Which Fundy fish are eco-safe?

There's a nifty 'seafood selector' on the USA's Environmental Defense Fund's website where you can check to see how your favourite seafood stacks up when it comes to sustainable fishing and pesticide residue. Since eco-everything is all the rage now, I was kind of curious to know how our fish fare in the three levels of ratings: eco-best, eco-OK and eco-worst.

Looks like most of our Bay of Fundy seafood rates well but it appears we'd best caution ourselves about eating smoked salmon every day...em, not that I'm tempted to do that anyway...

Eco-Best Fundy fish (safe for environment)
Arctic-char (farmed)
Atlantic mackeral
Mussels
Albacore tuna
Scallops
Bass
Halibut

Eco-OK Fundy fish (OK for environment - enjoy occasionally)
Wild clams
Cod
Sole
Haddock
Hake
Lobster
Wild oysters
Sea scallops
Sea bass

Eco-Worst (eat infrequently)
Flounder
Halibut
Farmed salmon

Did I miss any of our regular Bay of Fundy seafood catches? if so, please feel free to let me know through the comments!

Fun Fundy job: Seagull watcher

Well this job might just beat becoming a Bay of Fundy tidal bore rafting guide, alpaca breeder, or stag party planner: it's seagull researcher!

A chap from the Université de Montréal's Faculty of Veterinary Medicine just conducted an extensive research study on Bay of Fundy seagulls. He compared the activity of gulls that were sleeping relative to the alertness of their neighbours.

Apparently, gulls sleep with one eye open and constantly scan the group and this study suggests that the theory of a collective group awareness can be applied across the animal kingdom. Although humans don't worry about predators, we do pay attention to the behaviour of our peers. For example, we assess the value of others based on their social or physical interactions - we are looking at an individual's strengths. The animals who pay attention are the ones who gain. Who knew?

Winter kayaking off Cape Chignecto

Probably even the most outdoorsy types here in Fundy aren't too inclined to pop their kayaks in the water in mid-February to go for a little paddle but not so for the folks who operate Nova Shores Kayaking Adventures in Advocate Harbour, Nova Scotia. It seems that Werner can't wait 'til spring get back on the waters along the dramatic shores of Cape Chignecto Provincial Park. He was paddling yesterday and captured these rarely seen photos of the park's frozen winterscape.

Werner said that a vast expanse of cliff was covered in frozen waterfalls - hard to capture on film but this pics are stunning! To help you get the idea, I typed in the vertical heights of the frozen waterfalls in metres & feet.

Surfers surf tidal bore in Wales

Did you know that the Bay of Fundy isn't the only place in the world have tidal bores? A tidal bore is the phenomenon caused when the outgoing flow of a river meets the incoming tide and causes the river to 'flow backwards'. The bore measurement is customarily the height of the waves caused when this happens.

We've got some very nice 10-15 foot bores here as 'part' of living with the world's highest tides but there are many other worldwide locations that are proud of their bores: the Severn Estuary in Wales being one of them.

I've not been there (yet) but I'm quite intrigued by the Severn's tidal bore. Ours comes in 2x every 24 hrs, every day, year round but the Severn's, apparently, comes in in a small way year round but is truly visible only about 25 days/year during the Vernal and Autumnal equinoxes (that's Feb-March-April, and Aug, Sept, Oct).

The time is NOW, if you happen to find yourself in Wales and want to trying surfing or kayaking it like the folks in this picture! Check out The Severn Bore's website.

A jumble of ice cakes

Now that we've had a few really cold weeks of winter, the ice cake situation at the beach has improved greatly. Our Bay of Fundy tides bring in ice cakes, when the tide turns to go out, they often drop down at the tide line on the beach.

After several weeks this creates a jumble of ice cakes all along the beach - makes for fun exploring if you've got good tread on your boots. My dog, Belle, also likes to chew on them. The ice pebbles we spotted on a different Fundy beach last year are a bit easier to swallow but still, I doubt there is any harm in her taking a nibble of the big cakes!!

In-Flight Safety records CD on Fundy coast

Despite the reference to 'flight' in this post's title, neither is this post about birds...it's actually about the band, In-Flight Safety. They just released their new CD We Are An Empire, My Dear, at an event in Halifax. What's interesting is that the CD was produced while the band was holed up in a historic Bay of Fundy schoolhouse last winter.

Not the first time Fundy has inspired the muses (see the Art section of this blog), but the first time I recall an award-winning pop rock band recording here! This is my photo of the beach just down the road from where they were staying. Certainly a great location that seemed to do the trick - it sounds like an awesome album, check out In-Flight Safety's new album on their website.

Bay of Fundy launches daily updates with Twitter!

Attention birders: don't get too excited! despite my best intentions to learn more about Bay of Fundy bird watching, this is probably not the kind of bird watching you were hoping for....

I've been using the cheerily-named social networking application Twitter personally for awhile now to stay in touch with family and friends near and far but it just finally donned on me last week that Twitter has another brilliant use: as a daily microblogging site for news, special events, insider tips, etc. about the Bay of Fundy.

