Ile Bonaventure, Canada Cruise Port

Within the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Bonaventure Island (Ile Bonaventure in Quebec’s national French language) lies off the coast of Quebec, Canada’s Gaspe Peninsula. The island isn’t very big, only about one and a half square miles, and primarily acts as a migratory bird sanctuary. The sanctuary was first designated in 1916 after a convention between the United States and Canada and went into effect three years later in 1919. Between 1919 and 1971, a fair amount of people inhabited the island; however, since the island is owned by the state, it finally decided to evacuate all residents: 35 different families. In 1985 the Bonaventure Island and Perce Rock National Park was founded on the island and is recognized as one of the world’s largest bird sanctuaries with over 280,000 birds and 218 distinct species. Because of this number of avian wonders, Bonaventure is a very popular destination.

• The most common species of bird on the island by far is the northern gannet. It’s one of the world’s largest colonies of this gull-like seabird with over 50,000 pairs.
   
• Other popular colonies that can be viewed belong to: black-legged kittiwakes, herring gulls, black guillemots, common murres, terns, and puffins, to name a few.
   
• Various artists have drawn inspiration from this majestic island, including surrealist Andre Breton, painter Frederick James, and poet Michael La Chance.
   
• Small boat tours between May and October are the best method and time to see the majority of birds at their best. At this point, they’ve yet to migrate; some might even say their plumage is fullest at this time of the year.