Mussels with Ginger-Pesto

Ginger-Pesto Mussels

Further to my series of mussel recipes, here's one that includes two of my other favourite foods: pesto and ginger.

INGREDIENTS
4 1/2 lbs mussels
4 oz dry white wine
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 thick slices blackforest ham (optional), chopped in small chunks
3 oz fresh white breadcrumbs
2 Tbsp pesto
2 Tbsp grated ginger root

Scrub the beards off the mussels. Soak in cold water for 5 minutes, drain, repeat. Discard any open or damaged mussels. Place in a large saucepan with the wine and garlic. Cover and cook at high heat for three minutes or until the mussels open. Shake pan occasionally. Remove mussesl from pan, reserving the cooking liquid. Discard the top shell from each mussel and arrange the mussels on the half shell in a shallow dish or baking sheet. Strain the mussel liquid through cheesecloth. Combine the ham, breadcrumbs, pesto and ginger and stir in 1 to 2 Tbsp of the mussel liquid to moisten.

Preheat grill to high. Spoon a littel crumb mixture on to each mussel then cook under the gril for 2 minutes or until golden & bubbling. Serves 4.

This receipe is a fun twist on an old favourite! For more of my favourite recipes, visit the recipes section of my blog.

Road to nowhere?

The Bay of Fundy tides can produce some interesting sights: take this one for example...A naive observer may wonder why this beach road clearly leads into the Bay. This is the road to the fish weir (see other photo) which enables low tide truck access across about a half mile of intertidal zone. As the tide recedes the weirmen drive over to fetch their herring and mackeral. Their acute awareness tide times ensures that they are off the beach before the tide comes back in to make a mystery of their access road. If their truck stalled down at the weir it would be covered with about 35 feet of water at high tide!

I took this photo at Partridge Island, only about 3 km from Parrsboro. I'll get back down to the beach when the tides are right to get a photo of the weir at low tide. It's pretty cool!

Bay of Fundy winery wins big!

It sometimes surprises visitors that we have so many wineries in the Bay of Fundy region on the east coast of Canada. The climate here is perfectly suited to the successful development of both grape and fruit wines, as evidenced by this week's big win at the All Canadian Wine Championship. Domaine de Grand Pre and their winemaker Jurg Stutz received three gold and one bronze medals.

The All Canadian Wine Championships (ACWC), the oldest and largest competition solely for Canadian wineries. Over 40 industry professionals critiqued a record 932 entries from 132 wineries representing all wine regions from coast to coast.

Great recognition for our emerging wine region!

Pretty little fishy!

Here's one last photo of Scott Leslie's plus a link to his website!

This little fellow is an eel pout whose photo was taken off the coast of Brier Island. Also known as ocean pouts, these fish live in a range of temperatures that includes sub-zero. They get their name from the pouting appearance of their lower lip.

This, I'm afraid, will look like me if Bay of Fundy doesn't receive recognition as one of the Seven Wonders of Canada in the CBC contest. If you haven't already voted, it's not too late! Visit the CBC website before May 25. So far the BoF is coming in as one of the top three picks across Canada - yay!

Describing life sub-surface

Here's a bit more information from Andi's article previously quoted.

...the waters of the Bay of Fundy lie somewhere between two extremes in temperature, tropical and arctic, the region harbors an unusual mixture of creatures, drawn to the plant and animal plankton that thrive in its nutrient-rich waters.

While such marine life may be present in large quantities, it can still be hard to find. The green-tint that results from the abundance of phytoplankton can result in poor underwater visibility.

Photographer, Scott Leslie has witnessed the devastating impact that fishing trawlers have had on the ecosystem. “You’ll be swimming along in this gorgeous rich habitat then all of the sudden it becomes this desert,” caused by trawlers scouring the seafloor, he says. In this regard, Leslie’s images serve to educate and instill a deep appreciation of the richness of life not far from our shores and remind us of all we have to lose.

The art of undersea photography

While scouting out information about the undersea life of the Bay of Fundy I discover the photography of Scott Leslie’s on the Gulf of Maine Times website. Here's what editor, Andi Rierdon, says about Scott's images:

On an icy spring day in Nova Scotia when the sea and sky are the color of pewter, it’s hard to imagine a creature as animated and colorful as the blue morph lumpfish living beneath the surface of the Bay of Fundy. To the untutored eye, Leslie’s undersea images are more likely to conjure up the tropical waters of Bonaire, Cozumel or the Great Barrier Reef. From the iridescent blues andon the magentas of a lion’s mane jellyfish shooting to a sunlit surface, to the translucent rainbow arc of a ctenophore, these portraits convey a kaleidoscope world full of character and surprise ... and testify to the variety and beauty of creatures living within the coves and open waters of the northern Gulf of Maine and Atlantic Canada.

