It was a cold windy day in Newfoundland when we set sail for the Reserve. I was grateful my jacket had an attached hood!
Three islands make up the reserve where the largest sanctuary of Atlantic puffins is located. Approaching Green Island the good natured fellow on the mike warned, “If you look up, keep your mouth shut as the birds fly overhead. There are thousands of birds here and they do not discriminate when it comes to expelling that little white stuff!”
He continued to describe, “Puffins are small birds, only about eight inches long, and most people are surprised by their size. They have orange feet and beak that has gray .triangle that is bordered with a white stripe. Their white breast is topped with a black coat. They are good swimmers and divers. Some people think they are penguins, but they are in no way related. They can hold a dozen fish in their beak when feeding their young.” Puffins live in burrows and that tends to kill tree and other roots. All the guano doesn’t help either. They mate for life and both parents sit on the egg and take care of the chick. The chicks are taught to toilet close to the burrow entrance, keeping their living quarters clean. The parents abandon the chick after 40 days. A week later the chick wanders out of the burrow and fledges in the moonlight under the cover of night. Their wings beat 300 times a minute to keep them in the air. An adult puffin returns to the same burrow year after year to lay one egg.
The island is barren several meters above the water, but green after that with a few straggly trees on the top that provide nesting areas for storm petrels.
The narrator continued, “Murrens nest on the ledges of Green Island and all over barren Gull Island. Murrens have no nest; they just lay their eggs on the edge. The eggs are sort of triangular shaped so they don’t roll around like oval ones do. The birds also cement the egg to the rock with guano. They live in huge tight-packed colonies on coastal cliffs and on other off-shore islands.” The sky was covered with these little birds as we approached Gull Island.
A large colony of kittiwakes also lives in the reserve. The smallest of the gull family, they appear to ski on the water. They are often referred to as ticklers as a pair of them fly so close together it seems as if they are tickling each other.
Three kinds of whales migrate through the area. The captain was determined to find whales for us. We saw several blows. He said, “Whale watching is 90 percent patience and 10 percent luck. This morning the whales are diving very deep and blowing only about every half hour or so. They can stay submerged 35-40 minutes.”
Toward the end of our cruise a momma and her calf played near the bow of the boat. The narrator commented, “Humpback whales are very social. Their average length is 35-40 feet, and the rule of thumb is they weigh 1000 pounds for each foot of length, so these whales weigh 35,000-40,000 pounds. They make quite a splash!
“Fin whales, the second largest whale, are also found in the area. Their head is the size of a VW bug! We haven’t seen any yet this year. Grey whales migrate through these waters. They move fast and straight and care nothing about socializing.”
It was worth the breezy, rather rough ride to see all the birds in their natural habitat and it was a thrill to watch momma whale and her calf play off our bow!
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