Descriptif
Les Sept-Îles (in Breton: ar Jentilez) is the name of a small archipelago located in the north of Brittany, depending on the municipality of Perros-Guirec.
It is the oldest and the most important private ornithological reserve in France. It was created in 1912 in reaction to the massacre of puffins. It mainly hosts sea birds such as northern gannets, cormorants and alcids (puffins, twisted penguins and common murres). The archipelago is also a breeding ground for the gray seal.
History information
In 1910, the Compagnie des Chemins de Fer de l'Ouest offered bird shooting enthusiasts on hunting trips in the archipelago, targeting in particular puffins; in two years their number increased from 20,000 to 2,000; emotion and protests led to the creation of the ornithological nature reserve in 1912
The islands of the archipelago
Contrary to what the French name would suggest, the archipelago does not have seven islands, but five main islands, as well as a multitude of rocks (the Costans) and an islet (the Cerf). The French name comes from a bad copy of the probable Breton name (under an old spelling Sentiles), Frenchized in Sept Îles by the French administration. The oldest spellings are Sicdelis, Sintelis from the 5th century. The tourist guides nevertheless strive to find seven islands, and give the island name to two groups of pitfalls to arrive at the count.