Dive into certain areas along the Bay of Fundy coast, for example, “and within 20 minutes you can pick out five, six, seven different phylums—you are actually seeing all these different planets of life,” Leslie says. The undersea repertoire includes everything from rock crabs, sea ravens and fan worms to northern lampshells, anemones, eel pouts and tunicates. And unlike the more tropical locales where divers and snokelers abound, he adds, “the adventure of photographing in cold water environments is that it is so rarely done.”

Leslie, who lives in Granville Beach, Nova Scotia, has worked for years as a land-based wildlife photographer and continues to publish widely in North American publications. His foray into undersea photography began in the 1990s after viewing the works of National Geographic undersea photographer David Doublilet.

Undersea life in the Bay of Fundy

Although the Bay of Fundy receives much attention for the 100 billion tonnes of sea water that moves in and out with the tide twice a day, there is a whole other story to tell about the permanent undersea environment of the Bay. The rich ocean floor of the Bay of Fundy has been compared to the Amazon rainforest in terms of its significance to the world. As part of the larger Gulf of Maine inland sea, the Bay of Fundy is rich with a conglomeration of life uniformly bound together by dependence on the cold, rich, and relatively unspoiled waters of this marine ecosystem.

I'm certainly no marine scientist but I thought I'd use the next few blog posts to take a look sub-surface to see what lies beneath.

To start I've selected a few intriguing images of some of the creatures who inhabit the Bay of Fundy floor. Here we've got a purple sunstar, sea raven (that's the fish) and a regular starfish sharing space with an anemone.

7 Wonders of Canada - Bay of Fundy makes shortlist!

Wow, heard yesterday that our beloved Bay of Fundy had made the shortlist of 50 possible Wonders of Canada. This friendly contest initiated by CBC received about 18,000 nominations from all across Canada! The big list was whittled down to 50 from which an eventual 7 will be chosen sometime in the next few weeks. I think this contest was a great way to raise awareness of some pretty amazing places and some quintessentially Canadian wonders like the Montreal bagel and the canoe!!

Visit the CBC website if you'd like to vote for your favourite 7 Canadian Wonders.

Right whale sightings in record numbers

Interesting new Cape Cod this week: for some reason 'our' Northern Right whales are congregating there this spring in record numbers before they make their annual trek up to the Bay of Fundy for summer feeding.

Staff at the Provincetown (Massachusetts) Center for Coastal Studies have identified at least 120 whales - that's out of a worldwide population of about 400 of these critically endangered whales.

Marine Fisheries has issued an advisory to mariners in the region which has insured that boat speeds are set at 10 knots for a circle about 10 miles in diameter around Provincetown until the whales leave the area for the Bay of Fundy as they usually do by early May.

Whale monitoring is certainly an international effort with many researchers up and down the Atlantic seaboard in various states and provinces keeping a close eye on Right whales and other whales. From this map you can see the normal annual travel range of Northern Right whales

Here in the Bay of Fundy, our whale watch tour companies not only follow a strict code of ethics to protect the whales but also contribute to whale research by logging sighting details from now through November when the whales head south again. Kudos to these small tourism business operators for contributing to public awareness of Right whales and for doing their bit to add to the vast body of knowledge about this endangered species.

What is a Tidal Bore?

The Bay of Fundy's tidal bore is one of many aspects of the world's highest tides that fascinates people.

A tidal bore is a wall of water that moves 'backwards' up low-lying rivers during an incoming tide. Tidal bores form when an incoming tide rushes up a river which is flowing down toward the sea. Thus we have the phenomenon of the river changing its flow before your very eyes, flowing in over the outgoing river water.

The height of tidal bores increases with the range of the tide and may very in height from just a ripple to several feet. A tidal bore (bore = crest or wave) is a natural phenomenon which is seen in very few parts of the world. Bay of Fundy tidal bores are seen in many rivers in the upper bay with every tide, twice every 24 hrs, year-round.

