Gulf of St. Lawrence

Gulf of St. Lawrence
French: Golfe du Saint-Laurent
Canadian Shield bedrock, on the site of Pointe-des-Monts hamlet Lighthouse [1]
Bathymetry of the Gulf of St. Lawrence
Coordinates	48°36′N61°24′W / 48.600°N 61.400°W / 48.600; -61.400
Type	Gulf
Basin  countries	Canada Saint Pierre and Miquelon (France)
Surface area	226,000 km2 (87,000 sq mi) [2]
Average depth	152 m (499 ft) [2]
Max. depth	530 m (1,740 ft) [2]
Water volume	34,500 km3 (8,300 cu mi) [2]

The Gulf of St. Lawrence fringes the shores of the provinces of Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, in Canada, plus the islands Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, possessions of France, in North America. ^{[3] [4]}

The Gulf of St. Lawrence connects the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean via the St. Lawrence River. ^{[5] [6] [7]}

Geography

Marine Weather

The secrets of the Saint-Laurent, ^[8] marine weather guide 2013, of 100 pages, provides information on a multitude of facets of the great river in all seasons. In winter, the St. Lawrence River is an immense ice factory. The machine starts up in December with the formation of ice cubes between Montreal and Quebec City. The prevailing winds and currents push this ice towards the estuary, ^[4] it reaches the east of Les Méchins at the end of December. Ice covers the entire gulf in January and February.

Ice helps navigation because it prevents the formation of waves and therefore spray, ice has the advantage of preventing the icing process of ships. ^[8]

Borders

At Baie-Trinité, the Pointe-des-Monts Lighthouse, a National historic site of Canada, was built in 1829-1830 on a point that ancient geographers, since Samuel de Champlain (1567-1655) himself, classified as the demarcation point between the St. Lawrence River and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. ^{[9] [10]}

The Gulf of St. Lawrence is bounded on the north by the Labrador Peninsula and Quebec, to the east by Saint-Pierre and Newfoundland, to the south by the Nova Scotia peninsula and Cape Breton Island, and to the west by the Gaspé Peninsula, New Brunswick, and Quebec. As for significant islands the Gulf of St. Lawrence contains Anticosti Island, Prince Edward Island, Îles-de-la-Madeleine archipelago, Cape Breton Island, Saint Pierre Island, and Miquelon-Langlade.

Half of the ten provinces of Canada adjoin the Gulf: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Quebec.

• Gulf of St. Lawrence Overview
• 
  Magdalen Islands, Cap-aux-Meules, Chemin du Phare, tail of storms, winds and rough seas
• 
  Aerial view, bay of Sept Îles, port ^[11] and city of Sept-Îles
• 
  Baie au Caplan, river flat, Anticosti Island ^[12]
• 
  Crevettier Manic V, 11853, at the wharf, La Haute-Gaspésie, Sainte-Anne-des-Monts
• 
  Percé Bay, Percé (City), Percé rock and its obelisk, Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine
• 
  Cape Breton Highlands National Park, Nova Scotia
• 
  Rose Blanche-Harbour le Cou, ^{[13] [14]} Rose Blanche Bay, Newfoundland & Labrador

Besides the St. Lawrence River itself, significant streams emptying into the Gulf of St. Lawrence include the Miramichi River, Natashquan River, Romaine River, Restigouche River, Margaree River, Humber River, Mingan River and others.

Branches of the Gulf include the Chaleur Bay, Fortune Bay, Miramichi Bay, St. George's Bay, Bay St. George, Bay of Islands, and Northumberland Strait.

According to Commission of Toponymy Quebec, the St. Lawrence River becomes the gulf at Pointe des Monts on the Côte-Nord and Matane Bas-Saint-Laurent or Sainte-Anne-des-Monts La Haute-Gaspésie, the Estuary is upstream, the Gulf of St. Lawrence, much wider, downstream. ^{[15] [16]}

• Lighthouses Overview
• 
  Bird Rocks, ^{[17] [18]} keepers'house and outbuildings, Magdalen Island
• 
  L'Anse-à-la-Cabane ^[19] (Hamlet), Magdalen Island
• 
  Pointe-des-Monts, ^[9] keeper's house and outbuildings
• 
  Port-Daniel-Gascons, Chaleurs Bay, Gaspésie-Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine ^[20]

