The Headland of Cape Porcupine is a remote point of land on the south east coast of

Labrador , nickname = "The Big Land" , etymology = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 ...

in the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

province of

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

. The cape juts out into the Atlantic Ocean in a generally easterly direction and forms a protective barrier from northerly gales for the beach of white sands, which might be a candidate for the stretch referred to as

Wonderstrands Wonderstrands refers to the Furðustrandir, a stretch of coastline mentioned in the Icelandic ''Eiríks saga'', relating the deeds of Erik the Red. It was reported to be located north of ''Straumfjörð'' and south of ''Kjalarnes'' promontory. Som ...

by the Norse. The origin of the name is not known but not likely for the rodent rather for the

Porcupine caribou The Porcupine caribou ''(Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus'') is a herd or ecotype of barren-ground caribou, the subspecies of the reindeer or caribou found in Alaska, United States, and Yukon and the Northwest Territories, Canada. A recent revisio ...

that can be found in the area. The beach in the area is believed to have been visited by explorer

Leif Eirikson Leif Erikson, Leiv Eiriksson, or Leif Ericson, ; Modern Icelandic: ; Norwegian: ''Leiv Eiriksson'' also known as Leif the Lucky (), was a Norse explorer who is thought to have been the first European to have set foot on continental Nort ...

, who called it Markland or Land of Woods. The closest settlement to Cape Porcupine is

Cartwright Cartwright may refer to: * Wainwright (occupation), a tradesperson skilled in the making and repairing of carts or wagons * Cartwright (surname), including the list of people Places ; Australia * Cartwright, New South Wales ; Canada * Cartwr ...

, Labrador, which lies approximately to the south. The area is not accessible by road; it is reached by air (helicopter) or by sea. In 2008, dumped

Dunnite Dunnite, also known as Explosive D or systematically as ammonium picrate, is an explosive developed in 1906 by US Army Major Beverly W. Dunn, who later served as the chief inspector of the Bureau of Transportation Explosives. Ammonium picrate is ...

in the area was mistaken for rusty rocks.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Porcupine, Cape Headlands of Newfoundland and Labrador