It's similar, in some ways, to this blogger blog, but there is one fundamental difference: Twitter is designed to enable daily, continuous conversation in communities. In our case, I see it as an intriguing way to connect our virtual Bay of Fundy community, which consists of people who are considering visiting the bay (prospective travelers) and folks who live on the bay (us locals). Blog posts on Twitter (known as "tweets") are made several times a day and are in short, single-sentence-plus-web-link format.

If you are as skeptical as I was about people posting "what I am doing" several times a day, stay with me on this...I think seekers of Bay of Fundy travel information may very well be quite interested in finding out what's up in our bay at any given moment.

Check Bay of Fundy out on Twitter using the new link on the sidebar or by clicking here.

2nd Bay of Fundy live camera

It appears that there is also a live Earthcam in St Andrews, New Brunswick. This one has programming code that enables me to embed it. In anticipation of more outdoor cameras to come, I've created a new blog category for them. Fun!

Finally... a Bay of Fundy webcam!

I've always thought that the Bay of Fundy is the perfect place to set up live webcams but, except for such cameras on our highways (so you can check out the winter weather conditions), I'm not aware of any other webcams set up anywhere near the tides until now:

The Fundy Restaurant on the waterfront of the village of Digby, Nova Scotia, has just set one up. Thanks to Dean for sharing this link to his new webcam!

I once heard a rumor that there was a live outdoor camera at the Reversing Falls Funeral Home (which, as you may expect by the name, overlooks Reversing Falls in Saint John, New Brunswick) but I've never been able to find out if this is true....er, short of phoning them which is a bit awkward....Anyone know?

Out with the old, in with the new...lobster traps

For all that we locals joke about tourists' fascination with lobster traps (many have been purchased dockside and taken home to landlocked provinces and states to become coffee tables), I am kinda into them.

For example, I once made a flower box out of one (my petunias never looked better!) and I have spent a goodly amount of time photographing them - but the 'old' style wooden ones with the curved tops only - I'm a purist.

This is the first photo of the new metal mesh traps that has ever revealed itself to me. It was taken at my local wharf just after lobster season last month. Mmmmnh, not so painful....

Let us consider the jellyfish

I'm not much of a swimmer so I've never quite taken a fancy to scuba diving but I've always been fascinated by 'life below the surface', especially here in Bay of Fundy. Perhaps that explains why I love walking on the ocean floor at low tide, but, alas, that's cheating because there are many creatures - like the jellyfish - that are truly at their best while floating, not while flumped on the beach at low tide.

There is an awesome floor-to-ceiling blacklit jellyfish tank at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta that absolutely took my breath away this week. My photo here certainly does not do it justice. Seeing these jellyfish made me recall the first time I'd seen Scott Leslie's undersea photos of the Bay of Fundy: they took my breath away. I've never looked at Fundy's surface without a memory flash of what's below.

Take a look elsewhere on my blog or on Scott's website for more of these haunting images.

Snooping around Georgia for whales

I'm on holiday this week in the state of Georgia, USA. The North Atlantic Right whales that summer in the Bay of Fundy spend their winters here too. In fact, the only known calving grounds for Right whales is about 15 miles (24 km) off the coasts of Georgia and Florida. Later, in early Spring, they'll head up to the coast of Maine, then on to the Bay of Fundy for summer and fall feeding before coming back to Georgia.

In the United States several laws have been passed and regulations adopted to reduce threats to Right whales. Measures in effect for Georgia include designation of the coastal waters south of the Altamaha River and out to fifteen miles as a "critical habitat" for the species, ship reporting requirements, restrictions on the use of gill nets, and prohibitions on recreational right-whale watching.

The Georgians appear to appreciate our shared Right whales, having declared them as their official 'state mammal'....I'm not sure why we haven't done the same in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia....good idea!

Fundy's freezing fog

Living on the coast the way we do - especially with the influence of winds and tides - you won't be surprised to learn that we experience a variety of interesting weather phenomena. Winter weather highlights include: ice-glazed mud, cascading fog, ice pebbles and ice cakes.

My friend, Ryan, from Annapolis just sent me a photo of the Annapolis lighthouse surrounded by something we call "freezing fog or freezing mist". Crystals of frost formulate in what appears to be foggy air but then cling to everything they touch. It's probably the same concept as hoar frost but it kind of floats through the air. Anyway, I love the stuff - we don't see it that often but when we do it's fresh and magical.

P.S. Check out Ryan's Annapolis Royal Heritage blog!

"The Tides" - A poem

With plans heating up for tidal power here in the Bay of Fundy, I thought you might find this poem amusing. This was written back in the 1920s, when the only technology considered for harnessing tidal power was a barrage (full causeway - hugely damaging to the environment - across the bay!). Luckily, we've given up on that idea, but, recently, equipment used to assess tidal power potential here was destroyed in the Bay during testing!

From Grace Helen Mowat's 1928 book Funny Fables of Fundy....

A stranger once said to the tides in the Bay:
"How strange you should live in this indolent way;
You crawl up the strand then crawl down again
Why can't you be useful and helpful to men?
For the past thousand years you have been just the same,
Such an idle existence! It's really a shame!"

The tides, rather ruffled, cried "What do you wish?
We fill up the fish weirs and bring in the fish
And drift-wood and rock-weed and much else besides.
Why, everyone waits for the turn of the tides!
We've washed the shores clean and never once shirked
If you did half as much you would feel overworked!'