New book about Grand Manan Island

Longtime blog readers will recall my previous posts about Bay of Fundy weirs, dulse, herring, salt and clams and will therefore not be surprised at my most recent book discovery: Rhythm of the Tides: The Fisheries of Grand Manan by Tim Peters. Tim's book is a striking visual journey through the cycle of fisheries on Grand Manan Island. Seventy-five color photographs illustrate the courage and determination of islanders pursuing their livelihood in the island's intertidal zones and in the surrounding waters of the lower Bay of Fundy.

The following review exerpt from The National Post says it perfectly: “The material is nothing new—we’ve all seen cute boats and lighthouses before—but through Peters’ lens, the clichés of east-coast Canada become strangely exotic and alluringly beautiful!” I've been pouring through my copy over and over again since I got it last week - it will easily become a favourite Fundy book!

Check out Tim's website or email him at books@timpeters.com

Blueberry Crisp Recipe

I noticed our blueberry farmers tending to their fields this week in preparation for the late summer harvest and, surprisingly, I realized that I'd yet to post a favourite blueberry recipe on my blog! Here's a good one (courtesy of the Wild Blueberry Producers Association):

Wild Blueberry –Apple Crisp

Filling:
5 c wild blueberries (fresh or frozen)
¼ c sugar
½ tsp grated lemon rind
1 c (approx 2 large) diced, peeled apple

Crisp:
½ c light brown sugar
2 tsp or more cinnamon
1 tsp or more nutmeg
½ c white flour
½ c chopped pecans
½ c rolled oats
¼ lb cold butter

In a small bowl, combine the filling ingredients. Mix well and place in an 8 x 8 pan. (Double recipe if you’d like to use a rectangular pan).

Combine all crisp ingredients except butter in a medium bowl. Cut in the cold butter with a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Spread evenly over the Wild Blueberry mixture. Bake 45 minutes at 325 F or until crust is brown. Serves 6.

Cascading fog

This is one of the more unusual sights around the Bay of Fundy coast: a cascading bank of fog! Fundy's cliffs are so abrupt in some places that you can actually watch fog roll along the water and up the embankments. Sometimes fog creeps up behind a peninsula then spills over the top of the cliff and into the Bay like a mystical waterfall. This photo was taken at Fundy National Park in Alma, New Brunswick.

Hike to Cape Split video

Here is another Bay of Fundy-ish video I discovered on YouTube - this time of Cape Split on the Nova Scotia side of the Bay. A couple of fellas filmed its mesmerizing 190 ft shear cliff, ahem, a bit close to the edge for my liking...
I am totally getting my video camera going this summer. Now that I've finallly figured out how to get the most out of this little device, I'm going to make it my mission to capture more of the Bay of Fundy on film.

Kayaking the Bay of Fundy - across the whole bay!

I love kayaking the coast of the Bay of Fundy but I have to admit it's never crossed my mind to kayak across it. I just heard about a fellow, Christopher Lockyer, who is in full training for a Labour Day crossing across the Bay from Saint John, NB, to Digby, NS. He'll be doing the trip to raise money for cancer.

Chris is calling the fundraiser “Kayak for Kenyon” after family friend John Kenyon who was diagnosed with Leukemia last fall and cancer this winter.

Chris is sea kayak instructor with Paddle Canada and the British Canoe Union, an Outward Bound instructor and professional guide. “This is not about personal enjoyment. That always used to be the reason I kayaked,” says Lockyer. “Now I’m paddling for a purpose.”

For more information about Chris, his training and his journey, visit his website.

The trip from Saint John to Digby is 70 km and he estimates it will take him all day on some of the most turbulent ocean water in the world. Lockyer will start from Saint John at the end of the ebb tide and hopes to reach the bandstand by the Digby Information Centre around nightfall on Sept. 3, 2007.

It will be an incredible trip for a really good cause ~ best wishes for a safe trip, Chris!

Theatre on Kipawo ferry

The ferry I mentioned in the Extreme Makeover post is certainly not the only ferry to have plied the waters of the Bay of Fundy. Historically communities around the Bay were linked more easily by ferry than they were by road. (It's about a 8-hr drive around the Bay from St Andrews, NB, to Digby, NS. A trip across the Bay by boat varies from 45 minutes to 3 hours!)

One such ferry that still exists (at least in modified form as a dry-docked waterfront theatre) is the M.V.Kipawo. The "Kip" is now berthed at the edge of the Parrsboro harbour where it has been home to a professional theatre, Ship's Company Theatre for 23 years.

