The Bay of Fundy, shown on the east coast of North America

The Bay of Fundy (French: Baie de Fundy) is a bay on the Atlantic coast of North America, on the northeast end of the Gulf of Maine between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine. Some sources believe the name "Fundy" is a corruption of the French word "Fendu", meaning "split",^[1] while others believe it comes from the Portuguese fondo, meaning "funnel".^[2] The bay was also named Baie Française (French Bay) by explorer/cartographer Samuel de Champlain during a 1604 expedition led by Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Monts which resulted in a failed settlement attempt on St. Croix Island.

The Bay of Fundy is known for having the highest tidal range in the world. Rivaled by Ungava Bay in northern Quebec, King Sound in Western Australia, Gulf of Khambhat in India, and the Severn Estuary in the UK, it has one of the highest vertical tidal ranges in the world. The Guinness Book of World Records (1975) declared that Burntcoat Head, Nova Scotia has the highest tides in the world:

“The Natural World, Greatest Tides: The greatest tides in the world occur in the Bay of Fundy.... Burntcoat Head in the Minas Basin, Nova Scotia, has the greatest mean spring range with 14.5 metres (47.5 feet) and an extreme range of 16.3 metres (53.5 feet).”

Portions of the Bay of Fundy, Shepody Bay and Minas Basin, form one of six Canadian sites in the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network, and is classified as a Hemispheric site.^[3] It is administered by the provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and the Canadian Wildlife Service, and is managed in conjunction with Ducks Unlimited Canada and the Nature Conservancy of Canada.

In July 2009, the Bay of Fundy was named as a finalist for the New 7 Wonders of Nature contest that ended in November 2011. It was not chosen as a wonder.^[4]

The Hopewell Rocks at low tide, on the New Brunswick shore

Extent[link]

The International Hydrographic Organization defines the southwest limit of the Bay of Fundy as "A line running northwesterly from Cape St. Mary (44°05'N) Nova Scotia, through Machias Seal Island (67°06'W) and on to Little River Head (44°39'N) in the State of Maine".^[5]

Tides[link]

Alma, New Brunswick at high and low tide

The Bay of Fundy is known for its high tidal range. The quest for world tidal dominance has led to a rivalry between the Minas Basin in the Bay of Fundy and the Leaf Basin in Ungava Bay, over which body of water lays claim to the highest tides in the world, with supporters in each region claiming the record.

The Canadian Hydrographic Service finally declared it a statistical tie, with measurements of a 16.8 metre (55.1 feet) tidal range in Leaf Basin for Ungava Bay and 17 meters (55.8 feet) at Burntcoat Head for the Bay of Fundy.^[6] The highest water level ever recorded in the Bay of Fundy system occurred at the head of the Minas Basin on the night of October 4–5, 1869 during a tropical cyclone named the “Saxby Gale”. The water level of 21.6 meters (70.9 feet) resulted from the combination of high winds, abnormally low atmospheric pressure, and a spring tide.

Leaf Basin has only been measured in recent years, whereas the Fundy system has been measured for many decades. The tide at Leaf Basin is higher on average than tides at Minas Basin; however, the highest recorded tidal ranges ever measured are at Burntcoat Head and result from spring tides measured at the peak of the tidal cycle every 18 years.

Folklore in the Mi'kmaq First Nation claims that the tides in the Bay of Fundy are caused by a giant whale splashing in the water. Oceanographers attribute it to tidal resonance resulting from a coincidence of timing: the time it takes a large wave to go from the mouth of the bay to the inner shore and back is practically the same as the time from one high tide to the next. During the 12.4 hour tidal period, 115 billion tonnes of water flow in and out of the bay.^[7]

The tides in the Bay of Fundy are semidiurnal.^[8] Semidiurnal tides are tides that have two highs and two lows each day. The height that the water rises and falls to each day during these tides are approximately equal.^[9] There are approximately six hours and thirteen minutes between each high and low tide.^[10]

Tidal electrical power generation[link]

Several proposals to build tidal harnesses for electrical power generation have been put forward in recent decades.^[11] Such proposals have mainly involved building barrages which effectively dam off a smaller arm of the bay and extract power from water flowing through them.

One such facility, (the only one of its kind currently operating) the Annapolis Royal Generating Station consists of a dam and 18-MW power house on the Annapolis River at Annapolis Royal, but larger proposals have been held back by a number of factors, including environmental concerns. The Annapolis Royal Generating Station has been studied for its various effects, including an accelerated shoreline erosion problem on the historic waterfront of the town of Annapolis Royal, as well as increased siltation and heavy metal and pesticide contamination upstream due to lack of regular river/tidal flushing. There have also been instances where large marine mammals such as whales have become trapped in the head pond after transiting the sluice gates during slack tide.

There have been proposals in recent years for installing underwater hydrofoils, which would not require any damming or blockading of parts of the bay but would instead generate power solely by being placed in areas of high water flow, such as at choke points or merely along the floor of any part of the bay which experiences strong currents.