Marine Mammals

Large marine mammals travel in all the seas of the earth, the research and observations of these giants concern fishermen and shipping industry, exercise a fascination and a keen interest for laymen and, subjects of endless studies for scientists from Quebec, Canada and around the world. ^{[21] [22] [23]}

Thirteen species of cetaceans frequent the waters of the estuary and the gulf of the St. Lawrence River. ^[24]

1. Hyperoodon ampullatus. — Hypéroodon boreal, Hypéroodon arctique. — (Northern Bottlenose Whale).
2. Delphinapterus leucas. — Béluga, Bélouga, Baleine blanche, Dauphin blanc, Marsouin blanc. — (Beluga Whale).
3. Physeter macrocephalus. — Grand cachalot, Cachalot, Cachalot macrocéphale. — (Sperm whale).
4. Lagenorhynchus acutus. — Lagénorhynque à flancs blancs, Dauphin à flancs blancs. — (Atlantic white-sided dolphin).
5. Lagenorhynchus albirostris. — Dauphin à nez blanc, Dauphin à bec blanc, Lagénorhynque à bec blanc. — (White-beaked dolphin).
6. Orcinus orca. — Orque, Épaulard. — (Killer Whale).
7. Globicephala melas. — Globicéphale commun, Globicéphale noir, Dauphin pilote. — (Long-Finned Pilot Whale).
8. Phocoena Phocoena. — Marsouin commun, Cochon de mer, Dieu des mers. — (Harbour Porpoise).
9. Eubalaena glacialis. — Baleine franche de l'Atlantique nord, Baleine noire de l'Atlantique nord, Baleine de Biscaye. — (North Atlantic Right Whale).
10. Balaenoptera acutorostrata. — Petit rorqual. — (Minke whale).
11. Balaenoptera musculus. — Baleine bleue, Rorqual bleu. — (Blue whale).
12. Megaptera novaeangliae. — Rorqual à bosse, Baleine à bosse. — (Humpback whale).
13. Balaenoptera physalus. — Rorqual commun. — (Fin whale).

• Sea Trip to Observe Marine Fauna
• 
  Humpback whales, dorsals, pectoral fins, Jacques Cartier Strait, ^[25] North of Anticosti Island
• 
  Whale, expedition organized by Observation littoral Percé (1995), Gaspé Bay

Outlets

Around Anticosti Island and to flow into the Atlantic Ocean, the waters of the Gulf take the following straits:

• Jacques Cartier Strait, between the shore of Côte-Nord region and the North of Anticosti Island. ^[26]
• Honguedo Strait, a wide passage between the Gaspésie peninsula and Anticosti Island. ^[27]
• Strait of Belle Isle ^[28] between Labrador and Newfoundland: between 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) and 60 kilometres (37 miles) wide and 60 metres (200 feet) deep at its deepest.
• Cabot Strait, about 56 miles wide, is the entrance to the Gulf of St. Lawrence between Cape Ray, Newfoundland, and Cape North, the NE point of Cape Breton Island. ^[29]
• Strait of Canso ^[30] is located between Cape Breton Island and mainland Nova Scotia, it originally served as an outlet 1.0 km (0.6 mi) wide and 60 m (200 ft) deep at its deepest. ^{[31] [32]} Due to the construction of the Canso Causeway across the strait in 1955, the roadway no longer allows exchange of water between the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Atlantic Ocean. ^[33]

• Around Anticosti Island & Atlantic Ocean Outlets
• 
  Jacques-Cartier Strait, North of Anticosti Island, observation of marine mammals ^[34]
• 
  Honguedo Strait, Gaspé, Saint-Maurice-de-l'Échouerie village, ^[35] municipal stop of the Old Factory
• 
  Strait of Belle Isle, ^[28] Bvrd. Docteur-Camille-Marcoux, (Route nº 138), Blanc Sablon, Quebec
• 
  Cabot Strait, ^[31] from White Point, Cape Breton Island St. Paul Island ^[29] in the distance, Nova Scotia.
• 
  Strait of Canso, ^[31] Canso Causeway, ^[33] Nova-Scotia

