Bay of Fundy

The bay of Fundy (pronunciation: fone-di or fone-die ) is a Arm of the sea located on the coast Atlantique of the Canada, at the northern end of the Golfe of Maine, between the provinces of the New Brunswick and of Nova Scotia. It is 270 km long, for a 80 km broad average.

Origin of the name

The name “Fundy” would date from the 16th century, when the Portuguese named it bay “ Rio Fondo ” or “deep river”. It could also come, more probably, of a bad translation (Fundy Bay) of the French expression “ bottom of the Bay …”, because this bay was also called French Baie by the explorer and cartographer Samuel Champlain during the forwarding of 1604, led by Pierre Dugua of Mons, and at the end of the 17th century the French colony extended at the “bottom from French Bay”, until “Grand' Prée” (sic), become the Large-Pre shaved by the English in 1755, close tocurrent Truro (Nova Scotia).

Geography

The bay of Fundy to the shape of a funnel of width of 80 km at the entry finishing in two narrow prolongations: the Baie of Chignectou and the Minas bay (name coming from French basin of the Mines that the Acadien S had given him). These last are subdivided in:

Bay of Chignecto: Basin of Cumberland and Bay of Shepody.
Bassin of Undermined: finishes in the Baie of Cobequid.

The Western part has four important under-basins, are:

With dimensions of the New Brunswick:

Bay of Passamaquoddy
Bay Back

Side Nova Scotia:

Basin of Annapolis

Side of the American State of Maine:

Bay of Cobscook

The bay of Fundy is relatively not very deep in the North-West of bay of Fundy. The winds and an exceptional tide had then combined. However, as the basin of Leaf is in an area moved away, the statistics recent and are provided little there.

These tides and the strong currents in bay generate at certain major places of the water increase depths. All this mixing makes it possible bay to remain free of ice at the year, although the temperature of water never goes up to more 10o C in summer and that in winter snow falls in great quantity.

Tidal powerplant

Several projects of powerplants supplied with the tidal energy were proposed during the last decades. One would build a Barrage across one of the handles of bay, letting pass the rising tide and retaining the downward tide to deviate the backward flow towards turbines. There exists such a power station with Annapolis Royal (Nova Scotia) with the mouth of the Annapolis river. It produces 18 Mégawatt S of power and is used as pilot project to observe the environmental impacts, of which the erosion of the banks, the stranding of the river, retention of heavy metals and pesticides by the stopping, the blocking imposed on the fauna of which whales and the effects on the flora which lives in the zone inter-tide.

Until now, the construction of larger power stations which would require to close broad bays led because of the problems met to Annapolis Royal, like for effects apprehended on the probable increase of the tides (0,2 to 1 m) not had with these restriction of floods, which could cause floods until on the coast of the Maine.

Some other projects aim at installing aquanateurs , kinds of watery wind mills. It is about a submerged tube in which one finds sections of turbines which are driven by the current. These tubes of generators would be placed in places where flow is accelerated by a contracting and would not harm general circulation.

Islands

Islands and small islands which one finds in bay of Fundy, largest is that of Large Manan at the border between New Brunswick and the Maine. One can also mention the island Campobello where Franklin Delano Roosevelt had a residence of summer, the Moose island and the Deer island in bay of Passamaquoddy on the northern side. In the south, one finds the island Brier and Long Island. In the content of bay, one can see in bay of Chignecto the High island and, in the basin Minas, the Five very picturesque Islands. In Hopewell, in bay of Chignecto, one retouve the Rochers of Hopewell to low tide which become small islands with high tide. It is a very snuffed place of the tourists who can see there very well the variation of water.

