14th Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Natural World

A puffin perched on the cliff edge in Iceland

While hiking in Látrabjarg, i stopped at a cliff side where this little guy flew up to take break from making his rounds to the near by nests. He only stayed around for 2-3 seconds before quickly diving off the cliff again. After experiencing this brief moment of the puffin staring back at me through my camera, I realized how delicate and beautiful these species of birds are and how important it is that Iceland make significant efforts to eliminate the consumption of puffins as a local delicacy.