Puff’s Great Adventure

The oil stank like nothing Puff had ever smelled before. Black goop coated his body, slipping beneath his feathers and soiling his white down belly. The pale-yellow whiskers crowning his head drooped under the oil. He could not move his wings. He could not even open his beak.

A trio of humans hovered over his head. Puff trembled, but could not stop their gloved hands from picking him up from the oil-slicked beach and setting him in a small red duffle bag. Just hours before, he’d been diving with the other Tufted Puffins, lining his beak with smelt and bobbing freely on the open ocean when all of a sudden, utter darkness ate up his blue-green sea. Oil and gas had boiled up to the surface after an oil rig had torn open the seabed. At least that’s what the strange buzzing contraption next to the humans went on and on about.

“January 31st, 1969. This just in. Thousands of seabirds washed ashore Santa Barbara’s white-sand beaches. Residents reported a strong stench three days prior, likely in connection with Platform A’s recent oil spill. Eye-witnesses say the birds are soaked in oil, still alive but ill and unable to move. Death tolls remain unknown. Authorities recommend taking live birds to the Santa Barbara Zoo for care.”

The radio fizzled out before continuing:

“With their pristine beaches smothered in goop, Santa Barbara locals are left wondering why. Who will be held responsible? How will the world react? Union Oil has declined to comment.”

Puff’s rescuers lay his quivering body in the back of their rust red sedan, pressed between a western grebe and a restless common loon. Snatches of the human’s conversation drifted to him from the front seats.

“Awful situation, it is, just awful. Like a giant spilled a heaping cauldron of ink all across the beach. Oh, and the sea! Ann, the sea looked like it was boiling.”

“They say some 3,500 seabirds and marine mammals have already died, from little guys like our puffin in the trunk to sea lions and dolphins. The oil drowns the birds, you know. Swipes that water-proofing right off their feathers.”

“But we can’t lose hope, Jack. They say Nixon might be out to survey the scene. And if a disaster like this catches the president’s attention, maybe our hopes for a cleaner, healthier environment can become reality.”

Puff cocked his head. A healthier environment? Would that mean cleaner waters too? Maybe even more smelt and little squid to feed on?

Later, at the Santa Barbara Zoo, a team of kind humans scrubbed Puff down and nursed him back to health. The volunteers said almost 9,000 oil-weighted birds like him had died in the spill. They also whispered about a certain environmentally-minded Senator Nelson of Wisconsin who’d traveled to survey the damage to Santa Barbara’s famed beaches. The humans believed Nelson might signal a changing attitude in their leaders. They dreamed of a world where beaches were clear, the water pristine, and the air as sweet as honey.

For months after his recovery, fear kept Puff pinned to the Santa Barbara Zoo. He was terrified of discovering the same black goop monster haunting the shores of his beloved ocean. But when he heard tell of Nelson’s visit and of the humans rallying for his and other seabirds’ cause, he felt he had to see the action himself. So, Puff, with his stubby little wings, embarked on a grand tour across the United States.

Soaring up from California and over the Rockies, Puff dropped by the University of Colorado, Boulder. He found students and faculty alike pausing their day-to-day activities to fight for the Earth—for Puff’s Earth. Green flags dotted campus and students organized teach-ins, symposiums, rap sessions, speeches, and films. Puff could hardly believe his eyes.

Across the Great Plains and over Lake Michigan, Puff stopped in Ann Arbor where students and faculty at the University of Michigan rallied under the banner “Give Earth A Chance.” Like the Coloradans, the Michiganders meant business. As pioneers of the teach-in format, Michigan’s organizers’ attracted over 50,000 attendees across 125 seminars, panels, rallies, and other events, paying special attention to ecological issues in the Great Lakes and the impact of war on the environment.

The buzz about the environment flew faster than Puff could keep up with. The humans came to call the movement Earth Day, and apparently, events spanned the entire nation. Puff even heard that activists down in Miami staged a parody Orange Bowl parade called the “Dead Orange Parade,” featuring the Statue of Liberty decked out in a gas mask.

All the commotion struck a chord in Puff’s heart. Returning to Santa Barbara later that year, he learned that volunteers from the University of California Santa Barbara had recovered 1,800 barrels of skimmed oil from his home seas. Puff swelled with pride. The future of Puff’s home seemed bright—humans and their fellow animals might still save their Mother Earth.

Like Puff, it’s important to keep our hopes and passions alive even when our world turns upside down. Whether it be fossil fuel companies polluting our seas or world leaders ignoring scientists’ pleas for swift climate action, know that you can’t and aren’t expected to control the whole world. Take a breath, recenter, and like Puff, get out there and find those little ways you can make a difference for our planet.

Join Climate Education and follow in the footsteps of the activists who grabbed the world’s attention with teach-ins after the Santa Barbara oil spill. Small changes can and will make a difference.