A Century of Seabird Protection on the Lower North Shore!

[Read this article in French on SNAP Quebec’s website here.]

Migratory chook sanctuaries are among the many oldest protected areas in Quebec, and a number of other within the Decrease North Shore area are celebrating their a centesimal anniversary this 12 months. With the Audubon Management Convention being was just lately held in Montreal, it appears the proper alternative to speak about these sanctuaries devoted to the safety of seabirds.

In the summertime of 1833, the artist-naturalist John James Audubon traveled by sea to the Decrease North Shore aboard the schooner “Ripley” and picked up and sketched the numerous seabirds and wildlife there. In his journey letters, he denounced the abusive harvesting of chook eggs, which finally led to the creation of migratory chook sanctuaries in 1925.

Seabirds, Fascinating Passers-by

The aim of those sanctuaries, as their title suggests, is to guard migratory birds that come to put their eggs in the course of the Quebec summer time season. This can be a crucial interval for the upkeep of their populations; the standard of the encompassing habitat and meals sources are essential to the survival of those charming birds.

In migratory chook sanctuaries, disturbing the birds is forbidden. Though circumstances of entry to those websites fluctuate from one to the subsequent, relying on the proprietor or supervisor, these environments are usually not essentially glass homes. They can be utilized for a variety of actions, together with analysis and training, outreach and statement. As we speak, an area initiative by a gaggle of residents from Blanc-Sablon and Bonne-Espérance is searching for to develop this connection to nature, notably by organising constructions for observing wildlife and the encompassing panorama.

Among the many species that frequent these websites are birds just like the colourful Atlantic Puffin, often known as the ocean parrot, which has earned a number of coastal islands the title “Parrot Island”. Certainly one of these “parrot islands” is positioned within the Brador Bay Migratory Hen Sanctuary, close to Blanc-Sablon, Quebec’s most easterly village. Almost three-quarters of Quebec’s puffin inhabitants will be discovered on this sanctuary.

Many species of seabird nest on the rocky cliffs overlooking the ocean. They feed within the surrounding waters, typically on small fish resembling sand eels and capelin, but in addition on herring and mackerel. One such instance is the Razorbill, discovered on the Saint-Augustin Migratory Hen Sanctuary, close to the Innu group of Pakuashipi.

Different birds nest on the bottom, just like the Widespread Eider, a species discovered within the Îles-Sainte-Marie Migratory Hen Sanctuary, close to Harrington Harbour, a road- and car-free village accessible solely by airplane and ferry. Biodiversity on this sanctuary is extraordinarily wealthy, with over 14 of the 20 or so seabird species present in Quebec.

Since their creation in 1925, the migratory chook sanctuaries on the Decrease North Shore have been monitored by researchers each 5 years. This information gives us with info on adjustments in seabird populations over a interval of greater than a century, making it one of many longest information collection collected in North America for these animals.

However How Are Seabirds Doing?

For a number of years now, the whole variety of seabirds noticed in sanctuaries has been rising on the Decrease North Shore. Nonetheless, this improve doesn’t mirror the truth of all of the species monitored. Certainly, whereas alcids (murres, razorbills, puffins) have usually seen their numbers improve in recent times, different species, resembling Herring Gulls and Widespread and Arctic Terns, have declined. The seabirds discovered on the Decrease North Shore are delicate to predation by sure land mammals (e.g. foxes), in addition to to disturbance attributable to numerous human actions (motorboats, birds’ eggs harvesting, and so on.). It’s due to this fact important to pursue outreach, training, monitoring and analysis efforts within the Decrease North Shore sanctuaries to assist restore and preserve these seabird colonies.

In reality, a number of proposals for marine protected areas that overlap with a few of these migratory chook sanctuaries can be underneath dialogue as a part of the Quebec authorities’s name for tasks, which goals to guard 30% of the province’s marine and terrestrial territory. That is the proper alternative to place the highlight again on the significance of implementing conservation measures that can straight profit the species that go to Quebec’s migratory chook sanctuaries!

Canada’s first migratory chook sanctuaries have been created in Quebec in 1919. They embody the well-known “Rocher aux oiseaux” on the Magdalen Islands, in addition to the well-known Rocher Percé and its neighbor, Bonaventure Island. Almost half of North America’s Northern Gannet inhabitants nests in these two sanctuaries. This chook is famend for its dives into the ocean when feeding (it could actually dive 22 meters deep underwater!) and its imposing colonies on Bonaventure Island, which additionally has the standing of Quebec nationwide park.

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