Aye, she fishes, that she does

Although there are many enticing job prospects for those of us who live around the Bay of Fundy, such as dulse picker, flounder boat T-shirt designer, mudshrimp biologist, seagull watcher, elf shoe maker, rug hooker, intertidal zone moon walker, salmon smoker and seagull researcher, I've never quite gotten over the appeal of becoming a lobster fisher.

Despite repeated warnings that it's intense, smelly, dangerous, strenuous work I'm still fascinated...which recently lead me to pester my colleague Shelley for a snapshot of what life is really like at sea for a Bay of Fundy chick.

In summer and early fall Shelley works for Brier Island Whale & Seabird cruises on Brier Island, Nova Scotia, where she's been manager and dedicated whale researcher for 21 years. In lobster season (November to May) for the past few years she's taken up lobster fishing!

Typical of most whale watch companies in our bay, the vessel she uses for whale watching is the same one used for lobster fishing: it undergoes an extreme makeover between seasons. To prepare for lobstering all the passenger seating, decorative railings, etc. are removed as is the boat's stern. Lobster gear is added, including an anchor rank to assist with hauling the traps. The smell, as Shelley says, is 'added gradually'. Shelley's fisher/fisherman/fisherwoman (she's not fussed about what you call her) days are 12 to 18 hours long, depending on the weather and the proximity of the traps.

When I asked what surprised her most about the reality lobster fishing it wasn't the long days or the heavy work, she actually said she was amused by how fiercely competitive the industry is - everyone has their own special spot in the bay that delivers 'the best' Bay of Fundy lobster!

Great white shark appreciation day!

Hey! Did you know it's Great White Shark Appreciation Day in the Bay of Fundy today?

Further to my last post, I've decided to declare the Great White Shark our official fish mascot for the Bay of Fundy in the New7Wonders of Nature campaign!

You may have heard that a few great whites have been working diligently in our bay in recent weeks, promoting votes for Bay of Fundy... sooooo adorable! see pic --->

If you'd like to start your own "Great White Shark Appreciation Day" I've gather a few facts that you may find helpful in countering the Jaws-silly-movie-goer factor:

1) Sharks, in general, date from 420 million years ago (about 2x older than the world's oldest dinosaurs, ergo, waaaaay older than humans) and have diversified, world-wide, into over 400 species.

2) They possess amazing problem-solving skills, social skills, curiosity and playfulness.

3) Sharks grow replacement teeth as needed many times in their lives (this is exceedingly interesting to me as I pass through middle age)

4) They have a complex dermal corset (outer skin) made of flexible collagenous fibres and arranged as a helical network surrounding their bodies (I have no idea what this means but it, too, appeals to my middle-aged self!)

5) Their survival is under serious threat from over-fishing and other human activities (geez, did we do that again...?)

6) They rely on their livers, not bladders like other fish, for buoyancy and their livers make up 30% of their body size (no comment from the beer fridge on the appeal of that one)

7) True, they are color-blind, but they can see underwater and in the dark (James Bond would love this!)

8) They have the best electrical sensitivity of any animal. They find their prey (even those hidden in sand) by the electrical fields they produce. (Bond again...just sayin')

9) Great whites are among many species of sharks found in the Bay of Fundy: also sighted here are Sharpnose, Basking, Blue, Porbeagles, Whitetips, Makos, etc. (Repeat after me: "Aren't we lucky to have one of the world's most diverse marine ecosystems that hosts such a variety of fascinating creatures")

10) Great white sharks don't eat people: they prefer tuna, rays, other sharks, dolphins, porpoise, whales, seals, sea turtles, sea birds. When humans are involved (try these low stats: 31 human interactions in the Mediterranean in the past 2 centuries, most non-fatal) it's generally a case of mistaken identity: thinking a person's silhouette is a seal's. One bite = taste test, the kinda thing that happens in nature.

11) The last great white shark sighting in Bay of Fundy (until a couple weeks ago) was 6 years ago.

