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Quebec’s “La Gaspésie” is a rounded peninsula that juts onto
into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Bordered by the mighty St.
Lawrence River to the north, and the Baie des Chaleurs and New
Brunswick to the south, 3 natural habitats combine to give the
region it’s unique character and appeal as a wildlife
destination: the ocean, mountains, and boreal forest. It is
home to one of the largest Moose populations in Canada, the
most southerly Caribou herd in North America, and some of the
continent’s most important nesting sites for seabirds.
It’s coastal waters are also visited each year by some of the
largest whales on the planet including the Fin and Northern
Right Whale, as well as the biggest of them all, the almost
mythical Blue Whale.
The modern day town of Gaspé
at the tip of the peninsula marks the spot where the explorer
Jacques Cartier first landed in 1534 and claimed Canada for the
king of France, and is the gateway to Forillon National Park. |
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This
finger of dense boreal forests above dramatic cliffs is surrounded
on 3 sides by the ocean and in many ways is like the Gaspé
Peninsula in miniature. It is home to moose, deer, beavers,
porcupines, black bears, seals, great blue herons, and a wide
variety of seabirds. Visitors should also train their binoculars
seaward, as whales are frequently seen just offshore in the Baie
de Gaspé.
The picturesque seaside village of Percé just south of Gaspé is
considered by many to be the jewel of the Gaspé Peninsula and the
site of the most photographed landmark in Quebec: the Rocher Percé
or Pierced Rock. Île de la Bonaventure, a small rocky island just
offshore and national heritage site is home to a colony of grey
seals and is one of the two largest gannet nesting sites in the
world, the other being St. Kilda in Scotland. Each year a cliff
top plateau in the southeast of the island plays host to around
150,000 Northern Gannets as well as numerous other nesting
seabirds: one of the most dramatic natural spectacles in the
world.
The Chic-Choc and McGerrigle mountain ranges form the spine of the
Gaspé Peninsula which boasts 25 of the 40 highest peaks in Quebec,
all of them over 3,300 feet (1,000m), and the final section of the
International Appalachian trail which ends in Forillion National
Park. The highest peaks are all contained within Parc National de
la Gaspésie where endangered Caribou eke out a precarious
existence grazing on lichens at the high elevations of Mont Albert
and Mont Jacques Cartier, the remnants of a once mighty woodland
caribou population that stretched all the way south to Carolina.
The biggest threat to the herd’s survival is no longer hunting by
predation by Black Bears and Coyotes. The park is also home to a
very healthy Moose population and a wide variety of other mammals
and birds.
Neighbouring Matane Wildlife Reserve has one of the highest
concentrations of Moose anywhere in North America (2 moose per
square kilometre) and is home to Eastern Canada’s first mountain
lodge. Perched atop a 2,030 foot (615m) peak high in the Chic-Chocs
mountains, and surrounded on all sides by deep valleys and even
higher peaks that are home to Caribou and Golden Eagles, this
first class wilderness lodge offers the highest standards in
accommodation, cuisine, and guiding. Guests can choose from a wide
variety of activities including wildlife observation, hiking,
mountain biking, canoeing, kayaking, and fly fishing, and the high
guide to guest ratio ensures that the activities are tailored to
the guests’ particular interests and fitness levels.
Further west at the base of the peninsula is Bic National Park,
which has some excellent walking trails and a number of great
locations from which to observe seals and other wildlife, the
picturesque Matapedia River Valley, famous for its historic
covered wooden bridges and fall colour, and Parc de Miguasha, one
of the world’s fossil capitals, home to probably the greatest
number and best preserved fossils from the Devonian period
including the lobe-finned fish that first made the transition from
ocean to land.
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