The Bay of Fundy is one of the many natural wonders found along the coastlines of Canada’s Maritime Provinces. Located between the provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, the Bay of Fundy is the site of the world’s highest tides. Globally, the average difference between high tide and low tide, called the tidal range, is about 3 feet. But in the funnel-shaped Bay of Fundy the tidal range is about 52 feet—more than 17 times the global average! Since the tide changes about every 6 hours and 13 minutes that means the water goes up and down by about 52 feet twice every day. And since the Bay of Fundy is no small body of water—it’s about 250 miles long and has an average depth of about ½ mile—that’s an astonishing amount of water moving in and out of the bay. To help paint the picture here’s the Boar’s Head Lighthouse on a foggy section of the Bay of Fundy viewed from East Ferry, Nova Scotia.
Wikipedia puts it this way “the tides that flow through the channel are very powerful. In one 12-hour tidal cycle, about 100 billion tonnes of water flows in and out of the bay, which is twice as much as the combined total flow of all the rivers of the world over the same period. They are as powerful as 8,000 train engines or 25 million horses.” Imagine—25 million horses!
All that tidal action creates some dramatic shorelines and some astonishing opportunities. At Burntcoat Head, for instance, one can visit at low tide to walk around the ocean floor. The tide was out at the time these photos were taken but we never forgot that within 6 hours this entire area would be totally submerged.
The trees, visible on top of the red sandstone cliffs, provide a strong visual clue as to how high the water will rise.
There were tide pools to observe and rock piles to explore…
…as well as, invertebrates, crustaceans and seaweed to examine.
One might wonder how “Burntcoat Head” got its name. As the story goes “In 1795 … residents Thomas and Robert Faulkner were burning the marsh and hung a coat too close to a fire. Another story tells of the crew of a ship landing to spend the night. One of the men got too close to the fire and set his coat ablaze. His crewmates woke, yelling “Burnt coat!”. As colourful as these stories are, it’s more likely that “burnt coat” is an English pronunciation of “Pointe Cloche”, French for “Bell Point”.“
Exploring the ocean floor during low tide is a pretty amazing adventure but it gets even better than that. Visitors can “experience the ultimate culinary adventure at the site of the world’s highest tides” by participating in a Dining on the Ocean Floor by Food Fantastique event. A local chef hosts the event which includes guided tours, a lunchtime seafood feast, a 3-course sit-down dinner and a beach campfire—all on the ocean floor. It’s a super posh once-in-a-lifetime event. Alternatively, it’s possible to do what I did—host my own ocean floor dining experience.
We cracked open a locally-brewed beer from our fisherman’s lunch bucket. This item was handmade using the same skills practiced by Newfoundland coopers for hundreds of years. These buckets were used to keep a fisherman’s lunch safe and dry at sea.
Later in the day, we enjoyed with a nice glass of white wine…
…followed by cheese, crackers and fresh fruit.
It was a simple meal in an extraordinary setting!
Slowly the sun started to set as the tide returned.
A gorgeous sunset topped off an extraordinary day!
More Info
You can learn more about visiting the Bay of Fundy and the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia, Canada on the Tourism Nova Scotia website.
The Burntcoat Head Park website provides information about the Park, shore life and ocean floor adventures as well as tips for planning your visit.
Special thanks to my sister Marian for collaborating on the Burntcoat Head photo shoot and for taking the below picture.
Tip: Rubber boots are best for traversing the muddy sections along the shoreline—plus they make quite the fashion statement!
You can learn more about Dining on the Ocean Floor by Food Fantastique on their website.
You may also enjoy these FanningSparks’ posts about picnicking and dining out-of-doors:
. Picnic Under the Wisteria
. A Colorful Backyard Picnic
. Sunrise Breakfast Picnic
. The Ultimate Picnic Blanket – DIY Tutorial.
Today’s Takeaways
1. The Bay of Fundy, located between the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, has the highest tides in the world.
2. Explore, observe and relish nature’s wonders.
3. Sometimes a do-it-yourself version of a packaged experience is a great alternative.
Comments are closed.