It is considered a "Ecologically and Biologically Significant Area".[8] A pond at Southwest Cove on East Wolf Island is the only source of freshwater.[9]
History
The islands have been identified as written about in the 1604 writings of Samuel Champlain and Sieur de Monts.[10]William Francis Ganong notes the "Bird Islands" referenced in the works of Samuel Champlain and appearing on his 1612 map of the region is a reference to the Wolves.[11] Spotted in 1603 by Champlain, they were named Les Isles des Perdreaux".[12] They became known for the frequency of shipwrecks.[13]
In 1798, the islands were granted to Caleb Paul.[14] As of 1851, the family of James Paul were the only settlers living in the cluster of islands.[15]
In 1820, a British naval sloop was docked at Snug Cove, Campobello believed to be enforcing the territorial waters and the Plaster Laws meant to end the smuggling of Canadian gypsum to the United States. It sent a row-boat out toward the Wolf Islands where the British seamen fired two muskets at the Ploughboy moored there.[16]
On May 21 1863, Jesse Wright published notice that he had discovered the corpse of a disfigured British soldier with his hands cut off washed up on the coast of the Wolf Islands dressed in his military uniform as a 1st Battalion infantryman with the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment 16th Regiment.[17]
After the government built a lighthouse in 1871, without ascertaining ownership of the islands, Paul's ancestors who still claimed the islands demanded to be reimbursed by rent or purchase of the land being used.[14]
In 1916, the schooner Harry T. under Captain George Lank lost its mast off the Wolf Islands.[19]
In 1926, the Wolf Islands was noted as a central point of alcohol smuggling into the United States.[20]
In 1934, the RCMP attended to the schoonerGlacier in distress, struck by lightning SSW of the Wolves.[21]
In August 1953, Captain Douglas Stultz reported catching tuna, uncommon in the area, on a rod near the Wolf Islands.[22]
The Wolves have been "the scene of many shipwrecks",[23] including the ship New England, which was wrecked on the Wolf Islands in 1872.[24]
There are six main islands, with their name suggested to have arisen from Passamaquoddy lore about the islands being likened to predators chasing nearby Deer Island.
East Wolf Island
The largest of the islands at 240ha[25] and occasionally frequented by visitors from the mainland,[18] East Wolf has been used for grazing cattle, pigs and chickens by its private owners including the Hazel family in the 1960s.[12] Wild rabbits had been introduced multiple times, but with limited success.[12] Three species of orchid grow on the island, Habenaria obtusata, Platanthera clavellata, and Neottia cordata.[12]
In 1872, the steamership New England was wrecked on the East Wolf Island.[26]
East Wolf Island also had a light and fog whistle buoy, with black and white stripes reading "WOLVES" with a radar reflector.[27]
Gull Rock has an "abrupt rocky shore" and little human activity, and a research trip showed no species of woody plants present, but 34 vascular plants.[7]
Southern Wolf Island has a lighthouse built in 1871,[32] at which time it was tended by William Cline, and within two years was replaced with Edward Snell.[14][33] By 1873, Snell hired labourers to construct a breakwater and wharf of his own volition, and was reimbursed half the cost by the government.[14]
The lighthouse remained staffed until 1962–63,[12] at which time it was replaced by a simple skeletal tower, prior to the 1982 construction 1982 of the current white 38-metre fibreglass automated light tower that runs only at night.[14][34] In 2010, its lighthouse was declared "surplus" by the Department of Fisheries which no longer wished to maintain it.[35]
From 1968-1969, researchers made three visits to South Wolf Island collecting dozens of flora specimens.[36]
↑ "No. 166". Provincial Archives of New Brunswick. Department of Natural Resources and Energy Development. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
↑ "489"(PDF). Transportation and Infrastructure. Government of New Brunswick. Retrieved 4 July 2021. Remainder of parish on mapbooks 490, 497, 500, and 501 at same site.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
