered Sarawak in February and May and obtained support from local sympathisers. The first group, despite losses in several contacts, lasted until June and exfiltrated on hearing about the end of Konfrontasi. Survivors of the second, after contact with Australian troops, also made it back to Indonesia. However, the final Indonesian incursion was in May and June. Signs of a substantial force were found crossing into Central Brigade. This was some 80 strong, mostly volunteers, led by Lt Sombi (or Sumbi) and a team from 600 Raider Company. They moved fast towards Brunei with 1/7 Gurkhas pursuing and ambushing them; almost all were accounted for. In response to this, a final Claret operation was launched, which was an artillery ambush by 38 Light Battery.


title: Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

text: In early January 1963, the military forces in northern Borneo, having arrived in December 1962 in response to the Brunei Revolt, were under the command of Commander British Forces Borneo (COMBRITBOR), Major General Walter Walker, who was Director of Borneo Operations (DOBOPS) based on Labuan Island and reported directly to the Commander in Chief Far East Forces, Admiral Sir David Luce. Luce was routinely replaced by Admiral Sir Varyl Begg in early 1963. In the middle of 1963, Brigadier Pat Glennie, normally the Brigadier General Staff in Singapore, arrived as Deputy DOBOPS.


title: Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

text: Politico-military authority lay with the Emergency Committees in Sarawak and North Borneo, including their Governors, who were the Commanders in Chief for their colonies. In Brunei, there was a State Advisory Council answerable to the Sultan. After independence, supreme authority changed to the Malaysian National Defence Council in Kuala Lumpur with State Executive Committees in Sabah and Sarawak. Military direction was from the Malaysian National Operations Committee jointly chaired by the Chief of the Malaysian Armed Forces Staff, General Tunku Osman, and the Inspector General of Police, Sir Claude Fenner. The British Commander in Chief Far East Forces was a member. DOBOPS regularly attended its meetings.


title: Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

text: British forces in Borneo included Headquarters (HQ) 3 Commando Brigade in Kuching with responsibility for the western part of Sarawak, 1st, 2nd and 3rd Divisions, and HQ 99 Gurkha Infantry Brigade in Brunei responsible for the East, 4th and 5th Divisions, Brunei and Sabah. These HQs had deployed from Singapore in late 1962 in response to the Brunei Revolt. The ground forces were initially limited to just five UK and Gurkha infantry battalions usually based in Malaya, Singapore and Hong Kong, and an armoured car squadron. The police also deployed several light infantry of Police Field Force companies. However, as additional resources became available the size of the force available to Walker expanded, and by the end of 1964 British forces had grown to approximately 14,000 troops organised into three brigades (increased to four in 1965). The naval effort, under DOBOPS command, was primarily provided by minesweepers used to patrol coastal waters and larger inland waterways around Wallace Bay. A guardship – a frigate or destroyer – was stationed off Tawau.


title: Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

text: Before Confrontation, no British military units had been stationed in Sabah or Sarawak. As Confrontation developed increasing numbers of troops were required. There were three types of British Army deployment:


title: Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

text: Units stationed in the Far East for two years did a single 4-month tour (this applied to Australian and NZ);


title: Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

text: Gurkha units (all permanently stationed in the Far East) did 6 month tours, generally once every twelve months;


title: Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

text: UK based units (from Army Strategic Command) did 12 month tours including 6 weeks jungle warfare training in West Malaysia.


title: Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

text: The initial air component based in Borneo consisted of detachments from squadrons stationed in Malaya and Singapore. These included Twin Pioneer and Single Pioneer transport aircraft, probably two or three Blackburn Beverley and Handley Page Hastings transports, and about 12 helicopters of various types. One of Walker's first "challenges" was curtailing the RAF's centralised command and control arrangements and insisting that aircraft tasking for operations in Borneo was by his HQ, not by the RAF Air Command Far East HQ in Singapore. Other aircraft of many types stationed in Malaya and Singapore provided sorties as necessary, including routine transport support into Kuching and Labuan. Rotary wing support included 60 naval and air force troop-lift helicopters and another 40 smaller army variants.


title: Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

text: Patrols within Malaysia were supplied while in the field by RN Wessex and RAF Whirlwind helicopters, initially dropping supplies to the patrols from low level, and later after the patrols had cleared a landing area in the dense jungle, by landing. A test Joint Service deployment of a Westland SR.N5 hovercraft at Tawau was also trialled under Major John Simpson.


title: Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

text: In addition to the ground and air force units, between 1963 and 1966 there were up to 80 ships from the Royal Navy, Royal Australian Navy, Royal Malay Navy, Royal New Zealand Navy and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. Most of these were patrol craft, minesweepers, frigates and destroyers patrolling the coast-line to intercept Indonesian insurgents. One of the two Commando Carriers, HMS "Albion" and HMS "Bulwark", was also committed throughout Confrontation usually in their transport role for troops, helicopters and army aircraft between Singapore and Borneo.


title: Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

text: In the early stages of the conflict, Indonesian forces were under the command of Lieutenant General Zulkipli in Pontianak, on the coast of West Kalimantan about from the border. The Indonesian irregulars, led by Indonesian officers, were thought to number about 1500, with an unknown number of regular troops and local defence irregulars. They were deployed the entire length of the border in eight operational units, mostly facing the 1st and 2nd Divisions. The units had names such as "Thunderbolts", "Night Ghosts" and "World Sweepers". However, as the conflict developed, the poorly trained and equipped 'volunteers' had been replaced by regular units. Indonesian forces deployed along the border in Kalimantan increased significantly towards the end of 1964, with estimates of between 15,000 and 30,000 men, up from around 2,500 men in mid-1964.


title: Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

text: A useful factor in the containment of the Indonesian forces was the use of intelligence. The Royal Signals were able to intercept the Indonesian military communications. The cyphers were decrypted by the Intelligence Corps based at Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) listening stations in Singapore, one of which was RAF Chia Keng which was linked directly to the RAF Far East Air Force headquarters at RAF Changi. Intelligence from this may have been used in planning some aspects of Claret cross-border operations.


title: Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

text: Soon after assuming command in Borneo, General Walker issued a directive listing the ingredients for success, based on his experience in the Malayan Emergency:


title: Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

text: Walker recognised the difficulties of limited forces and a long border and, in early 1963, was reinforced with a SAS squadron from the UK, which rotated with another mid-year. When the SAS temporarily adopted 3-man instead of 4-man patrols, they could not closely monitor the border. Increasing the capability of the infantry to create a surveillance network was also considered essential.


title: Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

text: Walker raised the Border Scouts, building on Harrison's force of Kelabits, who had mobilised to help intercept the fleeing TNKU forces from the Brunei Revolt. He also utilised the experience of the Royal Marines as well as knowledge of the skill and usefulness of the Sarawak Rangers in the Malayan Emergency. This was approved by the Sarawak government in May as "auxiliary police". Walker selected Lieutenant Colonel John Cross, a Gurkha officer with immense jungle experience, for the task. A training centre was established in a remote area at Mt. Murat in the 5th Division and staffed mainly by SAS. Border Scouts were attached to infantry battalions and evolved into an intelligence-gathering force by using their local knowledge and extended families. In addition, the Police Special Branch, which had proved so effective during the Malayan Emergency in recruiting sources in the communist organisation, was expanded.


title: Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

text: British jungle tactics were developed and honed during the Malayan Emergency against a clever and elusive enemy. They emphasised travelling lightly, being undetectable and going for many days without resupplying. Being undetectable meant being silent (hand signals, no rattling equipment) and 'odour free'—perfumed toiletries were forbidden (they could be detected a kilometre away by good jungle fighters), and sometimes eating food cold to prevent cooking smells.


title: Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

text: In about 1962, at the end of National Service, British infantry battalions had reorganised into three rifle companies, a support company and an HQ company with logistic responsibilities. Battalion HQ included an intelligence section. Each rifle company was composed of 3 platoons of 32 men each, equipped with light machine guns and self-loading rifles. The support company had a mortar platoon with six medium mortars (3-inch mortar until replaced by 81-mm mortar around the end of 1965) organised into three sections, enabling a section to be attached to a rifle company if required. Similarly organised was an anti-tank platoon; there was also an assault pioneer platoon. The machine gun platoon was abolished, but the impending delivery of the 7.62 mm GPMG, with sustained fire kits held by each company, was to provide a medium machine gun capability. In the meantime, the Vickers machine gun remained available. The innovation in the new organisation was the formation of the battalion reconnaissance platoon, in many battalions a platoon of "chosen men". In Borneo, mortars were usually distributed to rifle companies, and some battalions operated the rest of their support company as another rifle company.


title: Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

text: The basic activity was platoon patrolling; this continued throughout the campaign, with patrols being deployed by helicopter, roping in and out as necessary. Movement was usually single file; the leading section rotated but was organised with two lead scouts, followed by its commander and then the remainder in a fire support group. Battle drills for "contact front" (or rear), or "ambush left" (or right) were highly developed. Poor maps meant navigation was important; however, the local knowledge of the Border Scouts in Borneo compensated for the poor maps. So tracks were sometimes used unless ambush was considered possible, or there was the possibility of mines. Crossing obstacles such as rivers was also handled as a battle drill. At night, a platoon harboured in a tight position with all-round defence.


title: Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

text: Contact while moving was always possible. However, offensive action usually took two forms: either an attack on a camp or an ambush. The tactic for dealing with a camp was to get a party behind it then charge the front. However, ambushes were probably the most effective tactic and could be sustained for many days. They targeted tracks and, particularly in parts of Borneo, waterways. Track ambushes were close range, , with a killing zone typically long, depending on the expected strength of the target. The trick was to remain undetected when the target entered the ambush area and then open fire all together at the right moment.