Over the years the company has enjoyed tremendous support locally, regionally and nationally. Ship's Company Theatre's season (including an awesome concert series) starts in early July and runs into September.

Since 1984 Ship's Company has commissioned, developed and/or produced twenty-seven new works as well as having given thirteen new plays valuable second productions. A number of world premiere plays have gone on to grace stages across Canada.

I've seen all but a couple of plays aboard the Kipawo. It definitely qualifies as a Bay of Fundy must-do activity!

The Real Hopewell Rocks

I thought it only fair to add a photo of the actual Hopewell Rocks. This is a great pair of photos that the site and NB Tourism often use to promote this tidal interpretive experience on the Bay of Fundy. Sets of high/low images like this give a dramatic but accurate impression of the variance of Fundy's tidal range.

Fundy Fun at Hopewell Rocks

My colleague Shelley and I had the chance to take in the annual Saltscapes Travel Show in Halifax, NS, last weekend and, wow, while there we got to hold up Hopewell Rocks! Naw, actually this was just a fun display by NB Tourism. The real Hopewell Rocks are much taller and heavier than these cool styrofoam replicas.

The Hopewell Rocks are definitely on my list of interesting Bay of Fundy places to explore. It's an excellent location for seeing the dramatic difference between the two tidal extremes: at low tide you can walk on the ocean floor in and around these towering sea stacks (often called Flower Pots) then at high tide six hours later the same formations are transformed into tall islands. As with most Bay of Fundy coastal areas, you absolutely must plan to see it at high and low tide to fully appreciate it! Luckily most attractions, including Hopewell Rocks, post accurate tide times to assist visitors with their trip planning.

Bay of Fundy Lobster map

I just customized a wee map of our four lobster seasons here in the Bay of Fundy (zones 34, 35,36,38). Even though lobster is available year round in restaurants throughout the bay, it's always nice to know when it's lobster season in the local area. Even after having grown up here I still find it amusing to watch the boats motor in on the incoming tide to unload their traps.

Bay of Fundy - One of Canada's 7 Wonders?

CBC introduced a new contest this week that met with a great flurry of interest from our little corner of the country. I went to the CBC website earlier this week to nominate the Bay of Fundy - that is, the whole Bay of Fundy. Apparently lots of other Fundy folk did the same because Sounds Like Canada host Shelagh Rogers noted on Friday that Niagara Falls and the Bay of Fundy were the two most popular nominees so far!

Anyone who knows the Bay of Fundy can make a compelling case for it to be considered for this accolade. The Bay appears on various international list for great Wonders of the World but is perhaps less appreciated here in our own country - kudos to CBC for making Canadians more aware of these special places in Canada. If you'd like to vote for the Bay of Fundy, visit the CBC website.

It could be because I'm Pisces...

It could be because I'm Pisces but I've got a great interest in coastal art - fish in particular. This morning I was delighted to see a friend in the Bay of Fundy region selected as feature Artist of the Day by Art News Canada.

Choleena DiTullio is Fine Arts grad who uses acrylic as her primary medium. Her recent experimentation with phosphorescent painting has been very well received. Inspired by the natural phenomenon where deep-sea fish use bioluminescent nodes to glow in the dark, her artwork 'charges' in the daylight then creates a whole new painting for the wall on which it is hung after lights-out. Her work is in private collections across Canada, in the U.S. and Australia.

If you are in the Bay of Fundy region you can catch some of Choleena's work at the fabulous Fog Forest Gallery in Sackville, New Brunswick.

I love this artist's view into the undersea, afterhours life of our Bay!

(The above sketches have been posted with Choleena's permission.)

Art mimics life 200+ million years ago

I went to a really interesting art unveiling on Sunday at the Fundy Geological Museum in Parrsboro. The Atlantic Geoscience Society commissioned five paintings that depict our region during the Triassic and Jurassic periods. To create the paintings the artist, Judi Pennanen, had to work with a team of experts to piece together everything known about these periods. The team included botanists, geologists and paleontologists.

The paintings will hang in the Fundy Geological Museum which is dedicated to the Triassic-Jurassic periods. All of the animals, all of the plants in the paintings are based on the fossil records found in Nova Scotia, which played a very important part in the formation of the Bay of Fundy region as we now know it.