"I propose," said the stranger (ignoring their theme),
"To use all your strength in a practical scheme.
I studied at college before I came here,
And everyone thinks me a great engineer!
I can hardly expect you to know who I am,
But I'm seriously thinking of building a dam
To keep you in bounds, till I need you, of course,
And then I expect to control you by force.
You can turn wheels and cranks by this simple device
And greatly aid commerce. Now won't that be nice?"

The waves made no answer to what the man said;
But talking it over that evening in bed
They grumbled and murmured: "We need not fear him;
Beside our great strength his adventure looks slim.
If he built up this, it is perfectly plain,
We must all push together and break it again.
And, if this arrangement should fail to survive,
We can wash in a shark that will eat him alive!"

The engineer tactfully waited awhile
Then, appearing next morning, he said with a smile:
"Dear tides, I am taking a trip up to town,
I hope you need something that I can bring down?"

They haughtily said: "You may bring, if you wish,
Some good gelatine for the young jelly-fish."

The item he added at once to his list,
And spoke of returning before he was missed;
And just as he promised, came home the next night,
His pockets all bulging with plans, blue and white,
The gelatine too he remembered to bring
(For jelly-fish need it so much in the spring!)
"These plans," he explained, "will be gold to your shore
By giving employment to men by the score."

But the tides in a voice that was hollow and cold,
Said: "Our fishes are silver; we don't care for gold."

"How hopelessly dull," cried the great engineer.
"My college diploma is little use here!
"I cannot express how this talk makes me feel!",
And appearing quite angry, he turned on his heel.

The sea-gulls brought word that a numerous band
Of workmen were filling the channel with sand,
And talked or erecting a barrier so high,
That no tides could cross over unless they could fly.

"Very well," said the tides, "let him do as he will,
And we for a time will keep perfectly still
And wait for the Equinox gales in the Fall -
And they you will see what becomes of this wall!"

The sea-gulls that Autumn all gathered in flocks,
To await the return of the fall Equinox.
They were fighting for seats with the plovers and crows,
When all of a sudden the Equinox rose!

With rushing and roaring the tides came apace -
And dealt the great structure a slap in the face!

The engineer, viewing the frantic attack,
Admonished hte tides that they better keep back!
But they cried, "We are holding our annual ball,
When the Equinox comes for a dance in the fall."

Then the tides with fantastic grimaces upreared,
And the engineer groaned, "It is just as I feared!"
Down, down, went the dam and the sea-wall besides,
And the engineer fell with the wreck of the tides.
And the waves washed his pockets as clean as could be
And carried his plan and his gold out to sea.

He may have survived, for i know he could swim,
But the tides never more have been bothered with him.

MORAL:
These facts tell us plainly to look on all sides
Before we are tempted to tamper with tides;
And when we are strangers, wherever we go,
There's always a side that we still do not know;
And if we too suddenly start to reform
Our plans and our gold may be lost in the storm!

Right whale takes big trip to the Azores

The endangered North Atlantic Right whale, which lives in Fundy for several months thru summer and fall, goes south for its winter feeding grounds. Generally, these whales are spotted feeding in the warmer coastal waters off Georgia and North Carolina during our winter months. This week, however, for the first time since 1888, a Right whale has been spotted as far south as Faial Island in the Azores.

Using the Right whale's callosites (hard patches of skin, light in colour, usually on face - see photo) and distinctive fluke (tail) markings, whale researchers were able to identify this whale as one last spotted here in the Bay of Fundy a few months ago - on September 24, 2008.

The North Atlantic Right whale is one of the world's most endangered whales, with only about 300 remaining in the Atlantic. One thing that's quite neat about whale watching here in Fundy is that all of our whale operators voluntarily adhere to a strict whale watching code of ethics which enables them to allow visitors to view our 12 species of whales but also encourages them to participate in whale research and cataloguing. Hence, a contribution to the wealth of accurate and detailed information known about our whales in their summer and winter habitats, and in between.

Photo borrowed from Whale Watch Azores, in case you happen to be in the Azores this week and want to go whale watching!

Fundy ice & snow = great photo ops

Although we tend to grumble a bit about the onset of winter here in this part of Canada, I actually have a suspicion that many of us welcome winter for its complete change of pace from the rest of the year.

Personally, I look forward to the way snow & ice transform the land and seascapes. If you are inclined toward photography then the Bay of Fundy is just as enticing to your camera now as it is in summer.

We had a relatively mild December so ice only started to form at the edge of the tide and in our rivers and streams within the past few weeks. I snapped this photo down at the inner harbour just a few hundred feet from my all time favourite winter photo of Fundy ice cakes. The camera, by the way, was set on full colour, not black & white - cool, huh?

Speaking of second...the 7Wonders results

The Bay of Fundy has been participating in a contest to declare the New7Wonders of Nature since June of 2008. The top Canadian site was announced this morning and it was Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta.
http://www.new7wonders.com/nature/en/nominees/northamerica/

Big thanks to EVERYONE who rallied so enthusiastically to support Fundy in this initiative!!

Bay of Fundy benefited greatly from participation in this contest:

- we were accepted as one of only 5 Canadian sites into this prestigious contest. In order to even be considered, we had to make a case for why Fundy qualified to compete internationally and this was easily made.