Geology[link]

The Bay of Fundy lies in a rift valley called the Fundy Basin; as the rift began to separate from mainland North America, volcanic activity occurred, forming volcanoes and flood basalts. These flood basalts poured out over the landscape, covering much of southern Nova Scotia. Sections of the flood basalts have been eroded away, but still form a basaltic mountain range known as North Mountain. As a result, much of the basin floor is made of tholeiitic basalts giving its brown colour. The rift valley eventually failed (see aulacogen) as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge continued to separate North America, Europe, and Africa.

Sub-basins[link]

The upper part of the bay splits into Chignecto Bay in the northeast and the Minas Basin in the east. Chignecto Bay is further subdivided into Cumberland Basin and Shepody Bay and the extreme eastern portion of Minas Basin is called Cobequid Bay. Some of these upper reaches exhibit exposed red bay muds, for which the Bay of Fundy is noted (for their appearance and biological productivity).

Cape Chignecto, as viewed from the Visitor's Centre at Cape Chignecto Provincial Park.

Cape Chignecto defines Chignecto Bay whereas Cape Split defines the Minas Channel, leading to the Minas Basin. The Minas Channel connects the Minas Basin with the main body of the bay. The channel is 5.6 kilometers across and approximately 106.7 meters deep.^[9] The tides that flow through the channel are very powerful. They are as powerful as 8000 train engines or 25 million horses.^[12]

The Minas Basin in early May.

The lower part of the bay is also home to four important sub-basins: Passamaquoddy Bay and Back Bay on the New Brunswick shore, Cobscook Bay on the Maine shore, and the Annapolis Basin on the Nova Scotia shore.

The bay is home to several islands, the largest of which is Grand Manan Island at the boundary with the Gulf of Maine. Other important islands on the north side of the bay include Campobello Island, Moose Island, and Deer Island in the Passamaquoddy Bay area. Brier Island and Long Island can be found on the south side of the bay while Isle Haute is in the upper bay off Cape Chignecto. Smaller islands and islets also exist in Passamaquoddy Bay, Back Bay, and Annapolis Basin. The Five Islands, in the Minas Basin, are particularly scenic.

Eroded rock formations at the Bay of Fundy

The Bay of Fundy is also home to another interesting geologic feature, the Hopewell Rocks formation. This formation is where the “famous flower-pot rocks” are located on a short, one kilometer long portion of Shepody Bay.^[13] These rocks are shaped by the tides, the strength of the rocks, and the presence of the joints in the rocks. The rock in the cliffs the stacks are being cut from are arkosic sandstone and coarse poorly sorted conglomerates. The tides that are eroding away the cliffs are between 10.7 meters and 14.7 meters high on average.^[13]

Rivers[link]

The bay receives the waters of several rivers, including:

New Brunswick

• Big Salmon River
• Little Salmon River
• Magaguadavic River
• Memramcook River
• Petitcodiac River
• Quiddy River
• Saint John River
• St. Croix River
• Shepody River
• Tantramar River
• Upper Salmon River

Nova Scotia

• Annapolis River
• Avon River
• Cornwallis River
• Farrell River
• Salmon River
• Shubenacadie River

The Salmon River tidal bore 22 October 2009.

The bay's extreme tidal range causes several interesting phenomena in the various rivers which empty into it.

The Saint John River sees its flow reversed at high tide, causing a series of rapids at the famous Reversing Falls where the river empties into the bay, in a gorge in the middle of the city of Saint John.

Rivers in the upper Bay of Fundy have a smaller flow-rate than the Saint John, and a shallower slope. As a result, extensive mud flats are deposited throughout the tidal range of the rivers.

Tidal bore

Another phenomenon which occurs in these rivers of the upper bay is a "tidal bore", where a wave front of water "bores" its way up a river against its normal flow.^[14] One of the better examples of a tidal bore can be seen on the Shubenacadie River near the town of Truro and the village of Maitland, where local ecotourism operators offer the chance to experience rafting the bore upriver. Another good example of a tidal bore may be viewed on the Salmon River in the town of Truro. The once-famous tidal bores on the Petitcodiac and Avon rivers have been severely disrupted as a result of causeway construction in the 1960s–1970s which have caused excessive siltation.

Communities[link]

The largest population centre on the bay is the New Brunswick city of Saint John.

Though up-river on the Petitcodiac, the city of Moncton is also frequently associated with the Bay of Fundy.

The New Brunswick towns of St. Andrews, Blacks Harbour, St. Martins and Sackville as well as the Nova Scotia towns of Amherst, Parrsboro, Truro, Windsor, Wolfville, Annapolis Royal, and Digby are also on the bay.

