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(wilson) |-| E L L 0. |-| I. |3 0 |\| J 0 (_) R. Yesterday we went to Perce town, on the Gaspe Peninsula of Quebec, Canada, North America, Northern Hemisphere, Western Hemisphere, Earth. First we parked our RV and Rachel and mom went into a bakery. We were going to Parc de la Bonaventure, which is an island full of Northern Gannets. The boat wasn't leaving for 20 minutes, so we thought we had time to eat and stuff, but then we found out that everyone was boarding the boat in 5 minutes. We rushed onto it, and took a 1-hour tour to Bonaventure. Only thing was, the captain, who was the tour guide, spoke French. So we just watched outside until we were right at Bonaventure. There were TONS of gannets flying around the cliffs, and we got to see a bunch of seals up close! I liked the sound the gannets made. It's kind of the same noise that a bunch of Pterosaurs make in a dinosaur program. When we pulled up at Bonaventure Island, we got off the boat and went on the Colonies hiking trail. It's 2.8 (2,8 to the Canadians) kilometers one way. The trail was nice, but after a while my feet were getting sore. When we finally got to the Northern gannets, we winced at the smell and died. Just kidding. Well, they were stinky. The colony was even bigger at the top of the cliff. They had the birds' nests roped off, but we could stand 5 feet away from some birds. The gannets' heads and necks were a nice shade of yellow. Also, some of them had 6-foot wingspans. When the gannets look towards the sky, that means that they're about to take off. They're filling up air cells in their heads that cushion the impact of water when they dive. Gannets are very good divers. I didn't see any of them do it, but they say that they fold up their wings and plunge straight into the water. Gannets also mate for life, but the only way they can recognize their mate is their nesting site. One parent always stays at the nesting site, so they can recognize eachother. Plus, it's impossible to tell females from males. The young gannets have fewer feathers and are almost black. After we left the gannets, we went back on the same hiking trail, and Rachel and mom figured out that total, we hiked 5.6 kilometers (5,6 to you Canadians). We stopped and had some lunch, and went back onto the boat so we could get to Perce. The waves are super high, and it feels like you're falling a lot. Mom got some pastries at Perce, and we left to go back to Tete d'Indien. I like gannets. Here's a picture of one:------/^/---------------------
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---------------------------------- note-the dashes are not part of the gannet, just the background. If you can't see it, you're blind.