Here are two of the photos as published in the newspaper today. The first on depicts what the region would have looked like 200 million years ago; the second shows a Prosauropod, a Jurassic-era dinasour that was found near Parrsboro.

Whale blog

Here's a link to a really cool whale blog, hosted by whale watch operator Quoddy Link Marine in St Andrews, New Brunswick. One of their staff, Danielle, a whale reseacher keeps a really detailed blog about whale sighting, whale info, etc. Things are gearing up for the season so take a look.

Lobster will soon be back!

I was reminded by Belle this morning that the spring lobster season opens soon on the Bay of Fundy. When we got to the wharf for our daily walk she scooted right over to the edge to 'inspect' a boat that had popped into the water since the day before. Lobster fishing seasons rotate around the Bay - ours here in Parrsboro goes from now until the end of July before resuming again in the fall. I'll see if I can track down a map of all the various lobster seasons in the Bay of Fundy. After all, one should never have to find oneself without lobster.

Making maple candy

The six-week maple sugar season officially ended this weekend. I dropped by our family farm and restaurant and was put to work spreading a batch of maple cream. Maple syrup is heated to a fudge-like temperature, stirred with a wooden paddle to aerate then quickly smoothed over a set of pretty candy molds. Don't worry, I wasn't too hard done by - got to eat a few sample scraps to, ahem, test quality!!

Ride 'The Bubble' on the Bay of Fundy

I mentioned the Reversing Falls Jet Boat Ride as a favourite Fundy activity earlier this week but forgot to note that the same company also offers another, more extreme adventure for the crazier among us: a "Bubble" Ride through the Falls rapids.

This exercise involves being harnessed inside the inflatable bubble frame show here then tumbling through the rapids, spinning in whirlpools and flipping through white caps. Note: you've got to be super-fit to maneuver this creature!

High-low tide video

While I was in an exploratory mood this week, I popped over to YouTube to see what sort of Bay of Fundy content I might discover. Found this ancient video clip from Britannica The voiceover is a bit groovy but it features an excellent timed video of the tide coming in so take a look! Another successful qualifier for my Bay of Fundy high-low tide collection!

Jet Boating in the Bay of Fundy

I finally figured out how to archive my previous posts in categories, as you can see in the sidebar. Now that summer is on its way I plan to add my best choices of Cool Things To Do around the Bay of Fundy. Here's a fun activity to consider if you are going to be visiting the Bay this summer: Thrill Ride with in Reversing Falls Jet Boat Rides in Saint John, New Brunswick.

The thrill ride is a great opportunity to feel and appreciate the power of Fundy's tides as the outflowing St John River meets the incoming tides. It's 20 minutes of pure exhilaration as you blast through the tidal rapids. Ah yes, plan to get totally, fabulously wet on this adventure. It's a blast!

Spring has sprung!

Just had a note and these photos from Trish Fry at the Annapolis Historic Gardens. Trish has a great photographic sense and is always on the lookout for 'curiosities' in the gardens.

I toddled around the Gardens with my camera a couple weeks ago, when it appeared that spring was well on its way. Since then things have been cool and slowed the plants down a bit, but the Gardens are beautiful as the early spring colour unfolds.The Witch Hazels are still in bloom (in the rose garden), the heaths are blooming (winter collection), and early bulbs throughout.

Meanwhile, I thought I'd share a few sunny spring photos with you, just to remind you that spring really is on its way! Trish

To see some of Trish's other pics check out my November posting: Bay of Fundy At Bloom in November?

Maple marinade recipe

With the abundance of maple syrup we have in the region our culinary inclinations extend well past pancakes. Here's a maple marinade for chicken or pork chops that I've been using for years:

Maple Marinade

1/2 c maple syrup
3 tsp Dijon mustard
zest & juice of one lemon
4 tsp balsamic vinegar
6 twists of freshly grated pepper
1-2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp finely grated fresh ginger
1/4 c. olive oil

Blend all ingredients, refrigerate for 24 hrs. Marinate meat for 45 minutes minimum. BBQ or roast meat, basting with marinade. Serves 4. To pump up the punch, consider adding more ginger, garlic or even chopped chili peppers!

This recipe came from Elaine Elliott's Maple Syrup cookbook.