- our region got international exposure on the New7Wonders website for 8 months while we participated

- when the votes closed last week we were sitting in the top 1/4 of all international nature tourism sites

- we raised awareness of the significance of the Bay of Fundy as one of Canada's top nature tourism destinations

- we've calculated about $300,000 in free media coverage of Fundy

- we've witnessed a 400% increase in visitation to our website

- we had a good time doing it !!

HUGE thanks to everyone who supported Fundy in this bid. Easy to see why the folks in our region have a reputation for being friendly, determined, clever and enthusiastic!!

Bay of Fundy & the leap second connection

Many of us were perhaps too busy celebrating on New Year's Eve to notice the countdown lasting one full second longer than normal. In addition to our calendar picking up the odd spare day in a leap year, it seems that every couple of years we need to pick up a leap second and this is the year!

The thing is: it's all Bay of Fundy's fault. The current time interval that we call a second was developed about a hundred years ago but since then the earth's rotation has slowed ever so slightly. This slow down is due to the moon's effects on the earth's tides; most specifically the 'friction' caused by the Bay of Fundy's tides.

Check out this interesting article, in which a professor at the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics explains Fundy's culpability in this phenomenon.

Polar dip Fundy-style

Bay of Fundy folk are a pretty hardy bunch so the idea of taking a frigid dip in icy waters, known as 'polar dipping' doesn't intimidate us one bit! There are assorted polars dips in lakes around the region but I say 'go for the big freeze in the Bay of Fundy itself' like those who take the plunge every New Year's day at Mispec Beach.

If you are near Mispec Beach this morning (east of Saint John, New Brunswick) this morning, why not pop on by to cheer on the 200 polar dippers expected to take the plunge! I found this video of last year's Mispec dip on YouTube...today's will be a bit more exciting: there is a blizzard blowing.

And me? well, I'll be enjoying the health benefits from the sidelines down at our harbour...crazeee people!

Chocolate biscotti

Seems I hadn't posted this chocolate biscotti recipe afterall when I posted the cranberry-almond and gingerbread biscotti recipes a few Christmases ago. They make a nice 'set' and, at this time of year, I make mini-versions for the Christmas tea circuit.

Chocolate Chunk Biscotti
1 1/2 c white flour
1/2 c cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 c semi-sweet chocolate chunks
2 eggs
3/4 c sugar
1/3 c melted butter
2 tsp vanilla (plus optional: dissolve 1 Tbsp instant coffee granules in vanilla)

Mix dry ingredients in one bowl. Mix wet in another with whisk. Add liquid to dry. Mix until soft dough forms. Transfer to lightly floured surface. Form into a smooth, non-sticky ball. Divide dough in half; roll each into foot-long log. Transfer to baking sheet. Bake at 350F for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool on pan for 30 minutes. Transfer each log to cutting board; cut diagonally 3/4 inch thick. Stand cookies upright with space between them on cookie tray. Bake again for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool on rack.

Cranberry-pecan loaf

Just like most families, we've got some traditional recipes that we haul out for the holidays. I've previous posted my chocolate, cranberry-orange and gingerbread Christmas biscotti recipes, but just realized I hadn't yet posted this one.

Nothing particularly Bay of Fundy-ish about this loaf (though we do have wild and cultivated cranberries growing around the bay) - it's just a nice, festive loaf to give as a Christmas party hostess gift.

Cranberry Pecan Loaf
3 c white flour
1 1/2 c sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/8 c shortening
2 tsp grated orange peel
1/2 c orange juice (or, if using dried cranberries add an extra 1/4 c orange juice)
2 beaten eggs
1 1/2 c coarsely chopped cranberries (fresh or frozen) or dried cranberries
1 1/2 c chopped pecans (or mixed nuts)

Sift dry ingredients. Cut in shortening until well blended. Mix peel with juice and egg. Add liquids to dry, mix to just moisten. Fold in berries and nuts. Pour into greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 - 45 mins for fresh or frozen cranberries, 10 minutes more with dried cranberries. Let cool overnight for easy slicing. Makes one large loaf or two small (such as with my twin toblerone-shaped pans, pictured above).

Big moon & crazy winds = wild tides!

It's been a crazy couple of days of 'natural effects' here in the Bay of Fundy. The moon this weekend was in much greater proximity to earth than it normally is. Usually it's orbiting at an average distance of 384,400 kilometres (238,855 miles) around the earth but on Friday it was 17,000 km (10,560 miles) closer to earth than usual.

Not only is that enough to make the moon look bigger and brighter, but it also strengthens the moon's gravitational pull - causing even higher tides in our already high-tide bay. Also it's been wildly windy for the past couple of days.

Sadly for me, I was traveling away from the Bay during this convergence of natural factors (just the kind of weather I enjoy!!) but my friend Trish from Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, was wandering about with her trusty camera. Here's one of her images of the town's waterfront area during the height of the tide. Not to fear, that church is actually quite far from the water's edge, it's just Trish's zoom lens collapsing perspective and making the church look like it might just float away on the tide!!

We like our trees BIG here in Fundy

Most rural Bay of Fundy residents make an annual trek to the woods each December to chop a fresh tree for the holidays. Allergy issues aside, it's always great to see a 'real' tree...reminds me of the debate between our region's real maple syrup and fake 'table syrup'.