title: Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

text: Fire support was limited for the first half of the campaign. A commando light battery with 105 mm Pack Howitzers had deployed to Brunei at the beginning of 1963 but returned to Singapore after a few months when the mopping-up of the Brunei Revolt ended. Despite the escalation in Indonesian attacks after the formation of Malaysia, little need was seen for fire support: the limited range of the guns (), the limited availability of helicopters and the size of the country meant that having artillery in the right place at the right time was a challenge. However, a battery from one of the two regiments stationed in Malaysia returned to Borneo in early to mid-1964. These batteries rotated until the end of the confrontation. In early 1965, a complete UK-based regiment arrived. The short-range and substantial weight of the 3-inch mortars meant they were of minimal use.


title: Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

text: Artillery had to adopt new tactics. Almost all guns were deployed in single gun sections within a company or platoon base. The sections were commanded by one of the battery's junior officers, warrant officers or sergeants. Sections had about ten men and did their own technical fire control. They were moved underslung by Wessex or Belvedere helicopters as necessary to deal with incursions or support operations. Forward observers were in short supply, but it seems that they always accompanied normal infantry Claret operations and occasionally special forces ones. However, artillery observers rarely accompanied patrols inside Sabah and Sarawak unless they were in pursuit of a known incursion and guns were in range. Observation parties were almost always led by an officer, but only two or three men strong.


title: Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

text: Communications were a problem; radios were not used within platoons, only rearwards. Ranges were invariably beyond the capability of manpack VHF radios (A41 and A42, copies of AN/PRC 9 and 10), although the use of relay or rebroadcast stations helped where they were tactically possible. Patrol bases could use the World War II vintage HF No 62 Set (distinguished by having its control panel labelled in English and Russian). Until the manpack A13 arrived in 1966, the only lightweight HF set was the Australian A510, which did not provide voice, only Morse code.


title: Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

text: The role of the United Kingdom's Foreign Office and Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) during the confrontation was brought to light in a series of exposés by Paul Lashmar and Oliver James in "The Independent" newspaper beginning in 1997 and has also been covered in journals on military and intelligence history.


title: Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

text: The revelations included an anonymous Foreign Office source stating that the decision to unseat President Sukarno was made by Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and then executed under Prime Minister Harold Wilson. According to the exposés, the UK had already become alarmed with the announcement of the "Konfrontasi" policy. It has been claimed that a Central Intelligence Agency memorandum of 1962 indicated that Macmillan and US President John F. Kennedy were increasingly alarmed by the possibility of the Confrontation with Malaysia spreading, and agreed to "liquidate President Sukarno, depending on the situation and available opportunities".


title: Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

text: To weaken the regime, the UK Foreign Office's Information Research Department (IRD) coordinated psychological operations (psyops) in concert with the British military, to spread black propaganda casting the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI), Chinese Indonesians, and Sukarno in a bad light. These efforts were to duplicate the successes of the British psyop campaign in the Malayan Emergency.


title: Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

text: These efforts were coordinated from the British High Commission in Singapore, where the BBC, Associated Press, and "The New York Times" filed their reports on the Crisis in Indonesia. According to Roland Challis, the BBC correspondent who was in Singapore at the time, journalists were open to manipulation by IRD due to Sukarno's stubborn refusal to allow them into the country: "In a curious way, by keeping correspondents out of the country Sukarno made them the victims of official channels, because almost the only information you could get was from the British ambassador in Jakarta."


title: Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

text: These manipulations included the BBC reporting that communists were planning to slaughter the citizens of Jakarta. The accusation was based on a forgery planted by Norman Reddaway, a propaganda expert with the IRD. He later bragged in a letter to the British ambassador in Jakarta, Sir Andrew Gilchrist, that it "went all over the world and back again", and was "put almost instantly back into Indonesia via the BBC". Gilchrist himself informed the Foreign Office on 5 October 1965: "I have never concealed from you my belief that a little shooting in Indonesia would be an essential preliminary to effective change."


title: Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

text: In April 2000, Denis Healey, Secretary of State for Defence at the time of the war, confirmed that the IRD was active during this time. He officially denied any role by MI6, and denied "personal knowledge" of the British arming of the Army's right-wing faction, though he did comment that if there were such a plan, he "would certainly have supported it".


title: Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

text: Although the British MI6 is strongly implicated in this scheme by the use of the Information Research Department (seen as an MI6 office), any role by MI6 itself is officially denied by the UK government, and papers relating to it have yet to be declassified by the Cabinet Office.


title: Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

text: One squadron of the British Army's 22 Special Air Service regiment was deployed to Borneo in early 1963 in the aftermath of the Brunei Revolt to gather information in the border area about Indonesian infiltration. There was a British Army presence until the end of the campaign. Faced with a border of 971 miles, they could not be everywhere, and, at this time, 22 SAS had only three squadrons. Also present were the Special Boat Service (SBS) of the Royal Marine Commandos. They had two sections based in Singapore. Tactical HQ of 22 SAS deployed to Kuching in 1964 to take control of all SAS and SBS operations. The shortage of SAS and SBS personnel was exacerbated by the need for them in South Arabia, in many ways, a far more demanding task in challenging conditions against a cunning and aggressive opponent.


title: Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

text: The solution was to create new units for Borneo. The first to be employed in Borneo were the Pathfinder Platoon of the Guards Independent Parachute Company, which already existed as the pathfinder force of 16th Parachute Brigade. Next, the Gurkha Independent Parachute Company was raised. Sections of the SBS were also used, but mostly for amphibious tasks. Finally, the Parachute Regiment battalions formed patrol companies (C in the 2nd and D in the 3rd). The situation eased in 1965 when the Australian and New Zealand governments agreed that their forces could be used in Borneo, enabling both Australian and New Zealand SAS squadrons to rotate through Borneo.


title: Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

text: SAS activities were mostly covert reconnaissance and surveillance patrols by four-person teams. However, some larger scale raiding missions took place, including amphibious ones by the SBS. Once Claret operations were authorised, most missions were inside Kalimantan, although they conducted operations over the border before Claret from about early 1964.


title: Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

text: The conflict lasted nearly four years; however, following General Suharto's replacement of Sukarno, Indonesian interest in pursuing the war with Malaysia declined, and combat eased. Peace negotiations were initiated during May 1966 before a final peace agreement was ratified on 11 August 1966.


title: Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

text: Although the Indonesians had conducted a few amphibious raids and an airborne operation against Malaya, the war remained limited throughout its duration and remained largely a land conflict. For either side to have escalated to large scale air or naval attacks "would have incurred disadvantages greatly outweighing the marginal military effect that they might have produced". The UK Secretary of State for Defence at the time, Denis Healey, described the campaign as "one of the most efficient uses of military forces in the history of the world". British Commonwealth forces peaked at 17,000 deployed in Borneo, with another 10,000 more available in Malaya and Singapore.


title: Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

text: Total British Commonwealth military casualties were 248 killed and 180 wounded, the greatest number of them were British. Gurkha losses were 43 killed and 83 wounded, losses among other British armed forces were 19 killed and 44 wounded. Australian casualties were 16 killed, of whom 7 were killed in action, and 9 wounded. New Zealand casualties were 7 killed and another 7 wounded or injured. The remaining casualties were that of the Malaysian military, police, and Border Scouts. A significant number of British casualties occurred during helicopter accidents, including a Belvedere crash that killed several SAS commanders and a Foreign Office official, possibly a member of MI6. A Wessex collision also killed several men from 2nd Parachute Battalion, and a Westland Scout crash, on 16 July 1964, near Kluang airfield, killed the two crewmen from 656 Sqn AAC. Finally, in August 1966, there remained two British and two Australian soldiers missing and presumed dead, with the Australians (both from the SASR) probably drowned while crossing a swollen river. The remains of a Royal Marine were recovered some 20 years later. Altogether, 36 civilians were killed, 53 wounded and 4 captured, with most being local inhabitants.


title: Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

text: A number of gallantry awards were made for actions during the campaign. No Distinguished Flying Cross or naval awards were made.


title: Eight Is Enough

text: Eight Is Enough is an American television comedy-drama series that ran on ABC from March 15, 1977, until May 23, 1981. The show was modeled on the life of syndicated newspaper columnist Tom Braden, a real-life parent with eight children, who wrote a book by the same title.


title: Eight Is Enough

text: The show centers on a Sacramento, California, family with eight children (from oldest to youngest: David, Mary, Joanie, Susan, Nancy, Elizabeth, Tommy, and Nicholas). The father, Tom Bradford (based on Tom Braden, played by Dick Van Patten), is a newspaper columnist for the fictional "Sacramento Register". His wife, Joan (based on Joan Braden, played by Diana Hyland), was a homemaker and took care of the children.


title: Eight Is Enough

text: In early 1977, Hyland was diagnosed with breast cancer, undergoing a mastectomy when doctors discovered the cancer had metastasized. During filming her health suddenly deteriorated, and Hyland died on March 27, 1977, having filmed only four episodes. As a result, her character's death was written into the second season of the series.


title: Eight Is Enough

text: The second season begins in the fall of 1977 with Tom as a widower. He eventually meets and falls in love with Sandra Sue "Abby" Abbott (Betty Buckley), a widowed schoolteacher who comes to the house to tutor Tommy after he breaks his leg in a football game. Abby and Tom marry in one of the series' TV movie broadcasts on November 9, 1977. The role went to Buckley after being approved by network chief Brandon Tartikoff, who felt that the character of Miss Collins, the sympathetic high school gym teacher she had played in the 1976 film "Carrie", would translate seamlessly to the series.


title: Eight Is Enough

text: In the fourth season, in another of the series' TV movie broadcasts in September 1979, both David and Susan get married in a double wedding. As the series progresses, Abby receives her Ph.D. in education and starts a job counseling students at the local high school; oldest daughter Mary becomes a medical doctor; second-youngest son Tommy becomes a singer in a rock-and-roll band.


