IT IS the most remote therapy clinic in Britain.
The consultations are free and depending on the weather, "patients" are guaranteed to leave with smiles.
Tourists from all over the world have been flocking to The Treshnish Isles off Mull to indulge in the feel-good factor of getting up-close and personal with a puffin.
Boat operator Iain Morrison calls it puffin therapy, having repeatedly witnessed the positive effect these clownish seabirds have had on people over the years.
Mr Morrison, of the Turus Mara boat tour company, has been taking tourists from Mull to Lunga, the largest of The Treshnish Isles, for more than 40 years to see the thousands of puffins gathering there over summer.
He says the word about puffin therapy is spreading fast, with more cruise ships and private boat owners visiting Lunga this year.
Mr Morrison, 66, said: "I ... was the first person to start taking people out there, but it's a lot busier now and the cruise ships are coming in more and more.
"We get a lot of Australians, a lot of Chinese, East Europeans and Americans. I get people emailing me from all over the world saying 'can I have some puffin therapy on such-and-such a date?'"
When he first used the phrase "puffin therapy" it was "tongue in cheek", but he gradually realised the amazing effect puffins had.
He said: "I have taken people to Lunga for years, and I can see that when they have gone ashore they are a wee bit apprehensive. It's as if I have dropped them off on a desert island.
"Then they come back two hours later and they have a big smile on their face, so puffin therapy must work."
Visitors must walk the uninhabited island to reach the puffins.
Mr Morrison said: "When we go to Lunga you can look to the edge of the cliff and there is not a puffin in sight, but once people go ashore the puffins come in from the sea."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article