Great to see 'real' win over 'plastic' in the Fundy city of Saint John, New Brunswick as well. Check out this massive (3-storey high) fir tree outside the entrance to the New Brunswick Museum in courtyard of Market Square (Uptown Saint John) ~ now that's what I call one purdy Christmas tree!

Funny Fundy face

My niece and I were recently out exploring a Bay of Fundy basalt beachscape when we came upon these two holes 'drilled' in the rock. Couldn't resist the temptation to create a happy face with the materials we had at hand - shells and seaweed. Simple fun at the seashore! Should amuse the next passersby...er, assuming the tide doesn't wash it away in the meantime.

Fundy-themed gift idea

It seems that everyone (including gas stations and cell phone services) is in the business of proffering Christmas gift ideas so I though I'd get in the game. In addition recommending that you support our many potters, weavers, painters, jewelry makers, etc. around the Bay of Fundy, there are also many writers whose books might interest you.

Here's a delightful one just released in time for Christmas:
A Maritime Christmas: New Stories & Memories of the Season.

It's a fun collection of maritime-themed stories edited by well-known folklorist, Clary Croft, and published by the always fabulous regional book company: Nimbus.

I picked up this book for a family member (who shall remain nameless...shhhh, it's a secret) on the weekend and took it for a little test drive. My favourite story is the one by Chris Mills. In When Santa Came to Gannet Rock, Chris tells of the season he and a co-worker were stuck in a Bay of Fundy lighthouse. They use their radio to help steer Santa toward Gannet Rock while local children listened in. The kids get involved by calling in with messages of encouragement for Santa...too cute!

For other Fundy-themed book ideas, check the Books & Poetry tab.

Garden of Lights & Festival of Trees

As winter approaches here around the Bay of Fundy, there are many community celebrations. Here's an enchanting one in St Andrews: the annual Season of Light & Wonder.

St Andrew's fabulous garden, Kingsbrae Garden, is an enthusiastic participant with its Garden of Lights & Festival of Trees. It's a great chance to explore the sparkling evening gardens as they nestle in for winter. Garden visitors can also bid on their favorite decorated Christmas trees, with all donations going to the county food bank. The Garden's lovely cafe is open throughout the festival with its regular weekly chef's specials as well as a festive menu of seasonal treats (love the mulled cider and gingerbread men!). Enjoy the season!

Photo credit: Stephen MacGillivray, courtesy of Kingsbrae Garden.
If you know of a Fundy community winter event - preferably one that lasts more than a day, that would interest our blog readers, please email me with a photo & description - bayoffundy@gmail.com

Sri Lankans learn about Fundy

As a keen Bay of Fundy groupie myself, I often come across Fundy-themed articles and blog references especially by travelers.

It's always great to see visitors' perspectives of our bay. Take, for example, this article that appeared in the Sunday Times in Sri Lanka this week. It's a nicely researched article (whose writer actually visited Fundy). I was amused, though, that our friend from Sri Lanka noted the importance of wearing a coat to the beach - seems she found it a bit cold here (perhaps compared to Sri Lanka) even in summer!

Bring out the Stanfields

Since we're on the topic of historic Bay of Fundy companies and also winter approaching, I'd be remiss in not mentioning Stanfield's: the Underwear Company. Based in Truro, Nova Scotia, Stanfield's has been making apparel for Canadians since 1856!!

Known originally for their fabulous longjohns (see photo), the company now makes a full array of layers for durability & performance year round. These days, with so many people dressing poorly for winter then complaining about being cold, I'm all for bringing back longjohns...think of them as 'country goes city chique'!

And here's a little known fact: Stanfield's has a really great factory outlet on Logan Street in Truro - open daily, Tues-Sat, year round.

Have you hugged a lobster lately?

Lobster season is underway again in the Bay of Fundy and neighboring regions. In tough economic times, not only does the price of gasoline lowers due to lack of demand...the price of lobster also takes a kicking. Lobster, it seems, is perceived as a luxury food.

The tricky bit is when prices get so low that it costs more to catch lobsters than they sell for retail. Wholesale lobster prices are sitting at about half of what they were last year - this is a serious concern for our region. In a effort to support our rurally-based lobster fishery, I'm doing my personal best to increase demand by buying lobster every week. So hug a lobster, or, if you don't care for lobster, hug a lobster fisherman - he (or she) can probably use the encouragement!!

The start of our storybook winter?

One of the things I really like about living here is our four 'story book' seasons: spring's buds & blooms, summer's warmth and verdant greens, fall's flash of leaf colours, and winter's white.

It's actually quite early to have snow here on the Bay of Fundy (most of the time we just squeek in our first snowfall a couple days before Christmas) but we had a freak snow storm yesterday!

It was the big fluffy snow - my favourite! that burdens trees and neutralizes the forest into a black & white. Here's photo taken from my car window. Sadly, this morning it all seems to be melting away....well, nice while it lasted!

Bay of Fundy car ad?

With so many attractive and accessible beachscapes around the Bay of Fundy, I've often wondered why our region doesn't get selected more often as car ad shooting location...I mean really, there are only so many ways they can keep showing the desert...

