Naught but a low-lying bare rock, washed over by the sea in fall and winter, Funk Island does not even rate an appearance on most maps.

Bird-watchers come here to pay their respects to the flightless bird. Worldwide, the great auk was hunted to extinction in the 1800s; the last known were killed in 1844. Defenceless and without guile they were easy prey for hunters.

Although this ecological reserve is protected against human activity and only approved scientific research expeditions can actually step on to the island, you can circler around it .
Though devoid of great auks, the island still teems with bird life. Canada’s largest common murre colony nests on the island during the summer breeding season. Northern gannets, puffins, northern fulmars, gulls, and kittiwakes nest here, too.