In her debut performance, Gavia is introduced as a lovelorn, lonely, loony lady, with sentimental thoughts of the past.  Inspired by the plight of the Common Loon, Gavia is a lament for the last loon left, the last one to survive environmental stressors such as mercury poisoning that threaten their existence.  Somewhat blind, burdened with the thought of the young she could no longer carry on her back and the memory of her lost "mate for life", Gavia has a predisposition to excessive preening and a slightly odd way of doing things. 

The Common Loon population is threatened by mercury poisioning and habitat disruption; for more information go to http://www.hww.ca/hww2.asp?id=53.