As far as I know, Bay of Fundy has only been used once officially for car promo: GM truck road tests at Cape d'Or Lighthouse in Advocate Harbour back in Nov. 2006 (only a couple months after I started this blog).

So, to show the potential of this, I took it upon myself to create this sample Volkwwagon promo photo of me and my beetle. With a bit of practice, I even mastered the frozen Barbie smile - well, the cool November weather helped!

One BIG Bay of Fundy fishie!

It's not uncommon during lobster fishing season that traps or lines sometime attract other little sea creatures. However, a couple Bay of Fundy fishermen in Alma, New Brunswick, encountered a first last week: the discovery of a 28 foot long, 4000 lb. basking shark mixed up in their lines.

Basking sharks are the world's 2nd largest fish and are found in all the world's temperate oceans. You needn't worry about encountering one and the beach though...they are slow moving and harmless (doesn't have teeth like its cousin, the Great White). It's called a basking shark because it's most often observed when feeding at the surface where it appears to be leisurely basking.

Unfortunately, the guys weren't able to free this one before it died of a struggle. Gear entanglements are not this shark's biggest threat though... elsewhere in the world it is overfished for its valuable fins, flesh & organs. Thanks to Doug Watson for this photo!

Where's the big wall of water?

There's no doubt that the top question visitors ask when visiting the Bay of Fundy is: Where do I go to 'see' the tides?

The answer to this question may not be what you think. Before visiting Fundy, most people know two things:
1. that we have the highest tides in the world (with a vertical height of 50 ft/16 metres)
2. that we have tidal bores or rapids of some sort

Unfortunately, tourists often put these two facts together as one thought and then expect to see a 50 ft 'wall of water' or tidal wave gushing into our bay 2x day.

Fundy residents know that there's no tsunami-style wall of water here. In fact, the places where you can see the rapids & bores (like Reversing Falls in Saint John, New Brunswick and Shubenacadie River in Nova Scotia) are not always the best places to see the full vertical effect of the tides (the many Fundy wharves where boats sit on the ground at low tide).

And, at the risk of confusing our poor visitors, there is a third tidal effect (somewhat unsung) which is every bit as impressive:
3. the horizontal effect - places where low tides exposes miles and miles of dry ocean floor.

In truth, when the tide comes in it often laps gently on windless days or is a bit more turbulent on windy days (and during hurricanes). Here's a photo I took a few days ago in the fog just as the tide turned at low tide and started to come back in. Not the wall of water but no less beautiful and amazing a phenomenon that can take your breath away...

Bay of Fundy inspires hooked rugs

I've long contended that life here by the ever-moving ocean stirs up the creativity of our residents. This is why my blog, which is essentially about the tides, also has sections on art and books & poetry! My grandmothers were both rug hookers and quilters so I confess to an early fascination with 'textile' art. Imagine my delight when I ran into rug designer and rug hooker, Vicki Graham, at a recent blogger's workshop (of all places!).

A note from Vicki to accompany this fine image of one of her Fundy-themed rugs....I live on beautiful Brier Island and started rug hooking when a friend introduced me to the traditional art of rug making. Over the years my interests have evolved into one-of-a-kind hooked, specially dyed rugs that have found homes all around the world. This is one is called "My Love", which I designed and hooked for my husband (a fisherman).

Vicki is also a member of the Fundy Region Hooking Group and teaches rug hooking with the Nova Scotia Rug Hooking Guild. Check out Vicki's website (and soon to be, new blog!)

If you know of a Fundy artisan that you think I'd like to meet, please email me at bayoffundy@gmail.com.

Holding fast on the ocean floor

Given the choice, I'd much rather walk our Bay of Fundy beaches at low tide than high. At high tide they are pretty pebble, sand or cobble beaches just as lovely as any other coastal locations in the world.

At low tide, however, the receding tide peels back an amazing view of life on the ocean floor. It's a habitat to which even our seaweed has adapted. This photo shows seaweed holding fast to a fist-sized rock throughout the tide cycle. It bakes during the exposed heat of the afternoon and six hours later rolls the ocean floor under 40 feet of turbulent tide. Twice a day, every day, all year long.

High - low tide Parrsboro harbour

Some people collect tea cups. Some people collect coins. I collect sets of high-low tide pictures of the Bay of Fundy....I suppose it has to do with always wanting to have images at hand to share with visitors who don't have time to stay for the 6 hrs between high and low tide. I was just cleaning out my massive collection of Fundy photos (over 2000 in 08 -- eek!) when I came across this high-low tide set of the Parrsboro, Nova Scotia wharf. It's a classic boats-on-the-dry-ocean-floor-at-low tide Fundy image but I never get tired of seeing it....and neither do our visitors!

Strange Fundy ritual

If you live around Fundy you'll know that our tidal waters are a teensy bit on the cool side - a result, no doubt, of a fresh batch of Atlantic ocean water coming in twice a day with the tides.

But, undaunted, we locals certainly swim or, at least, wade in the tide. When I was growing up, there was an older local gentleman who went to the wharf every day, year round, to soak his legs at high tide 'for arthritis'...em, to get arthritis surely...not to cure it! Little local kids will stay in for hours in the summer especially when the tide rolls in late afternoon over the sun-baked mud flats.