title: Eight Is Enough

text: In the pilot, the role of David was played by Mark Hamill, Nancy was played by Kimberly Beck, and Tommy was played by Chris English. When ABC screened the pilot, they were unhappy with the performances of Beck and English, who were let go and replaced respectively by Dianne Kay and Willie Aames. Hamill sought to get out of his 5-year contract on "Eight Is Enough" to take the opportunity to star in George Lucas' "Star Wars"; Lorimar Productions granted his request and the role was re-cast with Grant Goodeve.


title: Eight Is Enough

text: The show was developed by writer William Blinn and was a Lorimar Production. It was originally distributed by Worldvision Enterprises. For the first three years the show filmed interior scenes at The Burbank Studios now known as the Warner Bros. Ranch. From the fourth season the show filmed interiors at MGM Studios in Culver City.


title: Eight Is Enough

text: The home featured in the exterior shots was on Chiquita St, near Lankershim Boulevard in Los Angeles. The house has since been demolished and replaced. The interiors for seasons one through three were filmed on Soundstage 9 The Burbank Studio. Seasons four and five were shot on two stages at MGM in Culver City.


title: Eight Is Enough

text: The show's team of producers included Robert L. Jacks, Gary Adelson, Greg Strangis, and Phil Fehrle. Executive producers were Lee Rich and Philip Capice.


title: Eight Is Enough

text: As a production of the Lorimar stable, who were concurrently producing CBS's "The Waltons", writers were often contracted by the producers and were shared between both programs. ("Waltons" costar Will Geer also made an "Eight is Enough" guest appearance during season 2.) Regular writers included Peter Lefcourt, the writing teams of Gwen Bagni and Paul Dubov, Rod Peterson and Claire Whittaker, Bill Nuss and Dusty Kay, Nick Thiel and David Braff, J. Miyoko Hensley and Steven Hensley, Bruce Shelly, Sandra Kay Siegel, Gil Grant, Karen I. Hall, and Hindi Brooks, who soon became the show's long-time story editor. In-house directors included Philip Leacock, Harry Harris, and Irving J. Moore. As an in-joke, the character name of one of Nicholas Bradford's best friends was Irving Julius Moore, a nod to the director of the same name whose middle name was, in fact, Joseph.


title: Eight Is Enough

text: For the show's first two seasons, an upbeat instrumental piece written by Fred Werner was used as the show's opening theme. Beginning with the show's third season, this was replaced by a slowed-down vocal theme titled "Eight Is Enough," which was sung by series co-star Grant Goodeve. The song had music by Lee Holdridge and lyrics by Molly-Ann Leikin, and was first heard in a longer arrangement on the last episode of the second season titled "Who's on First?", which was also performed by Goodeve.


title: Eight Is Enough

text: Early episodes had instrumental music by Fred Werner and Alexander Courage, but the show's real musical stamp came from composer Earle Hagen, who had a knack of composing memorable cues as he had previously been the in-house composer on "The Andy Griffith Show". He composed a love theme for Tom and Abby, a theme that permeated the show in various incarnations throughout the remainder of the series. Some later episodes were scored by John Beal and Miles Goodman.


title: Eight Is Enough

text: Back-to-back industry strikes in the show's last seasons affected the show's score, with both the 1980 SAG actors' strike and 1981 writers' strike forcing cost-cutting measures. Some of the later episodes were tracked with a combination of uncredited library music and original music by Hagen, Beal, and Goodman.


title: Eight Is Enough

text: The series jump-started acting careers for several of its young stars. It cemented teen idol status for Grant Goodeve (David), Willie Aames (Tommy), and Ralph Macchio, who played Abby's orphaned nephew Jeremy later in the show's last season. Aames would go on to star with Scott Baio in "Charles in Charge". Goodeve started a minor singing career, following his rendition of the show's theme song (see "Theme music") and initially hosted HGTV's "If Walls Could Talk". Macchio would gain the most fame in feature films such as "The Karate Kid" and its sequels, as well as "My Cousin Vinny".


title: Eight Is Enough

text: After the end of the show's fifth season (112 one-hour episodes), production costs and declining ratings caused the show to be cancelled, along with seven other shows that season (including "The Waltons"). "Variety"'s headline on the cancellation stated, "Eight Shows In, Eight Shows Out". In a 2000 episode of "E! True Hollywood Story", Dick Van Patten stated that no one contacted him to inform him of the cancellation. Instead, he read about it in a newspaper.


title: Eight Is Enough

text: The series had two reunion movies on NBC. In "An Eight Is Enough Reunion" on October 18, 1987, Mary Frann replaced Betty Buckley as Abby; Buckley had been filming "Frantic" during its production. This was followed by "An Eight Is Enough Wedding" on October 15, 1989, this time with Sandy Faison as Abby. Both movies aired opposite Game 2 of the World Series on ABC.


title: Eight Is Enough

text: Reruns of all 112 episodes of "Eight Is Enough" have aired sporadically since the show's syndication debut in September 1982. The show aired on FX from 1994 to 1997, on PAX in 1998, and as part of a 50th-anniversary Warner Bros. marathon on TV Land in 2005. "Eight Is Enough" also aired on the Chicago-based MeTV and MeToo, a sister station of MeTV, from 2008 to 2010 before MeTV spread to other markets around the U.S.


title: Eight Is Enough

text: During its network run, the show was distributed by Worldvision Enterprises (also internationally in rebroadcasts), and later by Lorimar-Telepictures. All syndication rights are now held by (Lorimar successor) Warner Bros. Television.


title: Eight Is Enough

text: In Italy, RAI public networks aired the first season of "Eight Is Enough" under the title "Otto Bastano" in 1978, the literal Italian translation of the original title. The remaining seasons were aired in the 1980s on Retequattro, a commercial network from Fininvest (now Mediaset), under the title "La Famiglia Bradford". The Italian version excludes the laugh track.


title: Eight Is Enough

text: The French version, "Huit, ça suffit!", which excludes the laugh track, was successful in the 1980s in France and Quebec, and with the francophone Canadian audience in general.


title: Eight Is Enough

text: In Spain during the same period, "Con Ocho Basta" (Spanish for "Eight Is Enough") ran in public network RTVE's Friday night line-up.


title: Eight Is Enough

text: On April 17, 2012, Warner Home Video released the complete first season of "Eight Is Enough" on DVD in Region 1. The release includes the pilot episode (featuring Mark Hamill in the role of eldest son David) and a cast reunion special. Several of the episodes have the wrong end credits, and the Lorimar Productions logo has also been edited out of the end credits.


title: Eight Is Enough

text: On November 13, 2012, Warner Bros. released Season 2, parts one and two on DVD-R via their Warner Archive Collection. These are Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) releases and are available through Warner's online store and Amazon.com. Season 3, Parts One and Two were released on April 30, 2013.


title: Eight Is Enough

text: Season 4, parts one and two were released on August 13, 2013. The fifth and final season was released on March 11, 2014.


title: Volatile organic compound

text: Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are organic chemicals that have a high vapour pressure at room temperature. High vapor pressure correlates with a low boiling point, which relates to the number of the sample's molecules in the surrounding air, a trait known as volatility.


title: Volatile organic compound

text: VOCs are responsible for the odor of scents and perfumes as well as pollutants. VOCs play an important role in communication between animals and plants, e.g. attractants for pollinators, protection from predation, and even inter-plant interactions. Some VOCs are dangerous to human health or cause harm to the environment. Anthropogenic VOCs are regulated by law, especially indoors, where concentrations are the highest. Most VOCs are not acutely toxic, but may have long-term chronic health effects.


title: Volatile organic compound

text: Health Canada classifies VOCs as organic compounds that have boiling points roughly in the range of . The emphasis is placed on commonly encountered VOCs that would have an effect on air quality.


title: Volatile organic compound

text: The European Union defines a VOC as "any organic compound as well as the fraction of creosote, having at 293.15 K a vapour pressure of 0,01 kPa or more, or having a corresponding volatility under the particular conditions of use;". The VOC Solvents Emissions Directive was the main policy instrument for the reduction of industrial emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the European Union. It covers a wide range of solvent-using activities, e.g. printing, surface cleaning, vehicle coating, dry cleaning and manufacture of footwear and pharmaceutical products. The VOC Solvents Emissions Directive requires installations in which such activities are applied to comply either with the emission limit values set out in the Directive or with the requirements of the so-called reduction scheme. Article 13 of The Paints Directive, approved in 2004, amended the original VOC Solvents Emissions Directive and limits the use of organic solvents in decorative paints and varnishes and in vehicle finishing products. The Paints Directive sets out maximum VOC content limit values for paints and varnishes in certain applications. The Solvents Emissions Directive was replaced by the Industrial Emissions Directive from 2013.


title: Volatile organic compound

text: The People's Republic of China defines a VOC as those compounds that have "originated from automobiles, industrial production and civilian use, burning of all types of fuels, storage and transportation of oils, fitment finish, coating for furniture and machines, cooking oil fume and fine particles (PM 2.5)", and similar sources. The Three-Year Action Plan for Winning the Blue Sky Defence War released by the State Council in July 2018 creates an action plan to reduce 2015 VOC emissions 10% by 2020.


title: Volatile organic compound

text: The Central Pollution Control Board of India released the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act in 1981, amended in 1987, to address concerns about air pollution in India. While the document does not differentiate between VOCs and other air pollutants, the CPCB monitors "oxides of nitrogen (NO), sulphur dioxide (SO), fine particulate matter (PM10) and suspended particulate matter (SPM)".


