Witless Bay Ecological Reserve

Witless Bay Ecological Reserve
IUCN category Ia (strict nature reserve)
Gull Island (largest of four islands in reserve)
Location	Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
Nearest city	St. John's
Coordinates	47°13′47″N 52°47′27″W
Established	1964 (Wildlife Reserve), 1983 (Ecological Reserve)
Governing body	Newfoundland and Labrador, Dept. of Environment and Conservation

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Location of Witless Bay, Newfoundland

Witless Bay Ecological Reserve is an ecological preserve close to St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The Witless Bay Ecological Reserve consists of four islands: Gull Island, Green Island, Great Island, and Pee Pee Island. Immense numbers of birds nest on these islands during the seabird breeding season, roughly from 1 April through 1 September.

Two of the reserve's islands: Pee Pee Island in foreground with Great Island in background, 2020

The Witless Bay reserve contains North America´s largest Atlantic puffin colony. It is estimated that more than 260,000 pairs of Atlantic puffins nest there during the late spring and summer. The reserve also hosts the world's second-largest colony of Leach's storm-petrels. More than 620,000 pairs of these birds come here to nest every year. Thousands of black-legged kittiwakes and common murres arrive for the nesting season.

A tourism information centre is located in the reserve, by Lower Pond in the town of Witless Bay.

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  Common murres on Gull Island, Witless Bay Ecological Reserve
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  Atlantic puffins on Gull Island, Witless Bay Ecological Reserve

External links

• Witless Bay town's web site
• Witless Bay Ecological Reserve
• Witless Bay Management Plan