Located on the Atlantic Coast of southeast Newfoundland, Witless Bay is famous for its large colonies of sea birds, including 300,000 pair of Atlantic puffins, the largest concentration of this species on the planet. The various sea birds, which include puffins, murres, black guillemots and black-legged kittiwakes, nest on the cliff-edged islands that form a chain across the broad mouth of the bay. Protected within the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve, access to the islands is limited to research personnel but a number of local companies offer boat tours of this scenic marine refuge.
Today's tour, blessed by sunny, mild weather, met all of our expectations. Puffins were abundant, guarding their burrows or flying to and from the islands to provide food for their lone youngster; Atlantic puffins mate for life, raising a single offspring each year. Lower cliffs were nearly covered by nesting kittiwakes while large colonies of common and thick-billed murres clustered at favored sites. Though I spotted a flock of razorbills moving across the bay, their nesting season appeared to be over and none were spotted on the islands; likewise, the black guillemots had apparently moved out to sea for the winter months.
Herring and great black-backed gulls, gannets and common terns rounded out the seabirds on today's tour and we had the good fortune to see several humpback whales during our time on the bay. Tomorrow, we plan a drive across the heart of Newfoundland and will spend two days at Gros Morne National Park, on the western coast of this magnificent island.