title: Volatile organic compound

text: The definitions of VOCs used for control of precursors of photochemical smog used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and state agencies in the US with independent outdoor air pollution regulations include exemptions for VOCs that are determined to be non-reactive, or of low-reactivity in the smog formation process. Prominent is the VOC regulation issued by the South Coast Air Quality Management District in California and by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). However, this specific use of the term VOCs can be misleading, especially when applied to indoor air quality because many chemicals that are not regulated as outdoor air pollution can still be important for indoor air pollution.


title: Volatile organic compound

text: Following a public hearing in September 1995, California's CARB uses the term "reactive organic gases" (ROG) to measure organic gases. The CARB revised the definition of "Volatile Organic Compounds" used in their consumer products regulations, based on the committee's findings.


title: Volatile organic compound

text: In addition to drinking water, VOCs are regulated in pollutant discharges to surface waters (both directly and via sewage treatment plants) as hazardous waste, but not in non-industrial indoor air. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulates VOC exposure in the workplace. Volatile organic compounds that are classified as hazardous materials are regulated by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration while being transported.


title: Volatile organic compound

text: Biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) encompass VOCs emitted by plants, animals, or microorganisms, and while extremely diverse, are most commonly terpenoids, alcohols, and carbonyls (methane and carbon monoxide are generally not considered). Not counting methane, biological sources emit an estimated 760 teragrams of carbon per year in the form of VOCs. The majority of VOCs are produced by plants, the main compound being isoprene. Small amounts of VOCs are produced by animals and microbes. Many VOCs are considered secondary metabolites, which often help organisms in defense, such as plant defense against herbivory. The strong odor emitted by many plants consists of green leaf volatiles, a subset of VOCs. Although intended for nearby organisms to detect and respond to, these volatiles can be detected and communicated through wireless electronic transmission, by embedding nanosensors and infrared transmitters into the plant materials themselves.


title: Volatile organic compound

text: Emissions are affected by a variety of factors, such as temperature, which determines rates of volatilization and growth, and sunlight, which determines rates of biosynthesis. Emission occurs almost exclusively from the leaves, the stomata in particular. VOCs emitted by terrestrial forests are often oxidized by hydroxyl radicals in the atmosphere; in the absence of NO pollutants, VOC photochemistry recycles hydroxyl radicals to create a sustainable biosphere-atmosphere balance. Due to recent climate change developments, such as warming and greater UV radiation, BVOC emissions from plants are generally predicted to increase, thus upsetting the biosphere-atmosphere interaction and damaging major ecosystems. A major class of VOCs is the terpene class of compounds, such as myrcene. Providing a sense of scale, a forest 62,000 km in area, the size of the US state of Pennsylvania, is estimated to emit 3,400,000 kilograms of terpenes on a typical August day during the growing season. Researchers investigating mechanisms of induction of genes producing volatile organic compounds, and the subsequent increase in volatile terpenes, has been achieved in maize using (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol and other plant hormones.


title: Volatile organic compound

text: Anthropogenic sources emit about 142 teragrams (1.42 × 10 kg) of carbon per year in the form of VOCs.


title: Volatile organic compound

text: Concentrations of VOCs in indoor air may be 2 to 5 times greater than in outdoor air, sometimes far greater. During certain activities, indoor levels of VOCs may reach 1,000 times that of the outside air. Studies have shown that emissions of individual VOC species are not that high in an indoor environment, but the total concentration of all VOCs (TVOC) indoors can be up to five times higher than that of outdoor levels. New buildings experience particularly high levels of VOC off-gassing indoors because of the abundant new materials (building materials, fittings, surface coverings and treatments such as glues, paints and sealants) exposed to the indoor air, emitting multiple VOC gases. This off-gassing has a multi-exponential decay trend that is discernible over at least two years, with the most volatile compounds decaying with a time-constant of a few days, and the least volatile compounds decaying with a time-constant of a few years. New buildings may require intensive ventilation for the first few months, or a "bake-out" strategy. Existing buildings may be replenished with new VOC sources, such as new furniture, consumer products, and redecoration of indoor surfaces, all of which lead to a continuous background emission of TVOCs, requiring improved ventilation.


title: Volatile organic compound

text: Numerous studies show strong seasonal variations in indoors VOC emissions, with emission rates increasing in summer. This is largely due to the rate of diffusion of VOC species through materials to the surface, increasing with temperature. Most studies have shown that this leads to generally higher concentrations of TVOCs indoors in summer.


title: Volatile organic compound

text: Measurement of VOCs from the indoor air is done with sorption tubes e. g. Tenax (for VOCs and SVOCs) or DNPH-cartridges (for carbonyl-compounds) or air detector. The VOCs adsorb on these materials and are afterwards desorbed either thermally (Tenax) or by elution (DNPH) and then analyzed by GC-MS/FID or HPLC. Reference gas mixtures are required for quality control of these VOC-measurements. Furthermore, VOC emitting products used indoors, e.g. building products and furniture, are investigated in emission test chambers under controlled climatic conditions. For quality control of these measurements round robin tests are carried out, therefore reproducibly emitting reference materials are ideally required. Other methods have used silcosteel canisters with constant flow inlets to collect samples over several days. These methods are not limited by the adsorbing properties of materials like Tenax.


title: Volatile organic compound

text: In most countries, a separate definition of VOCs is used with regard to indoor air quality that comprises each organic chemical compound that can be measured as follows: adsorption from air on Tenax TA, thermal desorption, gas chromatographic separation over a 100% nonpolar column (dimethylpolysiloxane). VOC (volatile organic compounds) are all compounds that appear in the gas chromatogram between and including "n"-hexane and "n"-hexadecane. Compounds appearing earlier are called VVOC (very volatile organic compounds); compounds appearing later are called SVOC (semi-volatile organic compounds).


title: Volatile organic compound

text: France, Germany (AgBB/DIBt), Belgium, Norway (TEK regulation), and Italy (CAM Edilizia) have enacted regulations to limit VOC emissions from commercial products. European industry has developed numerous voluntary ecolabels and rating systems, such as EMICODE, M1, Blue Angel, GuT (textile floor coverings), Nordic Swan Ecolabel, EU Ecolabel, and Indoor Air Comfort. In the United States, several standards exist; California Standard CDPH Section 01350 is the most common one. These regulations and standards changed the marketplace, leading to an increasing number of low-emitting products.


title: Volatile organic compound

text: Respiratory, allergic, or immune effects in infants or children are associated with man-made VOCs and other indoor or outdoor air pollutants.


title: Volatile organic compound

text: Some VOCs, such as styrene and limonene, can react with nitrogen oxides or with ozone to produce new oxidation products and secondary aerosols, which can cause sensory irritation symptoms. VOCs contribute to the formation of tropospheric ozone and smog.


title: Volatile organic compound

text: Health effects include eye, nose, and throat irritation; headaches, loss of coordination, nausea; and damage to the liver, kidney, and central nervous system. Some organics can cause cancer in animals; some are suspected or known to cause cancer in humans. Key signs or symptoms associated with exposure to VOCs include conjunctival irritation, nose and throat discomfort, headache, allergic skin reaction, dyspnea, declines in serum cholinesterase levels, nausea, vomiting, nose bleeding, fatigue, dizziness.


title: Volatile organic compound

text: The ability of organic chemicals to cause health effects varies greatly from those that are highly toxic to those with no known health effects. As with other pollutants, the extent and nature of the health effect will depend on many factors including level of exposure and length of time exposed. Eye and respiratory tract irritation, headaches, dizziness, visual disorders, and memory impairment are among the immediate symptoms that some people have experienced soon after exposure to some organics. At present, not much is known about what health effects occur from the levels of organics usually found in homes.


title: Volatile organic compound

text: While null in comparison to the concentrations found in indoor air, benzene, toluene, and methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) were found in samples of human milk and increase the concentrations of VOCs that we are exposed to throughout the day. A study notes the difference between VOCs in alveolar breath and inspired air suggesting that VOCs are ingested, metabolized, and excreted via the extra-pulmonary pathway. VOCs are also ingested by drinking water in varying concentrations. Some VOC concentrations were over the EPA’s National Primary Drinking Water Regulations and China’s National Drinking Water Standards set by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.


title: Volatile organic compound

text: The presence of VOCs in the air and in groundwater has prompted more studies. Several studies have been performed to measure the effects of dermal absorption of specific VOCs. Dermal exposure to VOCs like formaldehyde and toluene downregulate antimicrobial peptides on the skin like cathelicidin LL-37, human β-defensin 2 and 3. Xylene and formaldehyde worsen allergic inflammation in animal models. Toluene also increases the dysregulation of filaggrin: a key protein in dermal regulation. this was confirmed by immunofluorescence to confirm protein loss and western blotting to confirm mRNA loss. These experiments were done on human skin samples. Toluene exposure also decreased the water in the trans-epidermal layer allowing for vulnerability in the skin’s layers.


title: Volatile organic compound

text: Limit values for VOC emissions into indoor air are published by AgBB, AFSSET, California Department of Public Health, and others. These regulations have prompted several companies in the paint and adhesive industries to adapt with VOC level reductions their products. VOC labels and certification programs may not properly assess all of the VOCs emitted from the product, including some chemical compounds that may be relevant for indoor air quality. Each ounce of colorant added to tint paint may contain between 5 and 20 grams of VOCs. A dark color, however, could require 5–15 ounces of colorant, adding up to 300 or more grams of VOCs per gallon of paint.


title: Volatile organic compound

text: VOCs are also found in hospital and health care environments. In these settings, these chemicals are widely used for cleaning, disinfection, and hygiene of the different areas. Thus, health professionals such as nurses, doctors, sanitation staff, etc., may present with adverse health effects such as asthma; however, further evaluation is required to determine the exact levels and determinants that influence the exposure to these compounds.