12) And, finally, Jaws author, Peter Benchley, and Jaws film director, Steven Spielburg, later worked diligently to dispel the image they created of great whites as man-eating monsters. (a bit late there lads but still a nice gesture ~ thank ye very much!).

Dangerous critters lurk in our bay! haha

There've been a few sightings of great white sharks in our bay in the past few weeks (yes, they are the JAWS movie sharks).

These sightings would be rather ho-hum if it wasn't for the overzealous, uninformed, fear-mongering media reports of them. Reporters using terms like 'fierce predator' 'man-eating monsters' 'massive killer fish' to describe this extraordinary fish. Really? I mean really......

So let's set the record straight: sub-surface the Bay of Fundy is full of all kinds of dangerous and s-c-a-r-y critters, isn't it?

1) Lobster: these crustaceans could take your fingers off with their grabber claws if our deft fishermen didn't immediately pop those blue elastic bands on them, and, even still, they could choke you if you tried to eat their claw meat too fast.

2) Sea cucumbers: coolest thing ever to look at (related to a star fish but kinda inside-out, see image in this post) but if you pick one up it will pee on you - ewwwww - as it deflates and tries to defend itself.

3) Jelly-fish: oh so delicate and innocent-looking to see but did you know they sting? ouch

4) Sea weed: will reach up and WRAP AROUND people's legs when they are swimming in the bay. (The locals, btw, have tamed some of it and harvest it and eat it!)

Tourists: visit at your peril! hahah

Crazy Saint Johners make Giant 7

There's certainly LOTS of excitement about the Bay of Fundy representing Canada in the global New7Wonders of Nature campaign. In fact, folks in the Fundy city of Saint John, New Brunswick, are so excited about 700 of them decided to turn up on the waterfront a couple days ago to form a giant human 7. Check out this time-lapse video... Gooooooooo Fundy!

Cliffs of Moher meet Bay of Fundy!

With just over 7 months left in the global New7Wonders of Nature campaign I decided to pop over to meet one of our 'competitors' in this friendly campaign. A quick trip 'across the pond' landed me in Ireland for a few days' visit to the stunning Cliffs of Moher!

The Cliffs of Moher lie on the opposite side of Bay of Fundy on the mighty Atlantic ocean and form a 200 metre tall buttress along the North Clare coastline on the west coast of Ireland.

Stretching for over 8 kilometres they are home to a wide variety of seabirds and marine wildlife as well as spectacular geological features and formations. Much like the Bay of Fundy, people have been visiting the Cliffs of Moher for hundreds of years to marvel at nature’s work.

I'm pictured here on a windy day in front of the Cliffs of Moher with Katherine Webster, Director of the Cliffs of Moher Experience 'officially' exchanging apparel from each of our attractions.

So consider also voting for the lovely Cliffs of Moher when you go online to choose your favourite New7Wonders of Nature.

Fundy kids steal intermission at Hockey Game

Among several events that took place during the Canada Games this month to promote the Bay of Fundy in the New7Wonders of Nature campaign was the delightful intermission performance at the men's hockey final. Young hockey players from the region donned special "VoteFundy" hockey jerseys with 7s on the back then skated out to form a giant 7. Over 10,000 spectators were urged to vote for Canada's Bay of Fundy in the global campaign by texting FUNDY to 77077 or in French BAIE to 77077 ($0.25 per text vote!).

Celebrating Australia Day ~ Bay of Fundy style!

I couldn't resist popping this post in the middle of my winter series...Today is Australia Day, a perfect opportunity to announce the formation of a 'world beating team' that we hope will propel the Bay of Fundy to one of the winning New7Wonders of Nature.

As many of my blog readers will recall, the Bay of Fundy is Canada’s sole finalist among 28 prestigious worldwide nature sites in the global New7Wonders of Nature campaign.

