Percé Rock is part of the Bonaventure Island and Percé Rock National Park. The huge block of limestone was formed about 375 million years ago and is currently crumbling at the rate of 300 tons per year.
One can walk out to the rock at low tide on a sand bar. I would have liked that. Sadly, circumstances dictated to us that we only had time for a cursory visit. Visitors are not allowed to climb onto the rock because it is crumbling too much, walking out to it at low tide would have been great or taking one of the many boat trips to it that we could have taken.
What did I miss? The smaller island is called Bonaventure Island. It contains a spectacular colony of northern gannets. These are magnificent birds. The island is considered one of the largest migratory bird refuges in North America. Its colony of gannets is one of the most accessible and largest in the world. I was told you can almost walk up to them. It is haunting me that we did not spend an extra day here. Approximately 300,000 seabirds nest on the island, including razor-billed auks, gulls, kittiwakes, murres, and cormorants. My very Bad. Actually, we had hoped to spend an extra night here but after we had trouble securing accommodation we decided to meander on.
Another sad case of would, coulda, shoulda. The travellers curse. But what a beautiful place. Canada is truly beautiful.