Feature Article: Vote for Canada's Bay of Fundy - Help Make Canada's Bay of Fundy One of The Seven Wonders of Nature About This Page:

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Vote for Canada's Bay of Fundy - Help Make Canada's Bay of Fundy One of The Seven Wonders of Nature
by Dave Marx

Time is ticking away on balloting for the New Seven Wonders of Nature!

28 finalists from every continent but Antarctica are vying to be among the magnificent seven (penguins haven't figured out how to cast votes on the internet or via text message, it seems). One of those 28, the Bay of Fundy, was a key focus of my recent research trip to Saint John, New Brunswick and Halifax, Nova Scotia in advance of the Disney Magic's visits in the summer of 2012 (I love researching new ports of call for PassPorter's Disney Cruise Line guidebook!) With November 11, 2011 (11/11/11) the final deadline for balloting, Fundy-area boosters have been encouraging one and all to cast their ballots for their bay, and after experiencing it myself, it sure has one of my seven votes! The Bay of Fundy is home to the world's greatest tides. At the bay's farthest reaches, the tide rises and falls over 50 feet/15.4 meters, twice daily (the world-wide average tide is 2 feet/0.6 meters). Have you seen photos of fishing boats resting on mud flats, the wood pilings of a wharf towering above the poor, little craft? Sure you did, right at the start of this article! That's Fundy, but not the entire "Fundy Experience" by any stretch. These surging tides create a wide range of experiences; a river rapids that reverses direction, sea caves that are alternately inundated and explorable on foot within a matter of hours, the red clay bottom of tidal flats that extend to the horizon, river beds that empty to a trickle and others where whitewater rafters ride the incoming tidal bore... The tides also bring a phenomenal assortment of birds, marine mammals, and other sea life, who thrive on the rush of nutrients that ride in with the tides and feast upon the morsels stranded when the tide recedes.</p> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXMu5...feature=relmfu

Here, Canadian broadcast humorist Rick Mercer does his bit for the cause at Saint John, New Brunswick's Reversing Falls My official introduction to the bay was at Hopewell Rocks, in the upper northwest reaches of the bay, not far from Moncton, New Brunswick. Having been there, I can't imagine a better way to immerse yourself in the Bay of Fundy experience (figuratively - the water is awfully cold!). This is a natural wonder bound within a natural wonder: towers of stone carved and exposed by the bay's amazing tides. Twice daily, enough sea water surges into the Bay of Fundy to fill the Grand Canyon, and at Hopewell Cape, near the narrow, northernmost reaches of the bay, those tidal waters are squeezed ever higher and take on even greater force. Peak tides here average 45 feet. That's enough to submerge the typical suburban home twice over. Nothing drives that point home better than The Rocks. At high tide, these fantastically-shaped pillars look like a cluster of pine-covered mini-islands, and sea kayakers come to paddle amongst them. At low tide, the towers are exposed right down to glistening wet bedrock, and visitors can walk, dwarfed, amongst them. As I noted earlier, the Bay of Fundy (epitomized by Hopewell Rocks) is a finalist in the quest for the New7Wonders of Nature - http://www.new7wonders.com (the same Swiss foundation that brought us the New 7 Wonders of the World a while back). Over one billon ballots have already been cast world-wide in this friendly competition, and after my experiences in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, The Bay of Fundy definitely gets one of my seven votes. If you've ever been as impressed, astounded, or just plain geeked-out by the Bay of Fundy, as I have, are a loyal Canadian or a friend/relative of Canadians (I'm two out of three), or are just willing to take my word for it, why not pop over to http://www.new7wonders.com, and give Fundy your support? And, with 7 votes at your disposal, there's no reason not to vote for other Wonders. If you're from the Western Hemisphere, you might choose the Grand Canyon (sans sea water), El Yunque Rainforest in Puerto Rico, and South America's Amazon (not dot.com), Angel Falls and Iguazu Falls. Feel free to root for whichever Wonders you deem worthy. I know we have readers the world around, and, as noted earlier, every continent but Antarctica has at least one potential Wonder. So, no excuses for not participating, wherever your preferences and/or loyalties may lie. Balloting ends on 11/11/11, so be there, or risk seeing your favorites be square.

Visit http://www.new7wonders.com to cast your ballot for up to seven Wonders.


If you'd rather vote just for the Bay of Fundy, you can visit http://http://www.votemyfundy.com both to vote and to see more of the wondrous bay. And if you still don't believe me, here are a couple of more photos: Low Tide in St. Martins on the Bay of Fundy and The Tide is Rising in St. Martins on the Bay of Fundy

Added to PassPorter's Article Collection on 11-05-2011 11:11 PM

What do you think? Please add your own comments, experiences, or news related to this article in this thread! Reader feedback is welcomed and encouraged.

[elbodans]

I've already voted for The Bay of Fundy, as my husband and I visited there this past summer. It was a three-day stop on a month-long Atlantic Canada road trip (best trip ever!), and we really felt like the Fundy area--including the national park and Hopewell rocks-makes a GREAT destination for anyone--but particularly families. We wish that we could take our extended family for a visit (but alas, they're not big on natural beauty--a pity!) My last travel blog post was all about Fundy and Fundy National Park...here's the link...

Location, Location, Location: Fundy National Park | The Suitcase Scholar

Love it there!

Though--question--did you actually go IN the water? I thought that even the MUD was cold--and that was in August!

[Dave Marx]

The tide was well out at Hopewell Rocks, so getting cold feet wasn't a problem (it was also close to 5:00pm at the end of October, which meant I had even worse light to photograph by than you did). But down at St. Martins, by the sea caves (the same beach and caves as in your delightful blog)? The tide was coming in while I was trying to get photos of the caves, and every time I stopped on dry ground it seemed the water would rise to cover my shoes again. Good thing they're water-resistant!

[elbodans]

It seems like you got the full tidal experience! Hooray for water resistant shoes! I was wearing sandals the day we went to the caves--not a good choice! I switched to hiking boots for our Hopewell Rocks trip--a better option!

[Suzie-Q]

Some of my favourite summer memories are of time spent in the Maritimes camping. We used to go out when the tide was out and dig clams and then come back to camp covered in mud and make clam chowder - awesome! I remember well swimming in the ocean as a child, but then - we Canadians are known for being hardy stock (or is it slow witted?) I've been to Myrtle Beach a few times in March and I notice that the only ones braving the ocean are the Canadians and the locals are wearing scarves and mittens

Hopewell Rocks are pretty awe-inspiring, aren't they? Thanks for the link, Dave - I just voted!