Limits

Since its appearance on maps, there has been no consensus on the demarcation of the St Lawrence River from the Gulf, nor whether it is hydrographically a gulf or an estuary. ^{[36] [37]}

According to Fisheries and Oceans Canada 2023, the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence planning area covers most of the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence bioregion, an area with some of the warmest surface waters in Atlantic Canada during summer and the largest amount of sea ice during winter. The planning area is approximately 240,000 km². ^[4]

According to Encyclopedia Britannica, the name of Gulf St. Lawrence in a hydrologic context is not accurate, a gulf has to be considered more as a sea bordering the North American continent than as simply a river mouth. ^[38]

The International Hydrographic Organization 1953 defines it as follows: ^[39]

On the Northeast: A line running from Cape Bauld (North point of Kirpon Island, 51°40′N55°25′W / 51.667°N 55.417°W / 51.667; -55.417 ) to the East extreme of Belle Isle ^[28] and on to the Northeast Ledge ( 52°02′N55°15′W / 52.033°N 55.250°W / 52.033; -55.250 ). Thence a line joining this ledge with the East extreme of Cape St. Charles (52°13'N) in Labrador.

On the Southeast: A line from Cape Canso ( 45°20′N61°0′W / 45.333°N 61.000°W / 45.333; -61.000 ) to Red Point ( 45°35′N60°45′W / 45.583°N 60.750°W / 45.583; -60.750 ) in Cape Breton Island, through this Island to Cape Breton [ 45°57′N59°47′W / 45.950°N 59.783°W / 45.950; -59.783 ] and on to Pointe Blanche ( 46°45′N56°11′W / 46.750°N 56.183°W / 46.750; -56.183 ) in the Island of St. Pierre, and thence to the southwest point of Morgan Island ( 46°51′N55°49′W / 46.850°N 55.817°W / 46.850; -55.817 ).

On the West: The meridian of 64°30'W from Pointe-Jaune ( 49°04′N64°30′W / 49.06°N 64.5°W / 49.06; -64.5 ) to Magpie ( 50°19′N64°30′W / 50.31°N 64.5°W / 50.31; -64.5 ), but the whole of Anticosti Island is included in the Gulf.

Protected Areas and National Parks

Western Honguedo Strait Coral Conservation Area, create following the signing of the Canada–Quebec Collaborative Agreement to Establish a Network of Marine Protected Areas in Quebec in March 2018. ^{[40] [41]}

St. Paul Island in Nova Scotia off the northeastern tip of Cape Breton Island, is known as the "Graveyard of the Gulf" because of its many shipwrecks. ^[42] Access to this island is controlled by the Canadian Coast Guard. ^[43]

In 1919 the first Migratory Bird Sanctuaries (MBS) in Canada were established under the Migratory Birds Convention Act on Bonaventure Island, on the Bird Rocks of the Magdalen Islands, and on the Percé Rock. These migratory bird sanctuaries are administered by the Canadian Wildlife Service. ^[44]

The Federal Government of Canada manages 37 National Parks of Canada, ^[45] overview of the parks touching the Gulf of St. Lawrence: Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve, in Côte-Nord, Forillon National Park on the eastern tip of the Gaspé Peninsula, Prince Edward Island National Park on the northern shore of the island, Kouchibouguac National Park on the northeastern coast of New Brunswick, Cape Breton Highlands National Park on the northern tip of Cape Breton Island, Gros Morne National Park on the west coast of Newfoundland. ^{[45] [46]}

In Quebec, since March 31, 2024, the network of protected areas ^{[47] [48]} extends over 274,431 km2 and is established as follows:

• Continental environment (terrestrial and fresh water): 255,377 km2 or 16.89%;
• Marine and coastal environments: 18,991 km2 or 12.21% distributed as follows:
• Marine protected areas and territories set aside in the marine environment: 16,140 km2 or 10.39%;
• Portions of territories in marine and coastal environments associated with protected areas whose conservation objectives do not specifically target the marine environment (national parks, national park reserves of Quebec and Canada, migratory bird sanctuaries, planned aquatic reserves, reserves of projected biodiversity, areas of concentration of aquatic birds, etc.): 2,854 km2 or 1.84%;
• Plan Nord territory: 229,021 km2 or 19.19%. ^[49]