Since the New7Wonders of Nature campaign’s on-line voting system requires the public to vote for 7 different finalists, each country is encouraging Canadians and Australians to include each other’s sites in their choice of 7. Australia has two competing finalists, the Great Barrier Reef and Uluru (Ayers Rock).

We've come together to support each other as we move forward in these final months of this historic campaign. The addition of Australia’s population of 21 million people could make a huge difference to Bay of Fundy’s success in the campaign.”

Here's what Tourism Australia’s Managing Director, Andrew McEvoy has to say about our partnership, “We are delighted to team up with our Canadian friends to announce this partnership with the Bay of Fundy today. If we Canadians and Australians work together we’ll be a world-beating team, and generate enough votes to get all three of our nominated sites onto the New7Wonders of Nature list.

“This is also a great opportunity for us to use our collective strength to encourage tourists from around the world to experience these incredible sites for themselves.” Tourism Australia is the official supporting committee for both Australian sites. Bay of Fundy Tourism is the official supporting committee for Canada's Bay of Fundy!

photo: Me proudly flying the Canada & Australia flags over Bay of Fundy!

Living on a postcard

There are spendid days during my travels around our region when the light is just right, when the perspective is perfect, when it feels like I'm living on a Bay of Fundy postcard. Today was one of those awesome days.

For locals on Campobello Island this is the every-day ho-hum view of their famed East Quoddy Light (a.k.a. Head Harbour Lightstation). It's quite possibly the most photographed lighthouse in the Bay of Fundy: visible from the island as well as from the ocean during trips with whale watch companies (which is when I took this photo).

I'm on Campobello Island for a few days filming one of our Bay of Fundy Travel Show episodes
and, if my first few hours here are any indication, there will be many more picture-postcard moments....!

Expecting a visit from Hurricane Earl

Living on the edge of the Atlantic ocean it's not uncommon for our region to pick up the odd 'leftover' storm or hurricane from our neighbours to the south.

The Canadian Hurricane Centre keeps a close eye on such weather systems and we're told that Hurricane Earl is spinning up the coast ready to pay us a visit tomorrow morning.

Luckily, although the tide is forecast high around 9:30, these are the lower tides of the month so we shouldn't have to worry about tidal surges. Still, we're still a few weeks away from harvest time so our fruit trees are heavily laden with apples, pears, wine grapes, etc....could be interesting!

Odysseus & the Bay of Fundy connection?

As you can tell from the "art" tab here on my blog, the Bay of Fundy inspires a great deal of creativity. However, even I was surprised to learn recently that there has been a relatively credible connection made between the Bay and the writings of Homer....

George Fowler (retired Engineer with the Bedford Institute of Oceanography and classics buff) speculates that the seafaring Odysseus, hero of Homer's Odyssey, included the Bay of Fundy in his epic journey!

It's an interesting theory which Fowler describes using Fundy's tides and currents, as well as star patterns at the time. Odysseus (Ulysses in Latin) was sailing around modern Greece from the Aegean Sea to the Ionian Sea and got blown off course. Some think there was a chance that he was swept south to the Caribbean then up the Gulf stream to the Bay of Fundy on the Atlantic coast.

Read more in this feature article in the Toronto Star.

This gal LOVES the Bay of Fundy

I love hearing from blog readers who send photos and 'guest posts' - it's kind of like having eyes all around the Bay. After my last post about Bay of Fundy break-ups it seems only fitting to post this happy photo from my friend Maegan.

Here's how she describes it:

hi Terri - here are some fun and silly photos I took last night at Port George on the Bay of Fundy… I was attempting to spell “love” with my body. These photos are taken by my husband Aaron Noble, and are not photoshopped: this is the real, and amazing light from the Bay of Fundy. The photos were taken at Cottage Cove picnic park in Nova Scotia where we had a picnic with local fish and chips!

