Baccalieu Island or Bacalhoo Island
()
is a 5 km
2 uninhabited island at the northern extremities of
Conception Bay in
Subdivision 1G, near the community of
Red Head Cove, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It is separated from the island of
Newfoundland by Baccalieu Tickle, a small
strait and an abundant fishing ground. The island has some trees but is mostly rocky.
The name ''Baccalieu'' is derived either from the
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
''
bacalhau
() is the Portuguese word for cod and—in a culinary context—dried and salted cod. Fresh (unsalted) cod is referred to as (fresh cod).
Portuguese and other cuisines
dishes are common in Portugal, and also in former Portuguese colonies ...
'',
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
''bacalao'' or the
Basque
Basque may refer to:
* Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France
* Basque language, their language
Places
* Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France
* Basque Country (autonomous co ...
''baccalos'', all meaning "
codfish". Early Portuguese maps dating before
Columbus' voyage indicate an island west of the Azores named
Terra do Bacalhau which may have been the whole island of Newfoundland. Modern Baccalieu Island was known to Europeans by that name since at least 1556, when it was drawn on the
Gastaldi map as "Bacalaos".
Ecological Reserve
:
Baccalieu Island is the largest seabird island in Newfoundland and supports the greatest diversity of breeding seabirds in eastern North America. The island supports the largest known colony of
Leach's storm-petrel in the world, approximately 40% of the global population and about 70% of the western Atlantic population of this species. It is a nesting area for 11 breeding species:
*
Atlantic puffin (45,000 pairs - approximately 12% of the eastern North America population)
*
Black-legged kittiwake (13,000 - approximately 5 to 7% of the western Atlantic breeding population); and
*
Northern gannet
The northern gannet (''Morus bassanus'') is a seabird, the largest species of the gannet family, Sulidae. It is native to the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean, breeding in Western Europe and Northeastern North America. It is the largest seabird in t ...
(677 pairs - approximately 1.5% of the North American population).
*
Northern fulmar
*
Black guillemot
*
Common murre
The common murre or common guillemot (''Uria aalge'') is a large auk. It has a circumpolar distribution, occurring in low-Arctic and boreal waters in the North Atlantic and North Pacific. It spends most of its time at sea, only coming to land to ...
*
Thick-billed murre
The thick-billed murre or Brünnich's guillemot (''Uria lomvia'') is a bird in the auk family (Alcidae). This bird is named after the Danish zoologist Morten Thrane Brünnich. The very deeply black North Pacific subspecies ''Uria lomvia arra'' ...
*
Razorbill
The razorbill, razor-billed auk, or lesser auk (''Alca torda'') is a colonial seabird and the only extant member of the genus '' Alca'' of the family Alcidae, the auks. It is the closest living relative of the extinct great auk (''Pinguinis im ...
*
Herring gull Herring gull is a common name for several birds in the genus '' Larus'', all formerly treated as a single species.
Three species are still combined in some taxonomies:
* American herring gull (''Larus smithsonianus'') - North America
* European ...
*
Great black-backed gull
The great black-backed gull (''Larus marinus'') is the largest member of the gull family. Described by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as "the king of the Atlantic waterfront", it is a very aggressive hunter, pirate, and scavenger. It breeds on t ...
* The island also includes one of the largest winter populations of
eider
Eiders () are large seaducks in the genus ''Somateria''. The three extant species all breed in the cooler latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere.
The down feathers of eider ducks, and some other ducks and geese, are used to fill pillows and quil ...
in Newfoundland.
The island has a surface of 5 km
2, and the reserve spans 23 km
2, including all of the island and one kilometre of ocean around the coast.
Lighthouses
Historically, two lighthouses were operated on Baccalieu Island; today both are automated. The lighthouse on the northern end is not operational any more; its light was extinguished in the early 1990s. This lighthouse was replaced as an aid to navigation by an automated light on a skeletal tower. It was originally a brick tower and was later encased in iron. The two storey residence attached was removed after 1950. The old tower's data:
* Tower height:
* Height of focal plane:
* Description: Red, conical cast iron
* Date established: 1859
* Date present tower built: 1858
* Date deactivated: 1990s
* Current use: Unknown
* Open to public: No
Four generations of the Ryan family "kept the light" at Baccalieu from 1858 to 1950. Other keepers at Baccalieu included Felix Noonan, Eric Blundon, John Hyde, Linus Walsh, Joseph Hatch, Pat Rice, and principal lightkeeper Raymond Hyde.
Ghost ship
In 1884 the merchant
brig ''Resolven'' was found abandoned in the waters off Baccalieu and
Catalina, Newfoundland and Labrador
Catalina ( ) is a community located on the eastern side of the Bonavista Peninsula, in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Catalina adjoins the union town of Port Union, the town built for and home to the Fisherman's Union Compan ...
.
The fate of the crew is unknown.
See also
*
List of lighthouses in Newfoundland and Labrador
*
List of lighthouses in Canada
* "
The Cliffs of Baccalieu "The Cliffs of Baccalieu" is a Newfoundland song written by Jack Withers (1899-1964). Many fisherman from Newfoundland spent their summers fishing on the Labrador coast. This song depicts a tense incident for a ship coming home from Labrador on its ...
"
Notes
External links
Buoys, Lights and Aids to Navigation''Canadian Coast Guard''
Newfoundland Heritage SiteLighthouse DigestBaccalieu Island Ecological Reserve homepagePDF map of the island and the reservePicture of Baccalieu Island Lighthouse
{{Lighthouse identifiers , qid2=Q29869493
Uninhabited islands of Newfoundland and Labrador
Lighthouses in Newfoundland and Labrador
Nature reserves in Newfoundland and Labrador