The five provinces bordering the Gulf of St. Lawrence have several provincial parks with protected coasts.^{[ citation needed ]}

Undersea Features

Bathymetry of the gulf, with the Laurentian Channel visible

The Laurentian Channel is a feature of the floor of the Gulf that was formed during previous ice ages, when the Continental Shelf was eroded by the St. Lawrence River during the periods when the sea level plunged. The Laurentian Channel is about 290 m (950 ft) deep and about 1,250 km (780 mi) long from the Continental Shelf to the mouth of the St. Lawrence River. Deep waters with temperatures between 2 and 6.5 °C (36 and 44 °F) enter the Gulf at the continental slope and are slowly advected up the channel by estuariane circulation. ^[50] Over the 20th century, the bottom waters of the end of the channel (i.e. in the St. Lawrence estuary) have become hypoxic. ^[51]

Ports

Almost all of Quebec's ports are located along the St. Lawrence River seaway, from its source to its gulf, to the Atlantic Ocean. There are dozens and dozens of shelters, harbors, natural ports, large and small along the gulf up to the source of the St. Lawrence River, we can add village or individual wharf, without forgetting the large international maritime transport ports. In its annual report on maritime traffic in Canada, the Federal Bureau of Statistics gives detailed annual statistics for the years 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 ^{[52] [53]}

Ports of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, on the Côte-Nord Shore: Blanc-Sablon, Harrington Harbor, Natashquan, Havre-Saint-Pierre, Mingan, Port-Menier (Anticosti Island), Cap-aux-Meules (Îles-de-la -Madeleine). ^[52]

History

Basque settlements and sites dating from the 16th and 17th centuries

The gulf has provided a historically important marine fishery for various First Nations that have lived on its shores for millennia and used its waters for transportation. ^{[54] [55] [56] [ citation needed ]}

The first documented voyage by a European in its waters was by the French explorer Jacques Cartier in the year 1534. Cartier named the shores of the St. Lawrence River "The Country of Canadas", after an indigenous word meaning "village" or "settlement", thus naming the world's second largest country. ^[57]

Basque whalers from Saint-Jean-de-Luz sailed into the Gulf of St. Lawrence in 1530 and began whaling at Red Bay. ^[58] They established their base on the Strait of Belle Isle ^[28] and worked closely with the Iroquois in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. In 1579 the English government closed all English ports to Spanish oil imports. As a result, a third of Basque whale oil could not be sold. Basque whaling collapsed in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and never recovered.

See Also

• Anticosti Island
• Atlantic Ocean
• Estuary of St. Lawrence
• Maritime Peninsula
• St. Lawrence Seaway

