Climate reshapes life for tenacious gannets on Quebec isle

By CALVIN WOODWARD, LYNN BERRY, CAROLYN KASTER and CHRISTINA LARSON
Associated Press

PERCE, Quebec (AP) — Scientists are tracking the threats to seabirds from climate change, overfishing and other perils wrought by humans. Many species, though, are hard to study because they live in a marine wilderness or are scattered. But not the northern gannets that breed on Bonaventure Island off Canada’s Gaspé Peninsula. The small island is close to shore and home to over 100,000 gannets in the breeding season, making them the world’s second largest northern gannet colony. What’s more, these birds are easy to approach. Experts say there’s little question that global warming is reshaping the lives of northern gannets by driving fish deeper into cooler waters and sometimes beyond their reach.