We arrivedin Newfoundland on the west side of the island at Port aux Basques due to the Argentia Ferry cancellation. That night we drove as far as Corner Brook in western Newfoundland. The next day we drove the rest of the approximately 600 miles to the Avalon Peninsula staying at the Claddagh Inn B&B in St. Mary's. The next mornig we drove over the extensive peatland barrens (below) to Cape St. Mary's.
Cape St Mary's consists of extensive sea cliffs around 500 ft. in height. The area is now a bird sanctuary where nesting seabirds gather to breed. Northern gannets (below)s make up the largest group of sea birds. Other birds included black-legged kittiwakes, auks, murres, and guillimots. There are presently about 14,000 pairs of gannets here, making it the largest gannett colony in North America. The weather was extremely foggy along the immediate coast, but we were still able to view the birds.
That night we traveled to St. John. The next morning dawned a beautiful day and we headed south to the Town of Bay Bull's for a boat trip out to Witless Bay.The bay is noted for both whales and sea birds. While at the dock we saw a white-sided dolphin. Then it was out to the bay to observe minke whales and humpback whales (below). The whales performed by surfacing and diving, displaying their tails
Witless Bay is mostly know for the huge Atlantic puffin population. It is estimated that as many as 320,000 puffins (below) gather to breed on the offshore islands, making it the largest breeding population in the world. They nest for life returning to the same burrrow as the previous year. While at sea they seperate, retuning in the spring. Puffins were everywhere, on the island, in the water, and flying all around. They are small (about 8 inches Long) and are quite stocky. It is amazing that they can fly.
As the boat continued along the shore of the island we came across a huge population of common murres (below) clustered in one area. It was estimated that the population was about 100,000. Other sea birds seen were black-legged kitiwakes, herring gulls, and great black-backed gulls.
The next installment will feature our day at St. John's, the capital of Newfoundland.
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