Designations | |
---|---|
Official name | Chignecto |
Designated | 16 October 1985 |
Reference no. | 320 [1] |
Chignecto Bay (French : Baie de Chignectou) is an inlet of the Bay of Fundy located between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and separated from the waters of the Northumberland Strait by the Isthmus of Chignecto. It is a unit within the greater Gulf of Maine Watershed. Chignecto Bay forms the northeastern part of the Bay of Fundy which splits at Cape Chignecto and is delineated on the New Brunswick side by Martin Head. Chignecto Bay is a Ramsar site.
Chignecto bay was also the site of an unsuccessful railway and canal project of the 1880s and 1890s that would have intersected the landmass, thereby providing a transit passage between New England and Prince Edward Island. After several investigations into the feasibility of a new canal project, including most importantly by the Chignecto Canal Commission, the proposed Chignecto Canal was deemed commercially and economically unjustifiable and the project was abandoned. [2] Some of the physical remnants of the 1880s project still continue to dot the landscape of Chignecto Bay today.
At its head, Chignecto Bay itself subdivides into two basins, separated by Cape Maringouin:
Many small named bays line the Bay's coast including Salisbury Bay at the mouths of the Upper Salmon River and Cleveland Brook, site of the Village of Alma, NB.
Chignecto Bay is a northern extension of a rift valley that forms much of the Bay of Fundy.
Chignecto is derived from the Mi'kmaq language, but its exact etymology is unclear. It may be from Sigunikt 'foot cloth', possibly alluding to a Mi'kmaq legend. [3] Or it may be from Siknikt, 'drainage place';[ citation needed ] the latter (as Siknikt or Signigt, in longer form Sikniktewa'kik or Signigtewa'gi) is today the name of the Mi'kma'ki district in which the bay is located.
The head of Cumberland Basin is an important migrating area for many shorebirds. A large portion of it is protected as a wildlife sanctuary known as the Chignecto National Wildlife Area. It includes the 10.2 km2 John Lusby National Wildlife Area, which is recognized as a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance since October 1985.
The Bay of Fundy is a bay between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine. It is an arm of the Gulf of Maine. Its tidal range is the highest in the world. The name is probably a corruption of the French word fendu, meaning 'split'.
Cumberland County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.
Sackville is a former town in southeastern New Brunswick, Canada. It held town status prior to 2023 and is now part of the town of Tantramar.
The Minas Basin is an inlet of the Bay of Fundy and a sub-basin of the Fundy Basin located in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is known for its extremely high tides.
The Tantramar Marshes, also known as the Tintamarre National Wildlife Area, is a tidal saltmarsh around the Bay of Fundy on the Isthmus of Chignecto. The area borders between Route 940, Route 16 and Route 2 near Sackville, New Brunswick. The government of Canada proposed the boundaries of the Tantramar Marshes in 1966 and was declared a National Wildlife Area in 1978.
The Isthmus of Chignecto is an isthmus bordering the Maritime provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia that connects the Nova Scotia peninsula with North America.
The Glooscap Trail is a scenic roadway in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.
The Fundy Shore Ecotour is a former scenic drive and network of tourist destinations in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia and encircles several sub-basins of the Bay of Fundy, which contains the highest tidal range on the planet.
Aulac is a Canadian community in Westmorland County, New Brunswick. As of January 1, 2023 it is part of the Municipality of Tantramar which consists of the former town of Sackville, Village of Dorchester, Pointe de Bute and other rural communities. It is located between the former college town of Sackville and the provincial border with Nova Scotia.
The Missaguash River is a small Canadian river that forms the southern portion of the inter-provincial boundary between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick on the Isthmus of Chignecto. It had historic significance in the 18th century as the de facto border between French and English-controlled territories.
Cumberland Basin is an inlet and northeasternmost part of the Bay of Fundy, located on the border between the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. It is the eastern branch of Chignecto Bay, which in turn is the western arm of the upper Bay of Fundy.
Fort Lawrence is a Canadian rural community located on the Isthmus of Chignecto in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, which is named after Fort Lawrence.
The Nova Scotia peninsula is a peninsula on the Atlantic coast of North America. It is called Enmigtaqamu'g in the Mi'kmaw language.
Cape Chignecto is a headland located on the Bay of Fundy coast of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.
Apple River is a community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in Cumberland County.
Isle Haute is an island in the upper regions of Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia, near the entrance to the Minas Basin. It is 16 kilometers from Harbourville and eight kilometers south-southwest of Cape Chignecto. The island is part of Cumberland County, Nova Scotia and is three kilometres (1.9 mi) long and 400 metres (1,300 ft) wide. The Mi'kmaq used the island to make stone tools before Europeans arrived and called the island "Maskusetik", meaning place of wild beans, hidden oats. In 1604, Samuel de Champlain gave the present name to the island, which means "High Island" in French, when he observed the towering bluffs, timber and fresh-water springs. The steep 100 m (328 ft) basalt cliffs of the island are the result from volcanic eruptions in the Jurassic period and may have been connected to the North Mountain volcanic ridge on the mainland 200 million years ago, before the Bay of Fundy was formed.
LaPlanche Street is the historic connector between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, Canada. Located on the Isthmus of Chignecto, LaPlanche crosses the Tantramar Marshes between Amherst, NS and Sackville, NB. Historically, it hosted the key forts of peninsular Nova Scotia and continental Acadia and witnessed the Battle of Fort Beauséjour, the key battle between the two colonies during the Seven Years' War, and the Battle of Fort Cumberland of the American Revolutionary War.
Rockport is the site of early settlement in Westmorland County, New Brunswick on the Maringouin Peninsula which lies between Shepody Bay and Cumberland Basin and at the northern end of Chignecto Bay. All three bodies of water are extensions of the Bay of Fundy. Other former hamlets or villages on the peninsula include Upper and Lower Rockport, Slacks Cove, Pink Rock, Hard Ledge, and Johnson's Mills. Sandstone and gypsum quarrying was the mainstay of the economy.
The Chignecto Marine Transport Railway is a historic Canadian portage railway located in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia.
Cape d'Or is a headland located near Advocate, Cumberland County, on the Bay of Fundy coast of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.