“Alas, poor Puffin! I knew him…”

The graveyard scene in William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, is a classic. Prince Hamlet sees the skull of his jester, Yorick, and says, “Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy:…”

The scene is there to engender a sense of loss, mortality, and the fleeting nature of life. 

Finding this skull of a Puffin has the same effect on me. Death combined with the laughter of jesters:

Puffin Skull - The Hall of Einar - photograph © David Bailey (not the)

We’re not here very long, so let’s make sure we safeguard the natural world for future generations.

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