Species Info

NORTHERN GANNETS

Cape St. Mary's NL is the most accessible seabird rookery in North America. Bird Rock is the third-largest nesting site and southernmost colony of northern gannets in North America. Home to 15000 breeding pairs.

The gannet colony at the Cape St. Mary’s Ecological Reserve was hit hard by Hurricane Larry and hundreds of birds were found dead, injured, or stranded in its wake. Normally, these birds would have been able to find shelter during the storm but with the timing of the hurricane making landfall at night, the winds pushed them from their breeding site. As the Gannets, who are in their birthing season, were likely taking care of their young and tending to the nest, as they are not active at night. This left them vulnerable. As a result, hundreds of birds and chicks were blown either inland or out to sea.

Some of the injured Gannets were brought in to The Rock Wildlife Rescue for medical care and rehabilitation.

The full impact of the hurricane won’t be known until next season when biologists from Canadian Wildlife Services can do a full survey and see how many birds return to breed.