title: Volatile organic compound

text: Studies have shown that the concentration levels of different VOCs such as halogenated and aromatic hydrocarbons differ substantially between areas of the same hospital. However, one of these studies reported that ethanol, isopropanol, ether, and acetone were the main compounds in the interior of the site. Following the same line, in a study conducted in the United States, it was established that nursing assistants are the most exposed to compounds such as ethanol, while medical equipment preparers are most exposed to 2-propanol.


title: Volatile organic compound

text: In relation to exposure to VOCs by cleaning and hygiene personnel, a study conducted in 4 hospitals in the United States established that sterilization and disinfection workers are linked to exposures to d-limonene and 2-propanol, while those responsible for cleaning with chlorine-containing products are more likely to have higher levels of exposure to α-pinene and chloroform. Those who perform floor and other surface cleaning tasks (e.g., floor waxing) and who use quaternary ammonium, alcohol, and chlorine-based products are associated with a higher VOC exposure than the two previous groups, that is, they are particularly linked to exposure to acetone, chloroform, α-pinene, 2-propanol or d-limonene.


title: Volatile organic compound

text: Other healthcare environments such as nursing and age care homes have been rarely a subject of study, even though the elderly and vulnerable populations may spend considerable time in these indoor settings where they might be exposed to VOCs, derived from the common use of cleaning agents, sprays and fresheners. In a study conducted in France, a team of researchers developed an online questionnaire for different social and age care facilities, asking about cleaning practices, products used, and the frequency of these activities. As a result, more than 200 chemicals were identified, of which 41 are known to have adverse health effects, 37 of them being VOCs. The health effects include skin sensitization, reproductive and organ-specific toxicity, carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, and endocrine-disrupting properties. Furthermore, in another study carried out in the same European country, it was found that there is a significant association between breathlessness in the elderly population and elevated exposure to VOCs such as toluene and o-xylene, unlike the remainder of the population.


title: Volatile organic compound

text: Obtaining samples for analysis is challenging. VOCs, even when at dangerous levels, are dilute, so preconcentration is typically required. Many components of the atmosphere are mutually incompatible, e.g. ozone and organic compounds, peroxyacyl nitrates and many organic compounds. Furthermore, collection of VOCs by condensation in cold traps also accumulates a large amount of water, which generally must be removed selectively, depending on the analytical techniques to be employed.


title: Volatile organic compound

text: Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) techniques are used to collect VOCs at low concentrations for analysis. As applied to breath analysis, the following modalities are employed for sampling: gas sampling bags, syringes, evacuated steel and glass containers.


title: Volatile organic compound

text: In the U.S., standard methods have been established by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and another by U.S. OSHA. Each method uses a single component solvent; butanol and hexane cannot be sampled, however, on the same sample matrix using the NIOSH or OSHA method.


title: Volatile organic compound

text: VOCs are quantified and identified by two broad techniques. The major technique is gas chromatography (GC). GC instruments allow the separation of gaseous components. When coupled to a flame ionization detector (FID) GCs can detect hydrocarbons at the parts per trillion levels. Using electron capture detectors, GCs are also effective for organohalide such as chlorocarbons.


title: Volatile organic compound

text: The second major technique associated with VOC analysis is mass spectrometry, which is usually coupled with GC, giving the hyphenated technique of GC-MS.


title: Volatile organic compound

text: Direct injection mass spectrometry techniques are frequently utilized for the rapid detection and accurate quantification of VOCs. PTR-MS is among the methods that have been used most extensively for the on-line analysis of biogenic and anthropogenic VOCs. PTR-MS instruments based on time-of-flight mass spectrometry have been reported to reach detection limits of 20 pptv after 100 ms and 750 ppqv after 1 min. measurement (signal integration) time. The mass resolution of these devices is between 7000 and 10,500 m/Δm, thus it is possible to separate most common isobaric VOCs and quantify them independently.


title: Volatile organic compound

text: The exhaled human breath contains a few thousand volatile organic compounds and is used in breath biopsy to serve as a VOC biomarker to test for diseases, such as lung cancer.<ref name="doi: 10.1002/bmc.835"></ref> One study has shown that "volatile organic compounds ... are mainly blood borne and therefore enable monitoring of different processes in the body." And it appears that VOC compounds in the body "may be either produced by metabolic processes or inhaled/absorbed from exogenous sources" such as environmental tobacco smoke. Chemical fingerprinting and breath analysis of volatile organic compounds has also been demonstrated with chemical sensor arrays, which utilize pattern recognition for detection of component volatile organics in complex mixtures such as breath gas.


