51�Թ�

Locals on the �Ҳ�����é peninsula of Quebec have been gradually fleeing the coast for over a decade, and just last year New Zealand’s government promised financial aid for some of the 70,000 homes it said will soon need to seek higher ground.

Over the past decade, civilization has been pulled back from the water’s edge where possible along the eastern stretch of the Gaspe Peninsula where coastline is particularly vulnerable to erosion.

But the Gaspe Peninsula’s approach is a test case for far-flung places where strategic capitulation to nature is possible, even with historic human settlements in the mix.

From the town of Percé, the mainland cliffs with the red-roofed houses, the commanding Perce Rock and Bonaventure Island make for an iconic panorama, and a mystical one for the people of the Gaspe Peninsula and travelers from around the world.

The island just off Quebec’s Gaspe Peninsula offers remarkable insights into the northern gannets because they are easily accessible in vast numbers, seem to ignore humans and unlike many seabird species put up with being studied and tagged.