BONAVENTURE ISLAND

French le Bonaventure, island in Gaspsieles-de-la-Madeleine region, eastern Quebec province, Canada. The island lies in the Gulf of St. Lawrence off Perc at the end of the Gasp Peninsula. Although only 2.5 miles (4 km) long, its rocky cliffs provide sanctuary for thousands of nesting gannets from April to November, in addition to auks, gulls, kittiwakes, and guillemots. It was originally named Bonne Aventure by Jacques Cartier, the French navigator-explorer, and was settled by Captain Peter Duval, a Jersey (Channel Islands) sea captain and privateer. In 1971 the provincial government purchased the island, which in 1985 was declared a conservation park.