Many thanks to Maegan & Aaron who live in the section of Bay of Fundy designated by UNESCO as the South West Nova Biosphere Reserve - check out the Biosphere website and facebook page for info and other neat images.

iPad launch & new7wonders connection

If you like to keep up with techie news, you probably watched Apple's iPad launch last week. Imagine my delight when Phil Schiller, Senior VP of Worldwide Produt Marketing, started to demonstrate the iPad's 'Keynote' function and used the global New7Wonders campaign images to do this!

The Bay of Fundy, as you likely know, is competing in an international campaign to declare the New7Wonders of Nature. We are Canada's only site in the campaign and, now, one of only 28 worldwide finalists. You can support Bay of Fundy by voting here or joining our Facebook "Fundy for New7Wonders of Nature" fan page or by following us on Twitter.

What great exposure for the New7Wonders concept to be included in the iPad's launch.
(Keynote, by the way, is the Mac version of PowerPoint)

Just another day walking on the ocean floor

An aerial view is one of the best ways to see the full extent of the vast low-tide-exposed ocean floor here on Bay of Fundy (keep your eyes peeled if you fly on a clear day Halifax, Nova Scotia to/from Montreal or Toronto: you'll go right over the upper bay).

Short of flying there are lots of great bluffs & trails with pretty amazing views too. Take this one at Five Islands Provincial Park in Nova Scotia.

This is just the regular view from the lower campground & picnic site. Low tide mud flats, snaking tidal river, layers of coast in the distance: just another breathtaking day (I took this photo yesterday) on Fundy bay. mmmm, yeah.....

p.s. yes those are tire tracks in the lower left corner. Probably from a clammer...

Flotsam, jetsam & clay pots?

Those of us who regularly walk Bay of Fundy beaches never quite know what kind of flotsam & jetsam we're going to discover. On Fundy beaches due to the constant erosion of our tides treasures can also appear out of the sand!

The words flotsam and jetsam describe specific kinds of debris in the ocean. Historically the words had specific nautical meanings, with legal consequences, but in modern usage they came to mean any kind of marine debris.

There is a difference between the two: jetsam has been voluntarily cast into the sea (jettisoned) by the crew of a ship, usually in order to lighten it in an emergency; while flotsam describes goods that are floating on the water without having been thrown in deliberately, often after a shipwreck.

I'm not sure who, then, is the rightful owner of these two chunks of historic clay pot that appeared on my daily beach yesterday...I think I'll just donate them to the local museum!!

Bay of Fundy coast perfect for yoga

I was out doing some filming around the Bay of Fundy this week and spent a day at Burncoat Head, Nova Scotia. While scouting the beach, I noticed that my volunteer cameraman - my teenage son - had wandered off and was down on the beach doing yoga in the wild wind. Just seemed like the thing to do on a Bay of Fundy low tide beach! The idea of 'being one' with the elements rather than merely looking at them almost inspires me to take up yoga!

Baby 'christening' in Bay of Fundy?

I was visiting Hopewell Rocks this week when I came upon this couple 'dipping' their baby's toes in the Bay of Fundy. It turns out they are former residents of the Maritimes who now live in Ontario but wanted to be sure to give their little girl a taste of Bay of Fundy on her first trip home this summer. Starting that east coast salt running in her veins ~ cute!

My ordinary could be your extraordinary

Busy week 'in the field' around Bay of Fundy hosting two videographers from Britain working on a Bay of Fundy episode for Wonders of Planet Earth (USA's Travel Channel series). These folks always have such a good eye for the beauty that surrounds us here in the Bay of Fundy.

A few days of media touring reminds me that my 'ordinary' views of Fundy can really quite extraordinary to visitors. A couple Bay of Fundy locations where we filmed this week: low tide beach at Alma (at the edge of Fundy National Park, New Brunswick) and Horseshoe Cove (near Cape d'Or lighthouse, Nova Scotia).

We know how to put the FUN in Fundy!

Big news this week around Bay of Fundy...our beautiful bay was selected as a finalist in a global campaign to declare the New7Wonders of Nature!! Those of you who've been following my blog know that we've been participating in this campaign for over a year. There were 440 nature sites originally and we just found out yesterday that 28 international sites have been shortlisted and Bay of Fundy is one of them!