Affluents

The bay receives several rivers, of which most important is the Fleuve Midsummer's Day. Here these affluents:

From New Brunswick:

River Midsummer's Day
River Magaguadavic
River Memramcook
River Petitcodiac
River Holy-Cross
River Shepody
River Tantramar

With dimensions one of Nova Scotia:

River Annapolis
Avon River To rivet
River Cornwallis
Salmon River To rivet
River Shubenacadie

Strong the tide of bay of Fundy cause an interesting phenomenon in the majority of these rivers and rivers: an inversion of the flood of water between the low tides and high. To low tide the fresh water of the rivers is thrown in bay whereas with high tide, the salt water of bay invades the interior of the grounds. This phenomenon is particularly spectacular in the downtown area of Midsummer's Day where the falls with the mouth of the river are filled by the arriving flow of bay. That allows navigation over this obstacle high tide.

This inversion of the floods and a rather weak slope gives broad muddy zones in all the zone inter-tide on the rivers of the East of bay. This is very favorable to a great biological diversity, but makes them often impracticable to navigation. Another phenomenon connected to these two conditions is the occurrence of Mascaret S on some of these rivers. It is about a wave which breaks towards the interior of the grounds in front of the high tide. This is caused by water coming from the bay and which must be engulfed in a narrow and not very deep river.

One finds mascarets on the Shubenacadie river with Truro, on the Salmon river close to the same city, like on the Petitcodiac rivers with Moncton (New Brunswick) and Avon close to Windsor (Nova Scotia). This phénonème attracts many visitors and one can even make Rafting on the wave starting from the village of Maitland. However, the construction of Bridge - Thrown S in the Years 1960 - 70 has considerably affected the mascaret at the last two places by accelerating the stranding.

Communautées

The greatest centers of populations are with dimensions one of New Brunswick the towns of Midsummer's Day and Moncton. One also counts there Saint-Andrews, Blacks Harbor and Sackville.

Side of Nova Scotia, one finds Amherst, Truro, Windsor, Wolfville, Kentville, Annapolis Royal and Digby.

Fauna and flora

One finds in bay more than 800 species of Invertébré S commun runs, of rorquals common, small rorquals, rorquals to bump and of rorquals boreal appears in bay. The external bay is used as surface of growth by the black Baleine of the Atlantic, a species in the process of disappearance; one generally sees there couples mother-whale-calf and the immature ones. The Seal S commun runs resident in the area and one sees some everywhere.

The area is of more important like migratory stopover for million birds, since from 42 to 74 percent of the world population makes stopover here each year.

Ports and navigation

The port of Midsummer's Day (NR. - B.) one of most occupied in North America, is specialized in principal industries of New Brunswick: Wood, paste and paper. One also finds there largest Oil refinery of Canada, that of Irving Oil. Moreover the family Irving, most influential of the province and one of richest with the country, has her District-general there.

The other ports of importance are:

Hantsport (Nova Scotia), on the Avon river, thanks to its factory of paste and paper and the export of Gypsum in Bulk.
Bayside (New Brunswick)
Eastport (Maine)

It there several services of Cross S, including one through bay since Saint-John towards Digby (Nova Scotia) (operated by Bay Ferries Limited ) and a certain number enters the continent and the islands. Let us note:

Island Large Manan towards Blacks Harbor and White Head Island (New Brunswick) (by Coastal Transport Limited )
Deer Island towards Letete (by the department of transport of New Brunswick)
Campobello Island towards the Deer Island and Eastport (Maine) towards the Deer Island (by East Coast Ferries Limited )
Westport (Nova Scotia) (Island Brier) towards Freeport (Nova Scotia) (Island Length Island) and Tiverton (Nova Scotia) (Long Island) towards East Ferry (Nova Scotia) (by the department of transport and of public works of Nova Scotia)

All this sea traffic of cross bars, ships of freight and flotillas of fishings in several small ports makes bay a very attended place. The collisions with the whales, particularly the black whales (or right whales) are with the rise. In 2003, the Canadian coastal Garde redefined the sea routes in bay of Fundy while trying to avoid the zones where these mammals are held which are on the list of the threatened species.

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