Maple syrup FAQs

It seems like just about every sub-topic related to living here by the Bay of Fundy has its own set of frequently asked questions and maple syrup making is no exception. Here are a few that I've heard at our maple farm along with my answers:

1. How many litres of sap from the maple tree does it take to make one litre of syrup? By the time the sap is boiled down to syrup, 40 litres of sap has become one litre of syrup.

2. Can you make maple syrup out of all maple trees or just sugar maples? Techically, you can make syrup out of sap from other maples but Sugar Maple sap has a higher natural concentration of sugar so it is greatly preferred. (The other maple saps would take much more boiling to get them to the sweetness of sugar maple syrup).

3. What sort of spring weather favours sap production in the trees? Sap 'prefers' cool nights and warm days. My uncle cheers at daytime temps of plus 5 to plus 8 degrees Celius and a good overnight frost or temperature around minus 5.

4. I've heard that maple sugar is actually good for you, is that true? Everything I've heard and read about this indicates that yes, maple syrup is actually good for you. It is know to contain potassium, calcium, magnesium, sodium, zinc, manganese, phosphorus and iron as well as the B complex vitamins. It also has antioxident properties that have been compared with well-known antioxidents broccoli and green tea.

It's maple season here on Bay of Fundy

Well, so much for winter! The last couple weeks of warm winds and melting snow have heralded the arrival of "Sugar Season" on the Bay of Fundy....maple sugar season! Many families like ours have been tapping Sugar Maple trees here for generations.

We've a maple sugar making family in the upper part of the Bay of Fundy for over 100 years. We only tap about 4000 trees (fairly small amount compared with some other farms) but that's enought to keep our family, our town, our visitors and quite a few restaurants in Halifax supplied with real maple syrup for a year.

By the way, we jokingly call imitation table syrup telephone pole syrup since it compares that unfavourably with the real stuff!

East Quoddy Lighthouse painting

I've visited most of Bay of Fundy lighthouses around the Bay of Fundy (both those accessible by foot and some only by boat) - I have to say I've got a bit of a thing going for lighthouses in general. Here's another of Nita's lovely paintings: the East Quoddy Lighthouse on Campobello Island. The East Quoddy Light is accessible on foot at low tide but the path is a little trickier at high tide.

1st Swim of 2007!

Well, of course, it was Belle (my yellow lab) who went for a swim, not me! The weather has turned warm and springy and most of winter's ice cakes have melted. Belle couldn't resist hopping into the harbour for a dip last evening...brrrrrr! Personally I'd rather be on the Bay most of the time than in it!

A Facelift for the Princess of Acadia

Here's a bit of news about an extreme makeover Bay of Fundy style! While I was in Saint John last week I learned that the ferry between this Fundy city and the town of Digby on the Nova Scotia side of the Bay (the Princess of Acadia) is scheduled for a complete refurb this spring. Owners, Bay Ferries, have actually hired an interior decorator to spiff up this well-loved ferry link between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

The two main passenger spaces is being fully recarpeted, all furniture is being reupholstered, the seating configuration is being changed, and the company will be adding new computers stations for passengers. This, combined with a new fare structure, is expected to renew interest in traversing the Bay of Fundy by ferry. The crossing only takes about 3 hours - I think it sounds like an awesome Bay of Fundy mini-cruise!

Saint John farmer's market

I had the good fortune to be in Saint John, New Brunswick this week for a few days of meetings.

A full city block in length, this amazing 125 year old Market runs downhill from the "head of the Market" on Charlotte Street, gently sloping to the Germain Street entrance, a full 20 feet below. At both entrances hang the same gates that have swung closed at the end of each business day since 1880.

Whenever I'm there I always make a point to stop by the City Market for fresh baguettes, odd fruit that I can't get at home in the country and, as you can see in this photo, a few fine fishes. It rates right up there in my 'must' experiences around the Bay of Fundy!

Musquash Estuary becomes Canada's newest MPA

The Bay of Fundy's Musquash Estuary has just been officially designated as Canada's sixth Marine Protected Area (MPA).

It is a rural, relatively pristine area with little development, and an outstanding example of a fully functioning estuary and salt marsh complex.

Located approximately 20 kilometres southwest of the city of Saint John, New Brunswick, the Musquash ecosystem provides a rich habitat for a variety of plants, commercial and non-commercial fish species, and other wildlife. The Musquash Estuary is highly valued by local residents, government agencies, and conservation organizations in the region.

This is one of David H. Thompson's photos of the Musquash Marsh. For more of David's photos or to learn more about Marine Protected Areas.

