Monday 19 July 2010

High Rollers

The tides in the Bay of Fundy, the channel between the Canadian provinces of Fresh Brunswick and Nova Scotia, are the highest in the planet, by an estimated 100 billion tons of water rolling in and out of the bay twice day after day.

One of the best places to see this phenomenon in action is Hopewell Rocks Park. This "flowerpot" rocks are tree-topped rocks simply partly visible at high tide. Little tide reveals their delicate, sculpted bases. During low tide it is possible to truly walk on the revealed sea floor. Because the tide comes in, footprints left on the flats literally disappear before people's eyes because the water rises six to eight feet per hour. In some components of the bay the difference between high and also low tide could be as much because 46 feet (14 m).

Whale enthusiasts will be grateful for the bay region for the type of marine mammals attracted to its krill-rich waters through the summer months. Up to fifteen diverse species of ragged and also baleen whales make their summer household in the waters just outside the bay. Whale-watching tours depart day by day from June to October each year.

Pro a sight into the planetary prior, create a trip up the bay to the Joggins Fossil Cliffs. This sandstone cliffs are rich with 300 million year-older fossils of everything from invertebrates to lizards and the trees of the primordial forest they lived in. The powerful tides in the Bay of Fundy are constantly eroding the cliffs, constantly revealing more fossils.

No visit to the Bay of Fundy would be full without seeing the Reversing Falls of St. John. The St. John River flows into the bay during a series of rapids. Once the bay's legendary high tide occurs, the flow of sea water forces the river water back up its course, reversing the direction of the falls.

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