In Canada’s Bay of Fundy, Tidal Patterns Make For Delicious Kipper Snacks

Our Global Spotlight Series now visits Canada: specifically, the Bay of Fundy up in Nova Scotia. Stretching 100 miles long and 50 miles wide, the bay is the source of our Kipper Snacks.

It’s also a global phenomenon, made famous for its extremely high tides. The Bay of Fundy’s tide rises (or falls) up to 45 feet in the course of each 6 hour tide cycle, passing 100 billion tons of seawater through the bay. How much is 100 billion tons? It’s hard to imagine, but it’s “more than the combined flow of the world’s freshwater rivers.”

Octopus’s Garden in the Bay

In addition to being awesome (literally!) the tides create an extremely verdant environment within the bay. The continual refreshing of the bay’s waters prevents anything from settling, stagnating, or growing algae – all things that diminish the oxygen available for fish and other creatures.

The dramatic tide also replenishes the bay with fresh plankton and other small organic creatures, creating a fantastic feeding ground for fish of all sizes. This includes the plankton-munching herring in our kipper snacks, as well as their much-larger cousins: whales. As a result, the Bay of Fundy is an extremely popular site for whale-watching.

See For Yourself: It’s a Lighthouse Webcam!

You can do a bit of whale-watching of your own at this Bay of Fundy lighthouse webcam:

Okay, you probably won’t see whales, but you may see the launch of some boats heading out to observe them, or even fishing boats when fishing season (June-October) comes around.

Due to GPS advances, most lighthouses are no longer used by ships, but the one you see in this webcam has been maintained by a local historical society. Check the cam at night and you’ll see the tower shining bright.