Bay of Fundy

The Bay of Fundy, located on the Atlantic coast between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia in the Atlantic Ocean, has the world's highest tides and an abundance of wildlife. Currently, the Bay of Fundy is Canada’s only candidate in the global campaign to declare the New 7 Natural Wonders of Nature. Over 12 species of whales are drawn to the Bay’s rich upwelling zones, including humpback, fin and the endangered North Atlantic right whale, and millions of shorebirds flock to the salt marshes and mudflats on the Bay of Fundy shores each year on their annual migrations. A few coral and sponge occurrences have also been documented for the Bay of Fundy.

The Bay of Fundy is home to large reefs formed by horse mussels (Modiolus modiolus). Only a few horse mussel reefs are known to exist in the world and the Bay of Fundy reefs are the largest yet to be documented. These structures perform a number of crucial ecological roles, enhancing biodiversity and boosting biological productivity in the Bay.

The Bay is also becoming increasingly industrialized, with proposals for 1000s of tidal turbines, large open-net salmon aquaculture sites and coastal mega-quarries, threatening its ecological health before any marine protection/conservation measures have been implemented.

Parks Canada has been studying the Bay of Fundy to identify priority ecosystems that might become part of a National marine Conservation Area.  CPAWS believes there is a need to ensure protection into the future for the values being highlighted by the Bay of Fundy’s candidacy as one of the New 7 Natural Wonders of Nature.