Last week I had a note from Kathleen Gidney down in the Digby Area who said she's made the idea of a dip in Fundy cool tides into a fun challenge for visitors participating in her scenic tours. A level 1 challenge is Fundy water up to the ankles; level 2 is up to the knees; level 3 is, well, not usually recommended for visitors without paramedics on hand!! Kathleen issues an "I survived the Fundy Challenge" certificate to all who get up the nerve to take the Level 1 & 2 challenge like the brave U.K. visitor in this photo. Fun!

Fundy dulse harvest makes national news

Well, it must have been a slow news day in Toronto last week - Fundy dulse pickers got a nice spread in the Globe & Mail, Canada's national newspaper - right on! It's actually a brilliant article about one of Fundy's best known dulsing grounds: Dark Harbour on Grand Manan Island.

Although I've previously mentioned hand harvesting dulse as a bit of a hobby, the commercial harvest of dulse is anything but leisurely and glamorous!!

Tory Zimmerman's article is accompanied by a great short video/still documentary that really gives a sense of this lifestyle fishery - a window into one of our many Fundy worlds.

Blog photo credit: Laurie Murison, Grand Manan Whale Research site.

A poem from Fables of Fundy

A friend of mine recently discovered this fine little book of poetry in the 'free' bin at a garage sale - imagine! It's entitled: Funny Fables of Fundy & Other Poems For Children, written and illustrated by Grace Helen Mowat, published in 1928. Ms Mowat appears to have been from the Fundy city, Saint John, New Brunswick. Here's a sample poem...from a kindred spirit!

The Bay of Fundy

I like the Bay of Fundy,
Where the tides creep up the strand,
With driftwood for the fire,
And rockweed for the land.
From Yarmouth to Chignecto, around and back again,
They reach the Quoddy Islands and wash the shores of Maine.

I like the Bay of Fundy,
Where sandstone Islands wait
The rosy kiss of sunset,
Beside the western gate.
And up the inland rivers, that seek the Fundy tides
A pleasant land of apple trees and happy homes abides.

I like the Bay of Fundy -
For when the tide is out,
So many wonders of the deep
Are scattered all about.
Oh, happy Bay of Fundy; for there for evermore
Children find their fairy lands beside its lovely shore!

The ghost of Hopewell Rocks?

Just after inviting folks to submit ideas for guest posts a few days ago, I received this note from an anonymous reader about the possibility of ghost roaming around - not in an old Fundy sea captain's house but - on the beach at Hopewell Rocks no less! Check this out:

Five years ago, I was visiting Hopewell Rocks and saw a ghost, or something. I was walking along the low tide beach and saw a man caught up in a tangle of maybe barbed wire or driftwood (?). There were lots of people around but it seemd that no one else could see it. I literally shook my head and rubbed my eyes but it was still there! It disappeared when I walked toward it. It was incredibly unsettling. Have you ever heard of anyone having a similar experience?

Now I can't say as I have heard about a resident ghost at The Rocks. If you have, please feel free to comment!!

Smile....Fundy's on camera!

There's probably no better way for us locals to really appreciate the Bay of Fundy than by hanging out with folks who are making their first visit here. In my job I'm often called upon to host visiting travel writers, photographers or videographers.

I still remember taking a group of travel writers down to our local fish weir - in particular, a writer from the New York Times who was nearly moved to tears upon witnessing this low-tech, historic "loaves n' fishes" way of capturing fish from Fundy's tides. In fact, it was such fascination with our lives here on Fundy that led me to think a blog about my ordinary could be your extraordinary. Perhaps that's the reason behind the wild growth of blogs on the internet.

Yesterday, I was thrilled to welcome to the Fundy shore my friend Steve Wright, with Brand Canada, and his merry duo of videographers, Matt & Brett. These boys were in the area filming some upcoming Fundy ads and we had great fun walking down on the ocean floor by the lighthouse for a couple hours before the tide came in behind us!

Happy blogday Bay of Fundy!

I'm celebrating a very exciting event on my blog today: my 400th post about the Bay of Fundy. When I started this blog two years, I was worried I'd run out of things to say about our beautiful bay...oh but no!! It's been great fun connecting both with Fundy visitors and networking in the blogosphere with Fundy residents throughout the Bay.

With a view ahead, I'd like to add a new feature to my blog: guest posts! I've be dabbling in these already with Fundy dogs and in the nature section with reports from two horticultural gardens in the region but I'd like to more formally invite you to send me a note and a photo. You can use the general blog categories for ideas.

I live in the upper Bay and, though I travel a fair bit around the whole bay, I'd love to hear more about life and times in the Fundy Isles/Passamaquoddy as well as Digby Neck & Islands in addition to your general observations from anywhere around the bay.

Email me: bayoffundy@gmail.com.

Nifty Bay of Fundy tide height map

Maps of our fabulous but somewhat complicated bay are really helpful to have. I've previously posted maps for our lobster season, the blueberry harvesting zones and to dispel myths about Fundy's location and the weather 'up' here!

Here's another map: this one from NOAA, the U.S.'s National Ocean & Atmospheric Administration. This map depicts the depth of the tide throughout the Bay...since the undersea floor of Fundy gets shallower as the tide moves further up the bay, the tides are force 'up' which is what creates the 46 to 49 ft (14 to 15 metre) tides in the two smaller bays of Fundy (top right of this photo). To put that in perspective, the Fundy tides are then 5x higher than the rest of the tides on the east coast of North America and the rest of the world!