References

1. "Pointe-des-Monts Lighthouse". Gouvernement of Quebec (in French). Commission de Toponymy Quebec. 7 May 2003. Retrieved 18 September 2024. This lighthouse is located in Baie-Trinité, in the hamlet of Pointe-des-Monts; it was classified as a monument and historic site on September 8, 1965.
2. "Atlantic region, Government of Canada, page 86" (PDF). publications.gc.ca. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
3. Claudine Loiselle; Jean Raveneau (December 1997). "The Environmental Atlas of the St. Lawrence" (PDF). Environnement Canada, Geography department. Université Laval. pp. 34 of 67. Retrieved 21 February 2024. A River, Estuaries, a Gulf: The Great Hydrographic Divisions of the St. Lawrence
4. "Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence". Gouvernement of Canada. Fisheries and Oceans Canada. 2023-01-27. Retrieved 19 February 2024. The area represents one of the largest and most productive estuarine/marine ecosystems in Canada and in the world.
5. Jean-Claude Therriault (2012). "The Gulf od St. Lawrence: Small Ocean or Big Estuary" (PDF). Fischeries and Oceans Canada (in French and English). Canadian special Publication of Fischeries and Aquatic Science. p. 359. Retrieved 21 February 2024. the Gulf must be considered a complete and coherent systern: for example, what happens in the Gaspé current cannot be completely isolated from the phenomena that occur elsewhere. The degree of interdependence of the various areas remains to be explored.
6. "St. Lawrence River and Seaway". Great Lakes Commission. Retrieved 22 February 2024. . . . can be divided into three broad sections: the freshwater river, which extends from Lake Ontario to just outside the city of Quebec; the St. Lawrence estuary, which extends from Quebec to Anticosti Island; and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, which leads into the Atlantic Ocean
7. "St Lawrence River". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 22 February 2024. According to the Royal Proclamation of 1763, a line from the mouth of Rivière St-Jean on the north shore past the western tip of Île d'Anticosti to Cap des Rosiers on Gaspé marks the end of the river and the beginning of the gulf.
8. Guy O'Bonsawin (3 April 2013). "The secrets of the Saint-Laurent, marine weather guide" (PDF) (in French). Environnement Canada. pp. 89, 90 of 100. Retrieved 15 October 2024. If you consider that both water and air masses literally hug the ground and follow all its contours and surfaces, it's easy to understand just how much variety there can be in wind and sea conditions.
9. "The Pointe-des-Monts Lighthouse" (in French). Corporation de Promotion et de Développement du site du Phare historique de Pointe‑des‑Monts. 2024. Retrieved 25 February 2024. Built on a rocky outcrop that forms an islet at high tide, the lighthouse bears witness to a time when navigation in the Gulf of St. Lawrence was perilous.
10. Edward F. Bush (1975). "The Canadian Lighthouse" (PDF). National Historic Parks and Sites, Branch, Indian and Northern Affairs. pp. 55 of 188. Retrieved 25 February 2024. The first lighthouse, completed in 1830, had walls six feet thick at the base, tapering to two feet at the lantern deck.20
11. "Observatoire de la baie de Sept-Îles, phase 1" (PDF) (in French). Nordic Institute for Research on Environment and Occupational Health (INREST. 2025-04-30. p. 227. Retrieved 25 April 2024. The Port of Sept-Îles is one of the largest ports in Canada, with world-class companies on the outskirts of the Bay of Sept-Îles
12. "Anticosti". UNESCO World Heritage Convention. 2023. Retrieved 28 February 2024. Anticosti is the best natural laboratory in the world for the study of fossils and sedimentary strata from the first mass extinction of life at the end of the Ordovician period
13. "Rose Blanche-Harbor le Cou (Town)". Glacier Cove Web Design. 2024. ... located on Newfoundland's beautiful Southwest Coast. Just 40 minutes away from Port aux Basques
14. "Rose Blanche-Harbor le Cou (Map)". Town office. 2024. Retrieved 12 August 2024. Video and map of attractions and services
15. "Gulf of St. Lawrence". Commission de toponymie Quebec (in French). Government of Quebec. 1968-12-05. Retrieved 23 February 2024. Sixteenth-century cartographers, historians and memorialists were most often inspired by the Spanish and Italian translations of the Brief récit, and not by the original French published in 1545 to impose the toponym Gulf of St. Lawrence
16. "Pointe des Monts". Commission de toponymie Quebec (in French). Government of Quebec. 1968-12-05. Retrieved 24 February 2024. These points serve as a boundary between the Estuary of the St. Lawrence River upstream and the much wider Gulf of St. Lawrence downstream
17. "Rochers aux Oiseaux". Commission de toponymie Quebec. Government of Quebec. 1968-12-05. Retrieved 2 March 2024. In 1919, Brother Marie-Victorin used this name during his visit to Les Rochers
18. "Les rochers aux Oiseaux". Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas in Canada. Retrieved 2 March 2024. Oil pollution is also a concern due to the proximity of the islands to the main shipping route that leads to the St. Lawrence seaway.
19. "Anse-à-la-Cabane lighthouse". Commission de toponymie Quebec (in French). Government of Quebec. 2017-05-26. Retrieved 7 March 2024. Built in 1870 and 1871, it was erected during the first wave of lighthouse construction to make navigation safe in the Gulf of St. Lawrence