Sign of Spring on Fundy Bay

One sure sign that Spring is starting to arrive around the Bay of Fundy is the return of fog. Once winter sets in it's too cold to be foggy, since fog forms as warm, moist air drifts over a colder surface being cooled from below. I'm quite fond of fog - I find it enchanting, mystical and lovely to breathe in big, generous gulps. I smiled in my sleep last night when I heard our fog horn sound in the middle of the night for the first time in 2007.

How to dig clams on the Bay of Fundy

My recent attempt at creating a new Bay of Fundy sport (ice cake scambling) put me in mind of one of our longtime coastal activities - clam digging. The vast expanse of the Bay of Fundy's intertidal zone (the ocean floor that is exposed at low tide) proves to be an excellent area for digging bar clams.

Tools required for this exercise include: pitch fork, bucket and clothes that you don't mind getting really muddy.

Small holes in the sand/mud are your first clue that you are in 'clam country'. When you spot one, poke the pitchfork gently into the hole or step near the outside edge of the hole . If water spurts up, start digging with the pitch fork and retrieve the clam or cluster of clams.

If you're interested in digging clams while you visit the Bay, consult the local Department of Fisheries and Oceans for details on the clamming season and safe digging zones.

New Bay of Fundy high/low tide

Those of you who've been following my blog (love ya!) and new readers will not be surprised to learn that I kind of 'collect' sets of high-low tide photos.

OK, some people collect stamps, but hey, if you lived where I live you couldn't resist doing this either.

Artist Mary Sheehan Winn took this set from her beachside cottage in Parrsboro (on my dog walking route). Oddly, Mary and I had never 'met' until we crossed paths in the blogosphere! I rather pride myself on discovering and welcoming the 'summer people' (it's a small town, what can I say...). I'll look forward to sharing a cuppa tea with Mary when she arrives this summer!

To see other high-low tide sets, check out these previous posts: Road Under Water, Two Islands, Flower Pot Rocks.

More tidal power for Bay of Fundy

More news on the tidal power front this week: A U.S. company plans to generate electricity with new technology by tapping the tides of Passamaquoddy Bay, an inlet of the Bay of Fundy surrounded by New Brunswick and Maine.

Ocean Renewable Power is zeroing in on the waters off Deer Island and are suggesting that the company's first tidal power generators could be operating in the bay as early as 2009. They are creating a floating structure that contains four turbine generators.

Ocean Renewable Power's initiative is just one of the recent projects aimed at harnessing the tidal powers in the Bay of Fundy, considered one of the best sites in the world for such attempts.

In mid-February, Nova Scotia Power announced that it was teaming up with an Irish company to try to build one of the world's largest single underwater turbines in the six-kilometre-wide Minas Passage by late 2009.

See my previous posts about in-stream tidal power.

Chock 'a block on Digby Neck

Just had this note from whale watch operator, Tom Goodwin (Ocean Explorations) in Tiverton on Digby Neck at the mouth of the Bay of Fundy.

There's been quite a bit of ice out here. .... With especially cold weather (like Jan '04 and Feb '07), we get alot of ice forming in St.Mary's Bay which then floats off with high tides and drifts around to the Bay of Fundy, through the passages with the tide(s). This is a photo of the car ferry that runs from the mainland to Tiverton, pushing ice out of the way as it goes.

Ice cake "scramble"

Let me introduce you to a new Bay of Fundy winter sport: ice cake scrambling. This involves climbing small ice bergs deposited in the intertidal zone (beach) after the tide recedes. The tricky bit is that some may dissolve beneath you as you clamber up and over over.

Since I first observed the early ice sheets forming in January they've really picked up some oomph and chunked up into mini-icebergs. I'm sure they are a severe navigation factor but I do find them interesting explore at least when they drop on land. This morning I gave up my dog walk and opted for ice cake scrambling instead. (Belle enjoyed the climbing too!)

N'ice Lighthouse

This winter may just have to go on record as one of the best years for ice cakes in the upper Bay of Fundy. My normal dog walk into the intertidal zone at low tide was significantly impeded today by globs of ice cakes. Those in the foreground are about 8 ft high...I'll have to get back over with better climbing gear!

Massive moosehead in the Bay of Fundy

Just when I thought I'd seen every interesting perspective of the Bay of Fundy....