title: Volatile organic compound

text: To achieve comparability of VOC measurements, reference standards traceable to SI-units are required. For a number of VOCs gaseous reference standards are available from specialty gas suppliers or national metrology institutes, either in the form of cylinders or dynamic generation methods. However, for many VOCs, such as oxygenated VOCs, monoterpenes, or formaldehyde, no standards are available at the appropriate amount of fraction due to the chemical reactivity or adsorption of these molecules. Currently, several national metrology institutes are working on the lacking standard gas mixtures at trace level concentration, minimising adsorption processes, and improving the zero gas. The final scopes are for the traceability and the long-term stability of the standard gases to be in accordance with the data quality objectives (DQO, maximum uncertainty of 20% in this case) required by the WMO/GAW program.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: The Atlantic puffin (), also known as the common puffin, is a species of seabird in the auk family. It is the only puffin native to the Atlantic Ocean; two related species, the tufted puffin and the horned puffin is found in the northeastern Pacific. The Atlantic puffin breeds in Russia, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Greenland, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and the Faroe Islands, and as far south as Maine in the west and France in the east. It is most commonly found in the Westman Islands, Iceland. Although it has a large population and a wide range, the species has declined rapidly, at least in parts of its range, resulting in it being rated as vulnerable by the IUCN. On land, it has the typical upright stance of an auk. At sea, it swims on the surface and feeds on small fish and crabs, which it catches by diving underwater, using its wings for propulsion.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: This puffin has a black crown and back, pale grey cheek patches, and a white body and underparts. Its broad, boldly marked red-and-black beak and orange legs contrast with its plumage. It moults while at sea in the winter, and some of the brightly coloured facial characteristics are lost, with colour returning during the spring. The external appearances of the adult male and female are identical, though the male is usually slightly larger. The juvenile has similar plumage, but its cheek patches are dark grey. The juvenile does not have brightly coloured head ornamentation, its bill is narrower and is dark grey with a yellowish-brown tip, and its legs and feet are also dark. Puffins from northern populations are typically larger than in the south and these populations are generally considered a different subspecies.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: Spending the autumn and winter in the open ocean of the cold northern seas, the Atlantic puffin returns to coastal areas at the start of the breeding season in late spring. It nests in clifftop colonies, digging a burrow in which a single white egg is laid. Chicks mostly feed on whole fish and grow rapidly. After about 6 weeks, they are fully fledged and make their way at night to the sea. They swim away from the shore and do not return to land for several years.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: Colonies are mostly on islands with no terrestrial predators, but adult birds and newly fledged chicks are at risk of attacks from the air by gulls and skuas. Sometimes, a bird such as an Arctic skua or blackback gull can cause a puffin to arrive with a beak full of fish to drop all the fish the puffin was holding in its mouth. The puffin's striking appearance, large, colourful bill, waddling gait, and behaviour have given rise to nicknames such as "clown of the sea" and "sea parrot". It is the official bird of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: The Atlantic puffin is a species of seabird in the order Charadriiformes. It is in the auk family, Alcidae, which includes the guillemots, typical auks, murrelets, auklets, puffins, and the razorbill. The rhinoceros auklet ("Cerorhinca monocerata") and the puffins are closely related, together composing the tribe Fraterculini. The Atlantic puffin is the only species in the genus "Fratercula" to occur in the Atlantic Ocean. Two other species are known from the northeast Pacific, the tufted puffin ("Fratercula cirrhata") and the horned puffin ("Fratercula corniculata"), the latter being the closest relative of the Atlantic puffin.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: The generic name "Fratercula" comes from the Medieval Latin "fratercula", friar, a reference to their black and white plumage, which resembles monastic robes. The specific name "arctica" refers to the northerly distribution of the bird, being derived from the Greek ἄρκτος ("arktos"), the bear, referring to the northerly constellation, the Ursa Major (Great Bear). The vernacular name "puffin" – puffed in the sense of swollen – was originally applied to the fatty, salted meat of young birds of the unrelated species Manx shearwater ("Puffinus puffinus"), which in 1652 was known as the "Manks puffin". It is an Anglo-Norman word (Middle English "pophyn" or "poffin") used for the cured carcasses. The Atlantic puffin acquired the name at a much later stage, possibly because of its similar nesting habits, and it was formally applied to "Fratercula arctica" by Pennant in 1768. While the species is also known as the common puffin, "Atlantic puffin" is the English name recommended by the International Ornithological Congress.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: The only morphological difference between the three is their size. Body length, wing length, and size of beak all increase at higher latitudes. For example, a puffin from northern Iceland (subspecies "F. a. naumanii") weighs about and has a wing length of , while one from the Faroes (subspecies "F. a. grabae") weighs and has a wing length of . Individuals from southern Iceland (subspecies "F. a. arctica") are intermediate between the other two in size. Ernst Mayr has argued that the differences in size are clinal and are typical of variations found in the peripheral population and that no subspecies should be recognised.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: The Atlantic puffin is sturdily built with a thick-set neck and short wings and tail. It is in length from the tip of its stout bill to its blunt-ended tail. Its wingspan is and on land it stands about high. The male is generally slightly larger than the female, but they are coloured alike. The forehead, crown, and nape are glossy black, as are the back, wings, and tail. A broad, black collar extends around the neck and throat. On each side of the head is a large, lozenge-shaped area of very pale grey. These face patches taper to a point and nearly meet at the back of the neck. The shape of the head creates a crease extending from the eye to the hindmost point of each patch, giving the appearance of a grey streak. The eyes look almost triangular because of a small, peaked area of horny blue-grey skin above them and a rectangular patch below. The irises are brown or very dark blue, and each has a red orbital ring. The underparts of the bird, the breast, belly, and under tail coverts, are white. By the end of the breeding season, the black plumage may have lost its shine or even taken on a slightly brown tinge. The legs are short and set well back on the body, giving the bird its upright stance when on land. Both legs and large webbed feet are bright orange, contrasting with the sharp, black claws.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: The beak is very distinctive. From the side, the beak is broad and triangular, but viewed from above, it is narrow. The half near the tip is orange-red and the half near the head is slate grey. A yellow, chevron-shaped ridge separates the two parts, with a yellow, fleshy strip at the base of the bill. At the joint of the two mandibles is a yellow, wrinkled rosette. The exact proportions of the beak vary with the age of the bird. In an immature individual, the beak has reached its full length, but it is not as broad as that of an adult. With time the bill deepens, the upper edge curves, and a kink develops at its base. As the bird ages, one or more grooves may form on the red portion. The bird has a powerful bite.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: The characteristic bright orange bill plates and other facial characteristics develop in the spring. At the close of the breeding season, these special coatings and appendages are shed in a partial moult. This makes the beak appear less broad, the tip less bright, and the base darker grey. The eye ornaments are shed and the eyes appear round. At the same time, the feathers of the head and neck are replaced and the face becomes darker. This winter plumage is seldom seen by humans because when they have left their chicks, the birds head out to sea and do not return to land until the next breeding season. The juvenile bird is similar to the adult in plumage, but altogether duller with a much darker grey face and yellowish-brown beak tip and legs. After fledging, it makes its way to the water and heads out to sea, and does not return to land for several years. In the interim, each year, it will have a broader bill, paler face patches, and brighter legs and beaks.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: The Atlantic puffin has a direct flight, typically above the sea surface and higher over the water than most other auks. It mostly moves by paddling along efficiently with its webbed feet and seldom takes to the air. It is typically silent at sea, except for the soft purring sounds it sometimes makes in flight. At the breeding colony, it is quiet above ground, but in its burrow makes a growling sound somewhat resembling a chainsaw being revved up.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: The Atlantic puffin is a bird of the colder waters of the North Atlantic Ocean. It breeds on the coasts of northwest Europe, the Arctic fringes, and eastern North America. More than 90% of the global population is found in Europe (4,770,000–5,780,000 pairs, equaling 9,550,000–11,600,000 adults) and colonies in Iceland alone are home to 60% of the world's Atlantic puffins. The largest colony in the western Atlantic (estimated at more than 260,000 pairs) can be found at the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve, south of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. Other major breeding locations include the north and west coasts of Norway, the Faroe Islands, Shetland and Orkney, the west coast of Greenland, and the coasts of Newfoundland. Smaller-sized colonies are also found elsewhere in the British Isles, the Murmansk area of Russia, Novaya Zemlya, Spitzbergen, Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Maine. Islands seem particularly attractive to the birds for breeding as compared to mainland sites, likely to avoid predators.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: While at sea, the bird ranges widely across the North Atlantic Ocean, including the North Sea, and may enter the Arctic Circle. In the summer, its southern limit stretches from northern France to Maine; in the winter, the bird may range as far south as the Mediterranean Sea and North Carolina. These oceanic waters have such a vast extent of that each bird has more than 1 km of range at its disposal, so is seldom seen out at sea. In Maine, light-level geolocators have been attached to the legs of puffins, which store information on their whereabouts. The birds need to be recaptured to access the information, a difficult task. One bird was found to have covered of the ocean in 8 months, traveling northwards to the northern Labrador Sea then southeastward to the mid-Atlantic before returning to land.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: In a long-living bird with a small clutch size, such as the Atlantic puffin, the survival rate of adults is an important factor influencing the success of the species. Only 5% of the ringed puffins that failed to reappear at the colony did so during the breeding season. The rest were lost some time between departing from land in the summer and reappearing the following spring. The birds spend the winter widely spread out in the open ocean, though a tendency exists for individuals from different colonies to overwinter in different areas. Little is known of their behaviour and diet at sea, but no correlation was found between environmental factors, such as temperature variations, and their mortality rate. A combination of the availability of food in winter and summer probably influences the survival of the birds, since individuals starting the winter in poor condition are less likely to survive than those in good condition.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: Like many seabirds, the Atlantic puffin spends most of the year far from land in the open ocean and only visits coastal areas to breed. It is a sociable bird and it usually breeds in large colonies.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: Atlantic puffins lead solitary existences when out at sea, and this part of their lives has been little studied, as the task of finding even one bird on the vast ocean is formidable. When at sea, they bob about like a cork, propelling themselves through the water with powerful thrusts of their feet and keeping turned into the wind, even when resting and apparently asleep. They spend much time each day preening to keep their plumage in order and spread oil from their preen glands. Their downy under plumage remains dry and provides thermal insulation. In common with other seabirds, their upper surface is black and underside white. This provides camouflage, with aerial predators unable to locate the birds against the dark, watery background, and underwater attackers fail to notice them as they blend in with the bright sky above the waves.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: When it takes off, the Atlantic puffin patters across the surface of the water while vigorously flapping its wings, before launching itself into the air. The size of the wing has adapted to its dual use, both above and below the water, and its surface area is small relative to the bird's weight. To maintain flight, the wings must beat very rapidly at a rate of several times each second. The bird's flight is direct and low over the surface of the water, and it can travel at . Landing is awkward; it either crashes into a wave crest or in calmer water, does a belly flop. While at sea, the Atlantic puffin has its annual moult. Land birds mostly lose their primaries one pair at a time to enable them still to be able to fly, but the puffin sheds all its primaries at one time and dispenses with flight entirely for a month or two. The moult usually takes place between January and March, but young birds may lose their feathers a little later in the year.