Bonaventure Island

Every summer the flat top of Bonaventure Island turns white with northern gannets: tens of thousands of nesting pairs packed beak to beak on the plateau and along the cliffs, filling the air with noise and the sea around with diving birds. Lying in the Gulf of St. Lawrence just off the tip of Quebec's Gaspé Peninsula, this roughly circular island of about 4 square kilometres hosts one of the largest gannet colonies on Earth, counted at 51,700 pairs in 2011.

People came to the island long before it became a sanctuary. With nearby Percé, it was among the early seasonal fishing stations of New France, linked to the family of Nicolas Denys; the name is traditionally attributed to Recollect friars honouring Saint Bonaventure. Irish settlers arrived in the 1790s, and cod fishing companies, including one founded by the Jersey-born Peter Du Val and later the Le Boutillier brothers' fishery, shaped island life through the nineteenth century. Bonaventure was declared a migratory bird sanctuary in 1919. In 1971 the Province of Quebec expropriated the whole island and its remaining families had to leave; an abandoned homestead still stands on the western side. In 1985 the island and Percé Rock were joined in the Parc national de l'Île-Bonaventure-et-du-Rocher-Percé.

Around 218 bird species have been recorded here. Besides the gannets, the cliffs hold black-legged kittiwakes, common murres, razorbills, black guillemots, Atlantic puffins and several species of gulls and cormorants. Most of the gannets nest on the open plateau rather than on the cliffs, so the colony can be seen at very close range. The island has long inspired artists: André Breton watched its birds while writing Arcane 17 at Percé in 1944, and in the 1960s painters such as Jacques Hurtubise and Kittie Bruneau spent summers among the islanders.

Getting there

Bonaventure Island lies about 3.5 km off the coast and some 5 km south-east of the village of Percé, from where boats cross to the island. The nearest airport is Michel-Pouliot Gaspé Airport (YGP), about 39 km away in a straight line.