hot off the press

[John Chardine]

We (Environment Canada) are gearing up to assess if any the damage to Northern Gannet populations from the Gulf of Mexico oil pollution. The gulf is a prime over-wintering area for them. I can only imagine what awaits these birds when they quit the colonies and move south in the fall.

Today I flew over the Gulf of St. Lawrence colonies and made images which we will count later. BPN is the first to see one from the second largest colony in the world at Bonaventure Island, Quebec. This is only a very small portion of the colony!

PS- there's so much detail in the image that I had to go down to medium quality jpeg.

[Fabs Forns]

Amazing!!!!!
I really hope they don't have to pay the ultimate price for the spill.

[John Chardine]

They already have Fabs- young gannets, which stay in the gulf, have been one of the commonest species to be recovered oiled.

[Alfred Forns]

So sorry to hear John Hoping the best for the colony !!! ....... one impressive image !!! Have you made any at Cape St Mary's from the air?

[John Chardine]

Yes Al we did the Newfoundland colonies last week. I will dig one up and post.

[Fabs Forns]

They already have Fabs- young gannets, which stay in the gulf, have been one of the commonest species to be recovered oiled.

Price to pay for incompetence :2eyes2:
We saw one vey ill although not oiled wash ashore in Marco Island. The turtle lady was given orders no to touch and was left there to die :(

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Very impressive capture. Let's hope most of the oil will be gone before they head south.

[John Chardine]

Axel- my hunch is that there will still be plenty of oil around by the time birds arrive. The question will be, will the oil and bird distribution overlap?

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

John, thx for sharing such a marvellous photo of this amazing place.

[David Stephens]

Wow, great image.

What was the count?

[John Chardine]

Thanks David. I've not had a chance to count yet and may have to leave this labourious process to the late fall. The total will be around 60,000 pairs give or take.