Bay of Fundy

The Bay of Fundy reaches inland from the Gulf of Maine between the shores of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Its narrowing shape and the rhythm of the Atlantic tide produce some of the greatest tidal ranges on earth: at low water broad mudflats emerge, only to disappear again beneath the rising sea. Mi'kmaq, Wolastoqiyik and Peskotomuhkati communities have long lived along these waters.

In 1604 Pierre Dugua de Mons and his companions established a settlement on Saint Croix Island. After a harsh winter, they crossed the bay and built Port-Royal in 1605. Acadian families later reclaimed salt marshes with dikes and sluices, allowing water to drain at low tide while keeping the sea out as it rose. Their fields took shape along a coast governed by the extraordinary movement of the tides.