Wow... this is exciting stuff! we now have the opportunity to showcase this awesome part of Canada to the rest of the world. I was digging around in my photo archive (in preparation for the media) and turned up this aerial shot of Bay of Fundy's Cape Split in Nova Scotia.

This photo sure takes me back a few decades. When I was a teenager growing up on the Bay of Fundy, I had two friends who flew airplanes so I spent a goodly bit of time flying over this very cape and other parts of Fundy in my 'spare time'. Not typical teenage hobby but one that probably sewed early seeds of interest in Bay of Fundy: certainly MY world wonder!

Thanks to my nature pal, Bob Guscott, for the pic.

Terri's top 10 reasons to vote Fundy TODAY!

This is the last day to vote in the 2nd phase of the global New7Wonders of Nature contest. Bay of Fundy is competing as Canada's top site. Click here to vote for Bay of Fundy!

Need to know what makes Bay of Fundy so awesome? Here are my top 10 fav things about our bay:

10. The Bay of Fundy boasts some of the best and freshest seafood in North America: lobster, scallops, salmon (fresh & smoked), halibut, mussels, sole, haddock, herring, mackeral, flounder, dulse (edible seaweed), etc.

9. The Bay is home to the largest whirlpool in the northern hemisphere: the Old Sow Whirlpool off Deer Island, New Brunswick.

8. The Fundy region has so many geology firsts it's almost embarrassing:

• world's best fossil forest
  
• Canada's oldest dinosaurs
• world's most complete fossil record
• world's smallest dinosaurs
• evidence of the 'missing link' between the Jurassic & Triassic periods of geological history
• best place in the world to see all three rock types from three different geological time periods: igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic

7. Fundy is the hottest site in the world for tidal power potential (outdated barrage or causeway-style technology - destructive to the environment!! - has been replaced by new, much less invasive, underwater turbines that look like modern wind mills).

6. Our Bay is the summer habitat and feeding ground for these gentle giants: 12 species of whales, including the rare and endangered North Atlantic Right whale (half the world's population of Right whales visit Fundy annually).

5. Fundy's low tide mud flats are a critical feeding ground for 95% of the world's semi-palmated Sandpipers on their annual migration from the Arctic to the west coast of Africa then South America.

4. UNESCO loves us! Upper Bay of Fundy as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and Joggins Fossil Cliffs as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

3. Bay of Fundy tides, 54 feet/15 metres are the highest on the planet. To put this in perspective: South Carolina, USA, tides are 5 feet and Vancouver, BC's tides 10 feet.

2. Fundy is one of the world's richest marine ecosystems and has been compared to the Amazon rainforest in biodiversity.

1. The people of the Fundy adore & protect their bay and love sharing its mysteries with visitors. They are also a formidable troupe who have risen to the challenge of promoting and voting for our Bay... propelling to top Canadian site in this contest. I love yez!!

Bay of Fundy BACK in New7Wonders campaign

Every day is an interesting one here on the Bay of Fundy but there is one day last week that I'll remember for quite some time. We had a call from Brussels, Belgium, to say that Bay of Fundy has been reinstated as Canada's official nominee in the international campaign to declare the New7Wonders of Nature!

Those who follow my blog may remember that Bay of Fundy was in a neck & neck race with several other Canadians nature sites late last Fall and early winter to represent Canada in Spring Phase 2 of the contest. In January, we appeared to have lost first place to an Alberta site (western side of Canada - we're on the east coast) but just found out that they lost their standing in the contest and we are back in! Fun!!!

Even if you voted for us in the Fall, you can now vote again. Bay of Fundy has been back in the campaign for a several days now and the New7Wonders website is going wild. Please help by voting before July 7, 2009, when the top 77 international sites will be declared...Bay of Fundy can be on this list with your help!