A chance Internet search by a Nova Scotia man living in Saskatchewan revealed a natural oddity that the rest of us had never noticed: the world's largest moose head.

John Patterson, of Meadow Lake, SK, couldn't resist sending Moosehead Breweries a Google satellite image of an area near Walton, NS that clearly shows a giant Bay of Fundy sandbar shaped exactly like the brewer's moose head logo. "What struck me was how detailed it was and to be in the middle of Moosehead country made it that much more intriguing," he said.

Ian Spooner, Professor of Environmental Geoscience at Acadia University in Wolfville, NS, said the naturally occurring phenomenon is actually a delta formed by an offshore accumulation of sediment enhanced by flood and ebb tide currents, as well as the shoreline geography. "The Bay of Fundy has the highest tides in the world so there is considerable energy influencing the deposit build up here. Fortunately the satellite photo was taken at just the right moment - a few minutes earlier or later and the image would look different."

"When Mr. Patterson e-mailed us we thought it was a joke, but when we checked the image ourselves we couldn't believe our eyes," says Moosehead President Steve Poirier. "...It's great to see that Moosehead is part of the Nova Scotia landscape," he chuckled.

Tidal power enviro research

Good news this week on the tidal energy front:

The Nova Scotia government is investing $250,000 to research tidal power. The funds will be given to the Offshore Energy and Environmental Research Association to do a Bay of Fundy tidal power environmental impact assessment.

Am I crazy or has anyone else noticed that 'green is keen' all of a sudden?

See previous Bay of Fundy tidal energy posts: in-stream turbine photo #1, photo #2, map of Minas Channel.

Winter at 'The Rocks'

It's easy to love the Bay of Fundy in spring, summer and fall with all the sea-sky blues & greens and cliffscape cobalts & terra cottas. But in winter the tone of everything changes...really rather enchanting once you get used to walking around inside sepia photos! Here is a rare image of the 'famous' Hopewell Rocks in winter: strong, dramatic yet somehow peaceful. Thanks to Rocks staff Francine LeBlanc for sending along this stunning image.
Links to some of my earlier Fundy winter pics: Icecakes & Oatcakes, Winter Arrives on the Bay of Fundy

New York Muscat icewine too

If you confess to buying wine by the label (as I shamefully admit I do) you will also be enticed by the Grand Pre Winery's gorgeous wine bottle works of art (many available poster-size in the wine shops). Here is their New York Muscat icewine label and description.

New York Muscat Icewine

This Icewine has been left to ferment in cask, producing a complex and layered wine. It displays rich notes of papaya, preserved peach, dried apricot and Bartlett pear, in perfect balance with a crisp lively acidity that lingers on the palette. Enjoy these great flavours on their own or to compliment dessert and cheese.

This wine has won gold as well as bronze at Canadian and International Wine Competitions, as well as platinum provincially.

The Grand Pre Winery Estate is open yearround in Grand Pre, near Wolfville, on the Nova Scotia side of the Bay of Fundy.

Sample Vidal icewine

No, I am not offering free Grand Pre Winery samples here on my blog but rather a free view of their sample Vidal Icewine label, as well as its description:

This Vidal Icewine was hand picked at the end of the old and the beginning of the new millennium. It displays notes of apricots, lemon, blood orange and marmalade. It is balanced with crisp acidity and a long, lingering, sweet finish. Sip this rare treat by itself or as a sweet compliment to a dessert. (Bronze medal winner at 2001 All-Canadian Wine Championships. Bronze medal winner at 2001 Canadian Wine Awards).

The Winery is open year round and offers wine tastings in the wine shop as well as fine Northern European cuisine in their restaurant, Le Cave.

Ice wine anyone?

Did you know that some of Canada's best ice wines come from Domaine de Grand Pre Winery here on the Bay of Fundy? Although originally invented in Germany (eiswein), Canada is now known to have the most famous (and expensive!) ice wines.

Icewine is a type of dessert wine produced from grapes that have been frozen while still on the vine. The sugars and other dissolved solids do not freeze, but the water does, so the result is a concentrated, often very sweet but refreshing wine.

Because of high sugar levels it may take months to complete the fermentation (compared to days or weeks for regular wines). This, combined with lower yield and difficulty of processing, results in ice wines being more expensive than other wines.

So, not only can you enjoy the viewscapes around the Bay of Fundy, but you can enjoy such interesting tastes of our region as well - year round!