NOAA does lots of cool ocean research on the east coast. You may recall my friend Carl, who works for NOAA, sending me some aerial Fundy photos when he flew up here to check on the progress of renos to one of his "hurricane hunter' airplanes.

Can you eat wild portulaca?

The Bay of Fundy offers up a plethora of strange edibles: dulse, goosetongue greens, periwinkles, etc. Sometimes these are things that normal people walk by a zillion times at the beach and just never consider eating. I'm a big fan of 'eating local' so I'm often wondering if there are other seaside culinary delights to invite to the plate.

Take this wild portulaca in my photos, for example. It's a typical sight in our salt marsh fringes. About 10 years ago, I remember taking an interpretive walk with a Mi'kmaw 'medicine woman' (as she called herself) who said just about everything colourful on the beach was edible!

So I'm wondering if any of my readers know: a) the proper name for the plant I'm calling wild portulaca, b) if it is edible, and, if so in what format (steamed?), and c) when best to harvest: these two photos are summer (green) and fall (red). Please feel free to let me know via the comment option. Thanks!

Fundy's glorious fall leaves

Truly, there is no better place in eastern Canada to see the autumn leaves than around the shores of the Bay of Fundy. The Bay is fringed by mixed hard and softwood forest which makes for some striking colour combinations: the brilliant yellow, orange and reds of maples and birches interspersed with dark spruce greens.

And... the added bonus of living in maple/blueberry country is blueberry bushes blasting forth with crimson leaves at this time of year. Took this photo this morning!

Fundy for 7 Wonders Quest Continues

This is so adorable...after a great article appeared in the Sunday Chronicle Herald (about our quest to have the Bay of Fundy become a "New7Wonder of Nature") I received a phonecall during turkey dinner from a 90-year old lady in Halifax wondering what she could do to make Fundy win!! She doesn't have internet so she can't vote but she really lifted my spirits and made me think that Fundy can absolutely win the first round of this contest. There is so much support out there!

The most pressing milestone is Dec. 31, 2008, when ONE Canadian site (from 5 that made the short list) will be selected to continue on to the next round of this international contest). If you haven't already voted, please VOTE FUNDY soon!

Oh yes, the contest (and Fundy!) was also mentioned by CTV's Travel Expert, Loren Christie, on a recent episode of Canada AM.

Ocean speed limit set to protect whales

Here's a bit of good news for Right whales that's been a long time coming: on the United States' Atlantic coast this week, a speed limit of 11 knots has been set for ships 65 feet or longer that travel within 23 miles of major ports, as well as in areas where the North Atlantic Right whale breeds, feeds and migrates.

This is of particular interest to the Bay of Fundy because Right whales (migrating to their summer feeding here from the U.S. coasts of Georgia & North Carolina) swim by all those major U.S. ports. Northern Right whales are an endangered species (only 300 to 400 remain) and their most serious threat is ship strikes, which kill 1 to 2 whales per year.

For more info, check out the group that spearheaded this initiative, the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration - NOAA's website.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Squares

One of my favourite treats to offer returning relatives on Thanksgiving weekend is pumpkin choc chip squares: proof that anything takes better when chocolate is involved!

Pumpkin-Chocolate Chip Squares
2 1/4 c. white flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking sode
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
4 beaten eggs
1/2 c white sugar
1 c brown sugar
1/2 c butter
2 c. pure cooked pumpkin (canned OK)
1 c. mini chocolate chips

Sift first 5 ingredients together in one bowl. Mix wet ingredients in another bowl. Combine. Fold in choc chips. Cook in a 9 x 13 pan, 325 degrees F, for about 45 minutes.

The mysterious Isle Haute

There's a mysterious island out in the middle of the upper Bay of Fundy that is the subject of some curiosity around here. Isle Haute is easily seen off the coast of Advocate Harbour & Morden on the Nova Scotia side of the bay, and also from Alma on the New Brunswick side.

Here are a few intriguing facts/rumours/folklore I've heard about Isle Haute:

1. there is buried treasure out there, dating from the 1700s. Check out an interesting article published in a local newspaper about this last month.
2. the island is topped by a huge fresh water lake - not true according to an Acadia Univ. biologist I recently discussed this with!
3. it was named by Samuel de Champlain (the first European adventurer - from France - who claimed to discover and settle the area in 1604). This makes sense: Isle meaning "island" in French, Haute meaning 'high'...tho' we locals tend say: "Isla Haute" for some reason...its basalt cliffs are about 320 ft high!
4. wild potatoes have been growing there for several hundred years (and were noted by the area's first peoples: the Mi'kmaq).
5. there are no wild animals out on the island any larger than a mouse.
6. the island was using as a training site by the Canadian airforce during the 2nd world war.
7. once used as a picnic location by many Fundy families, the island is now mostly just visited by researchers studying the plant life, birds, etc.
   

I don't have a boat that can get me safely into the one safe access point on the island (did I mention all the shipwrecks!) so I must share a couple photos I took recently from the mainland side. If any readers know of other myths about Isle Haute or, if you have photos to share from the island itself, please feel free to email me: bayoffundy@gmail.com.