20. Jean-François Rodrigue (2009). "Port-Daniel lighthouse sector" (in French). Ministry of Culture and Communications Quebec. Retrieved 15 August 2024. ... a modest structure, approximately 7.5 meters high (approximately 24 feet), made of reinforced concrete and with an octagonal base, with a steel lantern and railing. The tower is white, the lantern red.
21. "Saguenay–St. Lawrence Marine Park". Government Quebec - Government of Canada. 2024. Retrieved 19 August 2024. More than 2,200 species frequent these waters, including species at risk such as the beluga whale, the blue whale and the Barrow's goldeneye.
22. "International Marine Mammal Project (IMMP)". Earth Island Institute. 2024. Retrieved 19 August 2024. We have achieved victories for marine mammals around the world and work to make the oceans safe for whales, dolphins and marine life.
23. Stéphane Plourde (7 November 2017). "Right Whales: A Look Back on the Summer of 2017". Gouvernement of Canada. InfoOceans - New wave. Retrieved 19 August 2024. The North Atlantic right whale is an endangered species - Over the coming months, the Government of Canada will meet with representatives of the fishing and shipping industries, Aboriginal communities, whale experts and scientists, as well as the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
24. "The Species of the St. Lawrence". Whales Online, magazine and encyclopedia. Group for Research and Education on Marine Mammals (GREMM). July 2024. Retrieved 10 August 2024. The different species of seals and whales are all mammal species. © GREMM
25. "Jacques Cartier Strait, toponymy". Gouvernement of Quebec (in French). Commission de Toponymy Quebec. 12 May 1968. Retrieved 6 September 2024. ... so named in 1934 by the Quebec Geography Commission, on the occasion of the celebration of the fourth centenary of the first trip to Canada by the Saint-Malo explorer Jacques Cartier.
26. "Canadian sailing directions. ATL 110, St. Lawrence River, Cap Whittle/Cap Gaspé to Les Escoumins and Anticosti Island" (PDF). Fischeries and Oceans Canada. Canadian Hydrographic Service. November 2023. pp. 9 of 89. Retrieved 6 September 2024. ... covers the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the St. Lawrence River, from Cap Whittle (50°11'N, 60°07'W) to Pointe des Monts (49°19'N, 67°23'W), as well as the north shore of Anticosti Island.
27. "Honguedo Strait, toponymy". Gouvernement of Quebec (in French). Commission de Toponymy Quebec. 5 December 1968. Retrieved 22 September 2024. The Commission de géographie du Québec, now the Commission de toponymie, adopted this toponym in 1934 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the arrival of Jacques Cartier in New France.
28. "Strait of Belle Isle". Gouvernement of Quebec (in French). Commission de Toponymy Quebec. 13 December 1988. Retrieved 14 August 2024. In addition to Grande Bay, this arm of the sea had notably borne the names of Friar Lewis, on maps from 1505, then Gulf of Chasteaulx, Charles Streights and Passage du Nord which a cartographer describes as "subject to Glaces" later in the 16th and during the 17th century.
29. Canadian Hydrographic Service (16 April 2024). "ATL 104: Cape North to Cape Canso (including Bras d'Or Lake)" (PDF). Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Canadian Sailing Directions. pp. 9 of 95. Retrieved 16 August 2024. St. Paul Island presents the only danger in the Cabot strait. Mariners are advised to navigate with caution during periods of reduced visibility.
30. "Strait of Canso - Map" (PDF). Water Resources, Nova Scotia. Strait of Canso Environment Committee. 1975. Retrieved 17 August 2024. From George Bay to Chedabucto Bay
31. Strait of Canso Environment Committee (1975). "Water Resources" (PDF). p. 33. The Strait is relatively narrow, varying in width from 800 m to 2,000 m (2,600 to 6,600 ft.), although it is most commonly 1,600 m (1 mile) wide throughout the 27 km (17 mi.) length.
32. Gary L. Bugden; Brent A. Law; Edward P.W. Horne; Shawn E. Roach (2020). "Flow through the Canso Causeway" (PDF). Fischeries and Oceans Canada (in English and French). Canadian Technical Report of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. pp. 21 of 55. Retrieved 16 August 2024. Although blocked in the 1950's by the Canso Causeway, Canso Strait could potentially be a transport pathway for the spread of Malpeque Disease
33. "Canso Causeway - Road to the Isles". Canada's Digital collections. Retrieved 16 August 2024. The mile long eighty foot wide man-made causeway is known as the deepest in the world
34. "Mingan Island Cetacean Study (MICS)". 2024. Retrieved 11 August 2024. The principal study areas include the Quebec North Shore in the Mingan Island / Anticosti region, the Gaspe Peninsula and St. Lawrence Estuary.
35. "Saint-Maurice-de-l'Échouerie (Gaspé)". Gouvernement of Quebec (in French). Commission de Toponymy Quebec. 17 January 1985. Retrieved 23 September 2024. In Gaspésie, the Magdalen Islands and the North Shore, a haul-out site is a place where seals have taken to coming to rest.
36. Lionel Groulx (1960). "History of French Canada since the Discovery" (PDF) (in French). Fides, Montreal and Paris. pp. 16 of 404. Retrieved 23 February 2024. In the absence of decisive, first-hand documents, historians and cartographers can only assert probabilities.
37. Jean-Claude Therriault. "The Gulf of St. Lawrence: Small Ocean or Big Estuary" (PDF) (in English and French). Fisheries and Oceans Canada. p. 359. Retrieved 23 February 2024. The Gulf of St. Lawrence contains a wide range of hydrodynamic conditions including seasonal ice cover, polynyas, fronts, gyres, freshwater input and influences, and large seasonal variations in vertical stratification.
