What is the Bay of Fundy?
Answer
The Atlantic Canadian bay between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia with the highest tides in the world, reaching 16 metres at the Minas Basin.
Explanation
The Bay of Fundy is the Atlantic Canadian inlet between New Brunswick (to the north) and Nova Scotia (to the south) and is famous for having the highest tides in the world. Spring tides at the head of the bay, in the Minas Basin and Cobequid Bay, can reach 16 metres in vertical range, and 17 metres has been recorded at Burntcoat Head in 1869. The tidal range is more than five times the average ocean tidal range and moves about 160 billion tonnes of seawater in and out of the bay every tidal cycle.
The extreme tides result from a combination of factors. The bay's length and shape (a tapered funnel about 270 kilometres long and 80 kilometres wide at the mouth, narrowing to a point at the head) produces a resonance with the natural 12-hour 25-minute Atlantic tidal period. Water entering the bay is amplified by this resonance as it travels toward the head. The continental shelf and the orientation of the bay relative to the Atlantic also contribute. The Bay of Fundy was a finalist for the New Seven Wonders of Nature competition in 2011.
Bay of Fundy tides produce many distinctive geographic phenomena. The Reversing Falls at Saint John, New Brunswick reverse direction twice daily as the rising tide forces the Saint John River back upstream. Hopewell Rocks (Flowerpot Rocks) on the New Brunswick coast are tidal erosion features visible on foot at low tide and surrounded by water at high tide. The tidal bore on the Petitcodiac, Salmon, and Shubenacadie Rivers carries salt water upstream in a visible wave. The intertidal zone of the bay covers 2,200 square kilometres and supports rich shorebird and marine life.
Marine life in the Bay of Fundy includes humpback, fin, minke, harbour, and the endangered North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis). Right whales feed in the Bay of Fundy and the Roseway Basin Right Whale Critical Habitat off Nova Scotia. The 2017 unusual mortality event killed at least 17 right whales in Canadian and US waters and triggered federal vessel-strike and fishing-gear restrictions. The Bay of Fundy is the world's only home of the Bay of Fundy population of harbour porpoise. The Fundy Tidal Energy Demonstration Site at Minas Passage, Nova Scotia is one of the world's largest tidal-energy testing sites.
Why this matters for your test
The Bay of Fundy is one of Canada's most distinctive natural features. Recognising the world-record 16-metre tides and the location between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia gives candidates two specific anchors.
Source: Bay of Fundy Tourism Partnership; Fisheries and Oceans Canada
