N.L. seabirds in Gulf spill area: researcher

A seabird biologist says research is beginning to show that tens of thousands of gannets from eastern Newfoundland are flying to the Gulf of Mexico where a massive oil spill began five months ago.

Seabird biologist Bill Montevecchi has been tagging seabirds near Cape St. Mary's since the spill began, in an attempt to determine how many fly to the Gulf from eastern Newfoundland. Montevecchi also wants to discover how the birds been affected by the spill.

"Right now, you know, our estimates based on some tagging information are that well over 100,000 birds from here, gannets, are going to the Gulf of Mexico," he said Wednesday.

"So we're trying to pin down the timing of when they're going in, where they are. The birds we've tagged here are right off the Louisiana coast, they are right in the vicinity of the Deepwater Horizon spill."

Montevecchi, a professor at Memorial University in St. John's, said it could be years before the full extent of the impact of the spill on wildlife is known.

Eleven workers died when the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico April 20.

Every spring tens of thousands of white gannets circle the bluffs of the Cape St. Mary's Bird Sanctuary, southwest of St. John's.

There are also large gannet colonies in Quebec. They come north to nest, lay eggs and raise their chicks during the summer.