38. "Gulf of St. Lawrence". Encyclopedia Britannica. Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. 2024-02-20. Retrieved 23 February 2024. body of water covering about 60,000 square miles (155,000 square km) at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River. The reefs on these surfaces, coupled with the hazards of fog and ice, have caused a large number of shipwrecks.
39. "Gulf of St. Lawrence" (PDF). Limits of Oceans and Seas. International Hydrographic organization. 1953. pp. 14 of 42. Retrieved 19 February 2024. Limits of Oceans and Seas
40. "Western Honguedo Strait Coral Conservation Area". Gouvernement of Canada. Fisheries and Oceans Canada. 9 September 2019. Retrieved 23 September 2024. High concentrations of these soft corals create habitat with complex structures that provide refuge, feeding, and rearing areas for many marine species, thus supporting greater biodiversity.
41. "Cold Water Corals and Sponges". Gouvernement of Canada. Fisheries and Oceans Canada. 2012. They provide the complex habitat structure that is important to invertebrates, fish and other deep sea life. High-complexity sponge reefs are associated with a greater abundance and diversity of species.
42. "St. Paul Island Southwest Lighthouse". Parks Canada Directory of Federal Heritage Designations. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
43. Zydler, Tom (18 October 2018). "Cruising Canada's Gulf of St. Lawrence". Cruising World. Retrieved 12 March 2023. As I stepped ashore onto a blanket-size piece of sand, I realized I was probably trespassing; landing on the island requires an official permit from the Canadian coast guard.
44. "Migratory bird sanctuaries across Canada". Government of Canada. 22 February 2011.
45. "Parks Canada". Government of Canada. 2024. Retrieved 13 August 2024. There are 37 national parks and 11 national park reserves in Canada that represent 31 of Canada's 39 terrestrial natural regions and protect approximately 343,377 square kilometers of lands in Canada.
46. "National Parks of Canada, search by province or territory - Map". Government of Canada. 2024. Retrieved 13 August 2024. National Parks of Canada, search by province or territory
47. "Protected areas in Quebec" (in French). Ministère de l'Environnement, de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs. 2024. Retrieved 13 August 2024. Protected areas are also recognized as an essential tool for adaptation to climate change. In particular, they allow carbon to be stored.
48. "Map of protected areas in Quebec" (PDF) (in French). Environment and Climate Change Canada. March 2024. Retrieved 13 August 2024. Protected areas register database, 2024 Ministry of Environment and Ecological reference framework, 2018 adapted
49. "Network of protected areas in Quebec" (in French). Environment and Climate Change Canada. 2024. Retrieved 13 August 2024. The Register of Protected Areas in Quebec constitutes a unique and integrated reference for Quebec in terms of protected areas, both within the meaning of the Natural Heritage Conservation Act and the recommendations of the International Union for Conservation of Nature ( IUCN).
50. Galbraith, P.S., Pettipas, R.G., Chassé, J., Gilbert, D., Larouche, P., Pettigrew, B., Gosselin, A., Devine, L. and Lafleur, C. 2009. Physical Oceanographic Conditions in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in 2008. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Res. Doc. 2009/014. iv + 69 p.
51. Gilbert, D., B. Sundby, C. Gobeil, A. Mucci and G.-H. Tremblay. 2005. A seventy-two-year record of diminishing deep-water oxygen in the St. Lawrence estuary: The northwest Atlantic connection. Limnol. Oceanogr., 50(5): 1654–1666.
52. Pierre Camu (1959). "Ports in the province of Quebec" (PDF). Quebec geography notebooks (in French). Department of Geography at Laval University - Erudit. pp. 3 of 10. Retrieved 13 October 2024. Ports of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, on the Côte-Nord Shore: Blanc-Sablon, Harrington Harbor, Natashquan, Havre-Saint-Pierre, Mingan, Port-Menier (Anticosti Island), Cap-aux-Meules (Îles-de-la -Madeleine)
53. "Monthly and annual statistics Statistics on marine transportation occurrences". Gouvernement of Canada. Transportation Safety Board of Canada. 2024. Retrieved 13 October 2024. Marine transportation Data and statistics Monthly and annual statistics, Monthly and Annual
54. "A Brief History of the Gulf Region" (PDF). Fisheries Peches and Ocean Canada. Gulf region. 1991. p. 14. Retrieved 10 August 2024. We must manage the Gulf fishery as a biological reality, not as a battlefield for provincial ambitions
55. "Action River, Discovering the St. Lawrence" (PDF). Government of Canada. 24 November 2015. pp. 7 of 32. Retrieved 14 August 2024. The Aboriginal people were the first to benefit from the abundant resources of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence: water, game, fish and marine mammals.
56. Christian Gates St-Pierre (9 July 2017). "Iroquoians in the St. Lawrence River Valley before European Contact" (PDF). p. 18. Retrieved 14 August 2024. At the time of contact with the first Europeans, the St. Lawrence Iroquoians occupied a territory that extended from the mouth of Lake Ontario to the Cap Tourmente area, near Quebec City, with a southward extension to the northern tip of Lake Champlain, as well as seasonal extensions into the estuary and the gulf of St. Lawrence. D
57. "French navigator Jacques Cartier sails the St. Lawrence River". A&E Television Networks. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
58. "Red Bay National Historic Site". 9 February 2022.

