Sandy Island (New Brunswick)

Last updated
Sandy Island
Geography
Location Bay of Fundy
Area8 [1] acres (3.2 ha)
Administration
Canada
Province New Brunswick
County Charlotte
Parish West Isles Parish

Sandy Island (formerly Gull Island [2] ) is an undeveloped island in the West Isles Parish of Charlotte County, New Brunswick, Canada, where the Bay of Fundy enters Passamaquoddy Bay.

It is made up of rocks resembling the normal coastal type. [3] As of 1839, the island was one of four belonging to the Campobello Mill and Manufacturing Company. [4] It has one of the few sandy beaches in the region, making it a popular recreational spot for visitors. [5]

It was identified as an important nesting site for Eider ducks. [6]

It has been the subject of subtidal graduate studies. [7] In 1978, Mackay noted a high species abundance and diversity here, and five other nearby islands. [8]

In 1964, Reginald Richardson was scuba-diving and discovered the wreck of an unidentified large ship with its cannonade, wine and anchor near the Sandy Island ledges off Deer Island. [9] [10] [11] It was determined, based on reviewing the June 22 1798 Saint John Gazette, that the ship had been the Britannia which had been wrecked June 15 1798. [12] The partially submerged wreck had been partially offloaded and its salvage listed for sale by John Black & Co, but during the winter scrappers plundered and burned the wreck leading to Black offering a reward for information leading to the capture of the culprits. [12]

In 1970, Eric Allaby and Art McKay dove the wreck and mapped its coordinates - with Allaby noting "the loss of the Britannia prompts an intriguing question...just how much influence the stranding of the Britannia might have had in directing trade away from Saint Andrews and toward Saint John.". [12]

In December 1985, a study by Parks Canada assessed the island's value as $3,600. [1]

In the summer of 1986, benthic algae sublittoral research stations were set up across the region including on South Sandy Island. [13]

Author Michael Strong condemned the approval of a salmon weir at Tinkers Island given its proximity to the harbour seal colony at Sandy Island and similar seals at Casco Bay Island, which would necessitate acoustic seal deterrents disruptive to the minke whales and harbour porpoises that traversed the site. [14]

References

  1. 1 2 Parks Canada, "West Isles Feasibility Study....a National Marine Park in the West Isles", December 1985
  2. ↑ "Sketch of the province of New Brunswick" (PDF). us.archive.org.
  3. ↑ "Report of Progress 1870-1871". Geological Survey of Canada: 82–111.
  4. ↑ "The Campobello Mill and Manufacturing Company, in New Brunswick, British North America". 1839.
  5. ↑ https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2007/dfo-mpo/Fs97-4-2635E.pdf
  6. ↑ "Information archivée dans le Web" (PDF).
  7. ↑ https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2007/dfo-mpo/Fs97-4-2635E.pdf
  8. ↑ https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2007/dfo-mpo/Fs97-4-2635E.pdf
  9. ↑ Welch, H. Wesley. "Welcome to Deer Island: Deer Island History", 1967. In reference collection St. Croix Library
  10. ↑ Parks Canada, "West Isles Feasibility Study....a National Marine Park in the West Isles", December 1985. Figure 12.
  11. ↑ Image of artifacts, held by NB Museum, are in "A pictorial treasury of the marine museums of the world" by Brandt Aymar, 1967, Crown Publishers edition
  12. 1 2 3 Allaby, Eric. "The Sea Always Win: Shipwrecks of the Bay of Fundy", 2022
  13. ↑ A Survey of the Benthic Marine Algae of Southwestern New Brunswick, Canada, 1988
  14. ↑ Tales and Rants from the Shore to the Offshore By Michael Strong, 2013

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