September 16th, 2016
Three of our interns, Olivia, Karyn, and Zachary, visited our Fundy Baykeeper, Matt Abbott for a day on the Bay! Based out of St. Andrews, Matt works tirelessly to protect one of our most important ecosystems; the Bay of Fundy. The Bay is most famous for having the highest tides on the planet! With this, comes a surprisingly abundant biodiversity.
After suiting up in life jackets and warm clothing we jumped onto the Fundy Baykeeper to begin our seaside adventure. The boat took us from St Andrews, between Deer Island and along mainland New Brunswick to Black’s Harbour. The return trip was four hours, while feeling like only an hour or two had passed!
It was a busy day on the water, as we crossed many fishing boats with their joyful crews. Many businesses in the area specialize in whale watching, and they were out in full force that day, too. Ecotourism is wonderful for the generation of profits for local communities around the bay, as well as allowing the public to experience the area’s most iconic wildlife. While cruising along, we learned the importance tourism has in the bay and of course aquaculture.
Matt kept us busy, as we were tasked with picking up any floating garbage on the trip. A large chunk of styrofoam was the first debris to be picked up, and that sparked a competition between us, the passengers. Floating bottles, a can of soda and a coffee cup are examples of some of the debris taken on board that day.
As mentioned earlier above, this fish basket contains an impressive amount of biodiversity. We can certainly attest to that. Porpoises, grey and harbor seals, and a finback whale were just some of the many critters spotted effortlessly gliding through the salt water. A lone razorbill, a relative to the Atlantic puffin, drifted unperturbed by our passing vessel, allowing us to take a better glimpse at it.
The finback whale, the second largest whale species, was quite distinctive. Unlike the humpback whale, the fluke is not shown when it returns to the water after breaching. While being far away, the whale was still noticeably large, it was quite the sight to behold!
We had seen several weirs used to catch herring and open-net cages growing salmon. We discussed how these fishing practices are important for the individual livelihoods and how projects like the Energy East Pipeline would disrupt their way of life. The increase in shipping traffic brought onto the Bay as a consequence of the Energy East Pipeline would result in more stress onto the wildlife. This, with the possibility of oil spills could pressure fish populations even more so, denying local fishers of that resource.
Nestled in an inlet, we ate their lunch, breathed in the fresh salty air and soaked up some sun. Being out on the Bay of Fundy only enhanced our appreciation for this fragile and important ecosystem.
The trip back to the Passamaquoddy Bay was filled with laughter and splashing waves as they bumped across some choppy water from the increase in wind. All and all, it was a wonderful day for everyone involved, as we got to witness first-hand how the bay profits local communities, the bountiful wildlife it contains, and how impressive the tide truly is.
Here are some more pictures from the day!