External Links

• Eric W. Morse 1968, Fur Trade Canoe Routes of Canada /Then and Now , pp 121
• Frère Marie-Victorin (1885-1944), Anticosti, land with immense spaces, the sea all around, and a social world of the 1920s gone forever. Anticosti/UdeM archives, 14 photos (French)
• Species of cetacean, comparison poster, Encyclopedia Britannica 2024
• Integrated Access to Knowledge and Open Data of the St. Lawrence, St. Lawrence Global Observatory (SLGO). (French)
• Atlas of the biodiversity of northern Quebec, Ministère de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques (MELCC). (French)
• Rare plants of the Mingan Archipelago Environnement Canada, 2025 (French)
• The lighthouse Trail, Bas-Saint-Laurent, Gaspésie, Côte-Nord, Îles de la Madeleine (French)
• The New Map of Empire. How Britain Imagined America before Independence, Harvard University Press
• Mapping Land Tenure Pluralism in the St. Lawrence River Valley, Julia Lewandoski, essay kicks off a Borealia series on Cartography an Empire
• Légendes du Saint-Laurent, Récits des voyageurs, Jean-Claude Dupont, 1985, 72 pages (French)
• Radio Aids to Marine Navigation 2024, Radio Aids to Marine Navigation 2024, (Atlantic, St. Lawrence, Great Lakes, Lake Winnipeg, Arctic and Pacific) Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 298 pages
• Royal Canadian Geographial Society, Maze to the Aguanish, a 680 kilometre canoe trip through the wilds of Labrador and Quebec, that traverse the headwaters of the Romaine and the Petit-Mécatina rivers, 2021
• The Gulf of St. Lawrence - a Unique Ecosystem, Government of Canada 2005 [English | French]
• Timing and position of late Wisconsinan ice-margins on the upper slope seaward of Laurentian Channel David J. W. Piper et Adam Macdonald, 2001, 11 page