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.