Native name: Malsumook [1] | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Geography | |
Location | Bay of Fundy |
Administration | |
Canada | |
Province | New Brunswick |
County | Charlotte |
Parish | Pennfield Parish |
The Wolf Islands (or The Wolves) are undeveloped islands in the Pennfield Parish of Charlotte County, New Brunswick, Canada in the Bay of Fundy. [2] [3] [4] They are 60-100' in height, "steep and bold", with deep passages between them ranging from 12 to 20 fathoms. [5] They are sometimes named as the fourth of the major archipelagos that make up the Fundy Islands, alongside Campobello Island, Deer Island and Grand Manan. [6] The islands have been identified as written about in the 1604 writings of Samuel Champlain and Sieur de Monts. [7]
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]
Spotted in 1603 by Samuel Champlain, they were named Les Isles des Perdreaux". [10] They became known for the frequency of shipwrecks. [11]
In 1798, the islands were granted to Caleb Paul. [12] As of 1851, the family of James Paul were the only settlers living in the cluster of islands. [13]
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. [14]
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. [12]
Together with nearby White Horse Island, it is one of the southernmost breeding kittiwake colony in the world. [15]
In August 1953, Captain Douglas Stultz reported catching tuna, uncommon in the area, on a rod near the Wolf Islands. [16]
The Wolves have been "the scene of many shipwrecks", [17] including the ship New England was wrecked on the Wolf Islands in 1872. [18]
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.
The largest of the islands at 240ha [19] and occasionally frequented by visitors from the mainland, [15] East Wolf has been used for grazing cattle, pigs and chickens by its private owners including the Hazel family in the 1960s. [10] Wild rabbits had been introduced multiple times, but with limited success. [10] Three species of orchid grow on the island, Habenaria obtusata, Platanthera clavellata, and Neottia cordata. [10]
In 1872, the steamership New England was wrecked on the East Wolf Island. [20]
East Wolf Island also had a light and fog whistle buoy, with black and white stripes reading "WOLVES" with a radar reflector. [21]
![]() | This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (April 2025) |
![]() | This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (April 2025) |
![]() | This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (April 2025) |
![]() | This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (April 2025) |
Southern Wolf Island has a lighthouse built in 1871, [23] at which time it was tended by William Cline, and within two years was replaced with Edward Snell. [12] [24] By 1873, Snell hired labourers to construct a breakwater and wharf of his own volition, and was reimbursed half the cost by the government. [12]
The lighthouse remained staffed until 1962–63, [10] at which time it was replaced by a simple skeletal tower, prior to the 1982 construction 1982 of the current fibreglass automated light tower. [12]
Following the donation of the island by Connors Brothers Limited in 2011, Southern Wolf Island functions as a 38-hectare Nature Preserve, administered by the Nature Trust of New Brunswick. [25]
In 2011,
Keepers: William Cline (1871 – 1873), Edward Dukes Snell (1873 – 1882), Ezra Munro (1882 – 1897), Warren P. Davidson (1897 – 1903), Lindwood Lord (1903 – 1906), Ethelbert Wright (1906 – 1916), R.J. Barry (1916), G.E. Wright (1917), H. Wright (1918), F.W. Stanley (1919), J.F. Babcock (1920 – 1924), C.H. Holmes (1925 – at least 1937), Harry Grey (at least 1953) [12]