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: The Atlantic puffin diet consists almost entirely of fish, though examination of its stomach contents shows that it occasionally eats shrimp, other crustaceans, molluscs, and polychaete worms, especially in more coastal waters. When fishing, it swims underwater using its semi-extended wings as paddles to "fly" through the water and its feet as a rudder. It swims fast and can reach considerable depths and stay submerged for up to a minute. It can eat shallow-bodied fish as long as , but its prey is commonly smaller fish, around long. An adult bird needs to eat an estimated 40 of these per day – sand eels, herring, capelin, and sprats being the most often consumed.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: It fishes by sight and can swallow small fish while submerged, but larger specimens are brought to the surface. It can catch several small fish in one dive, holding the first ones in place in its beak with its muscular, grooved tongue while it catches others. The two mandibles are hinged in such a way that they can be held parallel to hold a row of fish in place and these are also retained by inward-facing serrations on the edges of the beak. It copes with the excess salt that it swallows partly through its kidneys and partly by excretion through specialised salt glands in its nostrils.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: In the spring, mature birds return to land, usually to the colony where they were hatched. Birds that were removed as chicks and released elsewhere were found to show fidelity to their point of liberation. They congregate for a few days on the sea in small groups offshore before returning to the cliff-top nesting sites. Each large puffin colony is divided into subcolonies by physical boundaries such as stands of bracken or gorse. Early arrivals take control of the best locations, the most desirable nesting sites being the densely packed burrows on grassy slopes just above the cliff edge where take-off is most easily accomplished. The birds are usually monogamous, but this is the result of their fidelity to their nesting sites rather than to their mates, and they often return to the same burrows year after year. Later arrivals at the colony may find that all the best nesting sites have already been taken, so are pushed towards the periphery, where they are in greater danger of predation. Younger birds may come ashore a month or more after the mature birds and find no remaining nesting sites. They do not breed until the following year, although if the ground cover surrounding the colony is cut back before these subadults arrive, the number of successfully nesting pairs may be increased.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: Atlantic puffins are cautious when approaching the colony, and no bird likes to land in a location where other puffins are not already present. They make several circuits of the colony before alighting. On the ground, they spend much time preening, spreading oil from their preen gland, and setting each feather in its correct position with beak or claw. They also spend time standing by their burrow entrances and interacting with passing birds. Dominance is shown by an upright stance, with fluffed chest feathers and a cocked tail, an exaggerated slow walk, head jerking, and gaping. Submissive birds lower their heads and hold their bodies horizontally and scurry past dominant individuals. Birds normally signal their intention to take off by briefly lowering their bodies before running down the slope to gain momentum. If a bird is startled and takes off unexpectedly, panic can spread through the colony with all the birds launching themselves into the air and wheeling around in a great circle. The colony is at its most active in the evening, with birds standing outside their burrows, resting on the turf, or strolling around. Then, the slopes empty for the night as the birds fly out to sea to roost, often choosing to do so at fishing grounds ready for early-morning provisioning.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: The puffins are energetic burrow engineers and repairers, so the grassy slopes may be undermined by a network of tunnels. This causes the turf to dry out in summer, vegetation to die, and dry soil to be whirled away by the wind. Burrows sometimes collapse, and humans may cause this to happen by walking incautiously across nesting slopes. A colony on Grassholm was lost through erosion when so little soil was left that burrows could not be made. New colonies are very unlikely to start up spontaneously because this gregarious bird only nests where others are already present. Nevertheless, the Audubon Society had success on Eastern Egg Rock Island in Maine, where, after a gap of 90 years, puffins were reintroduced and started breeding again. By 2011, over 120 pairs were nested on the small islet. On the Isle of May on the other side of the Atlantic, only five pairs of puffins were breeding in 1958, while 20 years later, 10,000 pairs were present.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: Having spent the winter alone on the ocean, whether the Atlantic puffin meets its previous partner offshore or whether they encounter each other when they return to their nest of the previous year is unclear. On land, they soon set about improving and clearing out the burrow. Often, one stands outside the entrance while the other excavates, kicking out quantities of soil and grit that showers the partner standing outside. Some birds collect stems and fragments of dry grasses as nesting materials, but others do not bother. Sometimes, a beakful of materials is taken underground, only to be brought out again and discarded. Apart from nest-building, the other way in which the birds restore their bond is by billing. This is a practice in which the pair approaches each other, each wagging their heads from side to side, and then rattling their beaks together. This seems to be an important element of their courtship behaviour because it happens repeatedly, and the birds continue to the bill, to a lesser extent, throughout the breeding season.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: Atlantic puffins are sexually mature at 4–5 years old. They are colonial nesters, excavating burrows on grassy clifftops or reusing existing holes, and on occasion may nest in crevices and among rocks and scree., in competition with other birds and animals for burrows. They can excavate their own hole or move into a pre-existing system dug by a rabbit, and have been known to peck and drive off the original occupant. Manx shearwaters also nest underground and often live in their own burrows alongside puffins, and their burrowing activities may break through into the puffin's living quarters, resulting in the loss of the egg. They are monogamous (mate for life) and give biparental care to their young. The male spends more time guarding and maintaining the nest, while the female is more involved in incubation and feeding the chick.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: Egg-laying starts in April in more southerly colonies but seldom occurs before June in Greenland. The female lays a single white egg each year, but if this is lost early in the breeding season, another might be produced. Synchronous laying of eggs is found in Atlantic puffins in adjacent burrows. The egg is large compared to the size of the bird, averaging long by wide and weighing about . The white shell is usually devoid of markings, but soon becomes covered with mud. The incubation responsibilities are shared by both parents. They each have two feather-free brood patches on their undersides, where an enhanced blood supply provides heat for the egg. The parent on incubation duty in the dark nest chamber spends much of its time asleep with its head tucked under its wing, occasionally emerging from the tunnel to flap dust out of its feathers or take a short flight down to the sea.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: The total incubation time is around 39–45 days. From above ground level, the first evidence that hatching has taken place is the arrival of an adult with a beak-load of fish. For the first few days, the chick may be fed with this beak-to-beak, but later the fish are simply dropped on the floor of the nest beside the chick, which swallows them whole. The chick is covered in fluffy black down, its eyes are open, and it can stand as soon as it is hatched. Initially weighing about , it grows at the rate of per day. Initially, one or the other parent broods it, but as its appetite increases, it is left alone for longer periods. Observations of a nest chamber have been made from an underground hide with a peephole. The chick sleeps much of the time between its parents' visits and also involves itself in bouts of exercise. It rearranges its nesting material, picks up and drops small stones, flaps its immature wings, pulls at protruding root ends, and pushes and strains against the unyielding wall of the burrow. It makes its way towards the entrance or along a side tunnel to defecate. The growing chick seems to anticipate the arrival of an adult, advancing along the burrow just before it arrives, but not emerging into the open air. It retreats to the nest chamber as the adult bird brings in its load of fish.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: Hunting areas are often located or more offshore from the nest sites, although when feeding their young, the birds venture out only half that distance. Adults bringing fish to their chicks tend to arrive in groups. This is thought to benefit the bird by reducing kleptoparasitism by the Arctic skua, which harasses puffins until they drop their fish loads. Predation by the great skua ("Catharacta skua") is also reduced by several birds arriving simultaneously.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: In the Shetland Islands, sand eels ("Ammodytes marinus") normally form at least 90% of the food fed to chicks. In years when the availability of sand eels was low, breeding success rates fell, with many chicks starving to death. In Norway, the herring ("Clupea harengus") is the mainstay of the diet. When herring numbers dwindled, so did puffin numbers. In Labrador, the puffins seemed more flexible and when the staple forage fish capelin ("Mallotus villosus") declined in availability, they were able to adapt and feed the chicks on other prey species.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: The chicks take from 34 to 50 days to fledge, the period depending on the abundance of their food supply. In years of fish shortage, the whole colony may experience a longer fledgling period, but the normal range is 38 to 44 days, by which time chicks have reached about 75% of their mature body weight. The chick may come to the burrow entrance to defecate, but does not usually emerge into the open and seems to have an aversion to light until it is nearly fully fledged. Although the supply of fish by the adults reduces over the last few days spent in the nest, the chick is not abandoned as happens in the Manx shearwater. On occasions, an adult has been observed provisioning a nest even after the chick has departed. During the last few days underground, the chick sheds its down and the juvenile plumage is revealed. Its relatively small beak and its legs and feet are a dark colour, and it lacks the white facial patches of the adult. The chick finally leaves its nest at night, when the risk of predation is at its lowest. When the moment arrives, it emerges from the burrow, usually for the first time, and walks, runs, and flaps its way to the sea. It cannot fly properly yet, so descending a cliff is perilous; when it reaches the water, it paddles out to sea, and maybe away from the shore by daybreak. It does not congregate with others of its kind and does not return to land for 2–3 years.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: Atlantic puffins are probably safer when out at sea, where the dangers are more often from below the water rather than above; puffins can sometimes be seen putting their heads underwater to peer around for predators. Seals have been known to kill puffins, and large fish may also do so. Most puffin colonies are on small islands, and this is no coincidence, as it avoids predation by ground-based mammals such as foxes, rats, stoats, weasels, cats, and dogs. When they come ashore, the birds are still at risk and the main threats come from the sky.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: Aerial predators of the Atlantic puffin include the great black-backed gull ("Larus marinus"), the great skua ("Stercorarius skua"), and similar-sized species, which can catch a bird in flight, or attack one that is unable to escape fast enough on the ground. On detecting danger, puffins take off and fly down to the safety of the sea or retreat into their burrows, but if caught, they defend themselves vigorously with beaks and sharp claws. When the puffins are wheeling around beside the cliffs, a predator concentrating on a single bird becomes very difficult, while any individual isolated on the ground is at greater risk. Smaller gull species such as the herring gull ("L. argentatus") and the lesser black-backed gull are hardly able to bring down a healthy adult puffin. They stride through the colony taking any eggs that have rolled towards burrow entrances or recently hatched chicks that have ventured too far toward the daylight. They also steal fish from puffins returning to feed their young. Where it nests on the tundra in the far north, the Arctic skua ("Stercorarius parasiticus") is a terrestrial predator, but at lower latitudes, it is a specialised kleptoparasite, concentrating on auks and other seabirds. It harasses puffins while they are airborne, forcing them to drop their catch, which it then snatches up.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: Both the guillemot tick "Ixodes uriae" and the flea "Ornithopsylla laetitiae" (probably originally a rabbit flea) have been recorded from the nests of puffins. Other fleas found on the birds include "Ceratophyllus borealis", "Ceratophyllus gallinae", "Ceratophyllus garei", "Ceratophyllus vagabunda", and the common rabbit flea "Spilopsyllus cuniculi".