History[link]

Major Benjamin Church: Led New England raids against Bay of Fundy Communities

The Mi'kmaq had fished in the Bay of Fundy and lived in communities around the bay for centuries. The first European settlement was at Île-Saint-Croix and then Port Royal was founded by Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons and Samuel de Champlain in 1605. The village was the first permanent European settlement north of St. Augustine, Florida. (Two years later, the English made their first permanent settlement in Jamestown, Virginia.) Approximately seventy-five years after Port Royal was founded, Acadians migrated from the capital and established what would become the other major Acadian settlements before the Expulsion of the Acadians: Grand Pré, Chignecto, Cobequid (present-day Truro, Nova Scotia) and Pisiguit (present-day Windsor, Nova Scotia).^[15]

There were numerous naval battles as well as naval attacks on the settlements surrounding the Bay of Fundy. Port Royal was raided numerous times before the four French and Indian Wars began with King William's War. During King William's War, there was the naval Action of 14 July 1696 off Saint John, New Brunswick and Major Benjamin Church arrived by sea from Boston and raided various Acadian communities around the Bay (See Raid on Chignecto (1696)). During Queen Anne's War, Church attacked the Acadian communities around the Bay again (See Raid on Grand Pré).^[15]

During Father Le Loutre's War, there were naval assaults on the communities of Chignecto (See Battle at Chignecto). Finally, during the last French and Indian War, the British expelled the Acadians in the Bay of Fundy Campaign (1755), which was followed three years later with campaigns which targeted the Saint John River and the Petitcodiac River.^[16]

During the American Revolution, American Patriots attacked by sea both Saint John, New Brunswick and Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. After the War, the boundary between the United States and the newly-created province of New Brunswick remained uncertain, resulting in a thriving smuggling trade in the region, especially on the waters of Passamaquoddy Bay.^[17] The Bay saw some action during the War of 1812 as well, mostly in the form of privateering and small patrol ships.^[18] After the War of 1812, the smuggling resumed and culminated in the so-called "plaster war" of 1820.

Ports and shipping[link]

The port of Saint John gives access to the pulp and paper industry and the Irving oil refinery. Hantsport, Nova Scotia, on the Avon River is also home to a pulp and paper mill and is the shipment point for raw gypsum exports to the United States. The ports of Bayside, New Brunswick, (near St. Andrews) and Eastport, Maine, are important local ports.

A result of shipping traffic has been the potential for increased collisions between ships and the North Atlantic right whale. In 2003, the Canadian Coast Guard adjusted shipping lanes crossing prime whale feeding areas at the entrance to the Bay of Fundy to lessen the risk of collision.

Grand Manan V ferry at North Head, Grand Manan Island

The bay is also traversed by several passenger and automobile ferry services:

• Saint John, New Brunswick, to Digby, Nova Scotia. (Operated by Bay Ferries Limited.)
• Grand Manan Island to Blacks Harbour, New Brunswick and White Head Island, New Brunswick, to Grand Manan Island. (Operated by Coastal Transport Limited.)
• Deer Island to Letete, New Brunswick. (The Letete to Deer Island Ferry, operated by the New Brunswick Department of Transportation.)
• Campobello Island, New Brunswick, to Deer Island. Eastport, Maine, to Deer Island. (Operated by East Coast Ferries Limited.)
• Westport, Nova Scotia, (Brier Island) to Freeport, Nova Scotia, (Long Island). Tiverton, Nova Scotia, (Long Island) to East Ferry, Nova Scotia. (Operated by Nova Scotia Department of Transportation and Public Works.)

The Bay of Fundy's ports and basins have a long shipping and shipbuilding history. Among other accomplishments, Fundy ports produced the fastest ship in the world, the ship Marco Polo; the largest wooden ship ever built in Canada, the ship William D. Lawrence; and the first female sea captain in the western world, Molly Kool of Alma, New Brunswick. The fabled mystery ship the Mary Celeste was also built on the Bay.

Parks and protected areas[link]

Point Wolfe at Fundy National Park.

A number of parks preserve and interpret the Bay of Fundy's coastal ecosystem. They include Fundy National Park in New Brunswick and Cape Chignecto Provincial Park and Five Islands Provincial Park and Blomidon Provincial Park in Nova Scotia. The Canadian Wildlife Service maintains a number of National Wildlife Areas in the Bay of Fundy including a proposed designation of Isle Haute in the middle of the Bay.

See also[link]

• Central Nova Tourist Association — Tourism Association Representing Cumberland and Colchester County.

References[link]

Tidal details of Annapolis River, Nova Scotia (Tidal Power House built on Bay of Fundy) can be found on [1]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bay of Fundy

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Fundy, Bay of.

• Travel and Science Information on Bay of Fundy region
• Bay of Fundy
• Bay of Fundy Tides
• NASA Earth Observatory
• Official Bay of Fundy Tourist Site
• Central Nova Tourist Association
• The Quoddy Loop around Passamaquoddy Bay, in the Bay of Fundy
• Where the Bay Becomes the Sea, a documentary on the Bay of Fundy ecosystem
• Bay of Fundy Ecosystem Partnership – scientific and popular information about the Bay
• Photos of Grand Manan Island at the entrance of the Bay of Fundy

Coordinates: 45°00′N 65°45′W / 45°N 65.75°W / 45; -65.75