title: Atlantic puffin

text: The Atlantic puffin has an extensive range that covers over and Europe, which holds more than 90% of the global population, is home to 4,770,000–5,780,000 pairs (equalling 9,550,000–11,600,000 adults). In 2015, the International Union for Conservation of Nature upgraded its status from "least concern" to "vulnerable". This was caused by a review that revealed a rapid and ongoing population decline in its European range. Trends elsewhere are unknown, although, in 2018, the total global population was estimated at 12–14 million adult individuals. Some of the causes of population decline may be increased predation by gulls and skuas, the introduction of rats, cats, dogs, and foxes onto some islands used for nesting, contamination by toxic residues, drowning in fishing nets, declining food supplies, and climate change. On the island of Lundy, the number of puffins decreased from 3,500 pairs in 1939 to 10 pairs in 2000. This was mainly due to the rats that had proliferated on the island and were eating eggs and young chicks. Following the elimination of the rats, populations were expected to recover, and in 2005, a juvenile was seen, believed to be the first chick raised on the island for 30 years. In 2018, BirdLife International reported that the Atlantic puffin was threatened with extinction.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: Puffin numbers increased considerably in the late 20th century in the North Sea, including on the Isle of May and the Farne Islands, where numbers increased by about 10% per year. In the 2013 breeding season, nearly 40,000 pairs were recorded on the Farne Islands, a slight increase on the 2008 census and on the previous year's poor season, when some of the burrows flooded. This number is dwarfed by the Icelandic colonies with five million pairs breeding, the Atlantic puffin being the most populous bird on the island. In the Westman Islands, where about half Iceland's puffins breed, the birds were almost driven to extinction by overharvesting around 1900 and a 30-year ban on hunting was put in place. When stocks recovered, a different method of harvesting was used and now hunting is maintained at a sustainable level. Nevertheless, a further hunting ban covering the whole of Iceland was called for in 2011, although the puffin's lack of recent breeding success was being blamed on a diminution in food supply rather than overharvesting. Since 2000, a sharp population decline has been seen in Iceland, Norway, the Faroe Islands, and Greenland. A similar trend has been seen in the United Kingdom, where an increase in 1969–2000 appears to have been reversed. For example, the Fair Isle colony was estimated at 20,200 individuals in 1986, but it had been almost halved by 2012. Based on current trends, the European population will decline an estimated 50–79% between 2000 and 2065.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: SOS Puffin is a conservation project at the Scottish Seabird Centre at North Berwick to save the puffins on islands in the Firth of Forth. Puffin numbers on the island of Craigleith, once one of the largest colonies in Scotland with 28,000 pairs, have declined dramatically to just a few thousand due to the invasion of a large introduced plant, the tree mallow ("Lavatera arborea"). This has spread across the island in dense thickets and prevents the puffins from finding suitable sites for burrowing and breeding. The project has the support of over 700 volunteers and progress has been made in cutting back the plants, with puffins returning in greater numbers to breed. Another conservation measure undertaken by the centre is to encourage motorists to check under their cars in late summer before driving off, as young puffins, disorientated by the street lights, may land in the town and take shelter underneath the vehicles.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: Project Puffin is an effort initiated in 1973 by Dr. Stephen W. Kress of the National Audubon Society to restore Atlantic puffins to nesting islands in the Gulf of Maine. Eastern Egg Rock Island in Muscongus Bay, about from Pemaquid Point, had been occupied by nesting puffins until 1885, when the birds disappeared because of overhunting. Counting on the fact young puffins usually return to breed on the same island where they fledged, a team of biologists and volunteers translocated 10– to 14-day-old nestlings from Great Island in Newfoundland to Eastern Egg Rock. The young were placed into artificial sod burrows and fed with vitamin-fortified fish daily for about one month. Such yearly translocations took place until 1986, with 954 young puffins being moved in total. Each year before fledging, the young were individually tagged. The first adults returned to the island by 1977. Puffin decoys had been installed on the island to fool the puffins into thinking they were part of an established colony. This did not catch on at first, but in 1981, four pairs nested on the island. In 2014, 148 nesting pairs were counted on the island. In addition to demonstrating the feasibility of re-establishing a seabird colony, the project showed the usefulness of using decoys and eventually call recordings and mirrors, to facilitate such re-establishment.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: Since the Atlantic puffin spends its winters on the open ocean, it is susceptible to human actions and catastrophes such as oil spills. Oiled plumage has a reduced ability to insulate and makes the bird more vulnerable to temperature fluctuations and less buoyant in the water. Many birds die, and others, while attempting to remove the oil by preening, ingesting, and inhaling toxins. This leads to inflammation of the airways and gut and in the longer term, damage to the liver and kidneys. This trauma can contribute to a loss of reproductive success and harm to developing embryos. An oil spill occurring in winter, when the puffins are far out at sea, may affect them less than inshore birds as the crude oil slicks soon get broken up and dispersed by the churning of the waves. When oiled birds get washed up on beaches around Atlantic coasts, only about 1.5% of the dead auks are puffins, but many others may have died far from land and sunk. After the oil tanker shipwreck and oil spill in 1967, few dead puffins were recovered, but the number of puffins breeding in France the following year was reduced to 16% of its previous level.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: The Atlantic puffin and other pelagic birds are excellent bioindicators of the environment, as they occupy a high trophic level. Heavy metals and other pollutants are concentrated through the food chain, and as fish are the primary food source for Atlantic puffins, the potential is great for them to bioaccumulate heavy metals such as mercury and arsenic. Measurements can be made on eggs, feathers, or internal organs, and beached bird surveys, accompanied by chemical analysis of feathers, can be effective indicators of marine pollution by lipophilic substances, as well as metals. In fact, these surveys can be used to provide evidence of the adverse effects of a particular pollutant, using fingerprinting techniques to provide evidence suitable for the prosecution of offenders.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: Climate change may well affect populations of seabirds in the northern Atlantic. The most important demographic may be an increase in the sea surface temperature, which may have benefits for some northerly Atlantic puffin colonies. Breeding success depends on ample supplies of food at the time of maximum demand, as the chick grows. In northern Norway, the main food item fed to the chick is the young herring. The success of the newly hatched fish larvae during the previous year was governed by the water temperature, which controlled plankton abundance, and this, in turn, influenced the growth and survival of the first-year herring. The breeding success of Atlantic puffin colonies has been found to correlate in this way with the water surface temperatures of the previous year.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: In Maine, on the other side of the Atlantic, shifting fish populations due to changes in sea temperature are being blamed for the lack of availability of the herring, which is the staple diet of the puffins in the area. Some adult birds have become emaciated and died. Others have been provisioning the nest with butterfish ("Peprilus triacanthus"), but these are often too large and deep-bodied for the chick to swallow, causing it to die from starvation. Maine is on the southerly edge of the bird's breeding range, and with changing weather patterns, this may be set to contract northwards.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: Breeding colonies of Atlantic puffins provide an interesting spectacle for bird watchers and tourists. For example, 4000 puffins nest each year on islands off the coast of Maine, and visitors can view them from tour boats that operate during the summers. The Project Puffin Visitor Center in Rockland provides information on the birds and their lives, and on the other conservation projects being undertaken by the National Audubon Society, which runs the center. Views of the colony on Seal Island National Wildlife Refuge can be viewed via live cams during the breeding season.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: Historically, Atlantic puffins were caught and eaten fresh, salted in brine, or smoked and dried. Their feathers were used in bedding and their eggs were eaten, but not to the same extent as those of some other seabirds, being more difficult to extract from the nest. In most countries, Atlantic puffins are now protected by legislation, and in the countries where hunting is still permitted, strict laws prevent overexploitation. Although calls have been made for an outright ban on hunting puffins in Iceland because of concern over the dwindling number of birds successfully raising chicks, they are still caught and eaten there and on the Faroe Islands;


title: Atlantic puffin

text: Traditional means of capture varied across the birds' range, and nets and rods were used in various ingenious ways. In the Faroe Islands, the method of choice was "fleyg", with the use of a "fleygingarstong", a 3.6-m-long pole with a small net at the end suspended between two rods, somewhat like a very long lacrosse stick. A few dead puffins were strewn around to entice incoming birds to land, and the net was flicked upwards to scoop a bird from the air as it slowed before alighting. Hunters often positioned themselves on cliff tops in stone seats built in small depressions to conceal themselves from puffins flying overhead. Most of the birds caught were subadults, and a skilled hunter could gather 200–300 in a day. Another method of capture, used in St Kilda, involved the use of a flexible pole with a noose on the end. This was pushed along the ground towards the intended target, which advanced to inspect the noose as its curiosity overcame its caution. A flick of the wrist would flip the noose over the victim's head and it was promptly killed before its struggles could alarm other birds nearby.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: The Atlantic puffin is the official bird symbol of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. In August 2007, the Atlantic puffin was unsuccessfully proposed as the official symbol of the Liberal Party of Canada by its deputy leader Michael Ignatieff, after he observed a colony of these birds and became fascinated by their behaviour. The Norwegian municipality of Værøy has an Atlantic puffin as its civic emblem. Puffins have been given several informal names including "clowns of the sea" and "sea parrots", and juvenile puffins may be called "pufflings".


title: Atlantic puffin

text: Several islands have been named after the bird. The island of Lundy in the United Kingdom is reputed to derive its name from the Norse "lund-ey" or "puffin island". An alternative explanation has been suggested connected with another meaning of the word "lund" referring to a copse or wooded area. The Vikings might have found the island a useful refuge and restocking point after their depredations on the mainland. The island issued its own coins, and in 1929, its own stamps with denominations in "puffins". Other countries and dependencies that have depicted Atlantic puffins on their stamps include Alderney, Canada, the Faroe Islands, France, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Iceland, Ireland, the Isle of Man, Jersey, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Slovenia, St Pierre et Miquelon, and the United Kingdom.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: The publisher of paperbacks, Penguin Books, introduced a range of books for children under the Puffin Books brand in 1939. At first, these were nonfiction titles, but these were soon followed by a fiction list of well-known authors. The demand was so great that Puffin Book Clubs were introduced in schools to encourage reading, and a children's magazine called "Puffin Post" was established.


title: Atlantic puffin

text: A tradition exists on the Icelandic island of Heimaey for the children to rescue young puffins, a fact recorded in Bruce McMillan's photo-illustrated children's book "Nights of the Pufflings" (1995). The fledglings emerge from the nest and try to make their way to the sea, but sometimes get confused, perhaps by the street lighting, ending up landing in the village. The children collect them and liberate them to the safety of the sea.


title: Genie Francis

text: Eugenie Ann Francis (born May 26, 1962) is an American actress. She is best known for playing the role of Laura Spencer on the television soap opera "General Hospital" from 1977 to present, for which she won a Daytime Emmy Award in 2007.


title: Genie Francis

text: Francis also appeared in the soap operas "Days of Our Lives" from 1987 to 1989, "All My Children" from 1990 to 1992 and "The Young and the Restless" from 2011 to 2012.


title: Genie Francis

text: Francis was born in Englewood, New Jersey. Her father was Canadian actor Ivor Francis. Her mother, Rosemary Daley, is a former actress/model of Lithuanian descent. Genie has an older brother, Ivor Jr.; a younger brother, Kenneth; and an older half-sister, Shelley, from her father's first marriage.


title: Genie Francis

text: Francis began acting in the two part episode titled "Jury Duty" on the television series "Family". Her biggest role came in 1977 with Laura Spencer on "General Hospital" as she was a recast. It would bring her instant stardom in the late 1970s. The television couple of Luke and Laura wed on November 17, 1981, with 30 million viewers tuning in to make the episode the highest-rated hour in soap opera history. At the peak of her success, Francis left the series in 1982 to try her hand at prime-time television. Soon afterward, she landed a starring role in her own series, "Bare Essence", which was unsuccessful. She returned to "General Hospital" in 1983 for a limited run, to coincide with the departure of Luke when Anthony Geary decided to leave the series. Francis was also offered the lead role for the movie "Splash" but turned it down because she thought the script was silly.


title: Genie Francis

text: In 1984, 1987 and 1990, Francis guest starred on "Murder, She Wrote" as Jessica Fletcher's niece Victoria. In 1985, she starred in the miniseries "North and South" as Brett Main Hazard. Francis would reprise her role of Brett Main Hazard in 1986 and 1994 in the miniseries "North and South: Book II" and "Heaven and Hell: North and South Book III" respectively. In 1993, she starred in the television film "Perry Mason: The Case of the Killer Kiss" as Kris Buckner which was based on the CBS television series of the same name. In 1996, Francis provided the voice of Betty Ross on the "Incredible Hulk" animated series that ran on UPN.