Long Island Nova Scotia - Looking northward

Long Island is a Canadian island in

Digby County Digby County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. History It was named after the Township of Digby; this was named in honour of Rear Admiral Robert Digby, who dispatched HMS ''Atalanta'' to convey Loyalists from New York City in ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

. Situated in the

Bay of Fundy The Bay of Fundy () is a bay between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine. It is an arm of the Gulf of Maine. Its tidal range is the highest in the world. The bay was ...

immediately southwest of the

Digby Neck Digby Neck is a Canadian peninsula extending into the Bay of Fundy in Digby County, Nova Scotia. Digby Neck is the western extension of the North Mountain range from the Annapolis Valley and is made of two thick lava flows. It is separated from ...

Brier Island Brier Island is an island in the Bay of Fundy in Digby County, Nova Scotia. Geography The island is the westernmost part of Nova Scotia and the southern end of the North Mountain ridge with Long Island lying immediately northeast; both islands ...

is located immediately west. Long Island is separated from the Digby Neck by the "Petit Passage" and from Brier Island by the "Grand Passage". Route 217 runs the length of Long Island from the ferry crossing at Tiverton at the eastern end of the island (connecting to

East Ferry __NOTOC__ East Ferry is a village and civil parish in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. Lincolnshire.gov.uk It is situated west from Scotter, and on the eastern bank of the River Trent opposite Owston Ferry. The population ...

on the Digby Neck) to the ferry crossing at

Freeport Freeport, a variant of free port, may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Freeport, name of several space stations in the video game ''Freelancer'' (2003) * Freeport, a fictional town in the video game ''SiN'' (1998) * ''Freeport: The Cit ...

at the western end of the island (connecting to Westport). Long Island is approximately 15 km long and 5 km wide and is primarily

basalt rock Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90% of a ...

of the North Mountain ridge. The southern coast (St. Mary's Bay side) of the island is mostly faced with steep cliffs with the north coast (Bay of Fundy side) featuring smaller cliffs and round-rock beaches. There are several coves along both sides with Bear Cove (in Tiverton), Israel's Cove (also known as Pirate's Cove, located in Tiverton), Flour Cove (central on the island), and Beautiful Cove (in Freeport) being the best known and easily accessed coves. There are two shallow lakes located together in the centre of the island with a small brook leading in either directions and ending on either end of the island, one in Tiverton and the other in Freeport. There is a

tidal bore A tidal bore, often simply given as bore in context, is a tidal phenomenon in which the leading edge of the incoming tide forms a wave (or waves) of water that travels up a river or narrow bay, reversing the direction of the river or bay's cu ...

that occurs on the outgoing (ebb)

tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ...

in St. Mary's Bay just south of Petit Passage that is commonly referred to as ''The Bull''. Long Island was first discovered by the explorer

Samuel de Champlain Samuel de Champlain (; 13 August 1574#Fichier]For a detailed analysis of his baptismal record, see #Ritch, RitchThe baptism act does not contain information about the age of Samuel, neither his birth date nor his place of birth. – 25 December ...

in 1604 but was not settled until the late 18th century when the land was granted to British loyalists who fought for the British against the Americans in the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

. The primary industry is

lobster Lobsters are Malacostraca, malacostracans Decapoda, decapod crustaceans of the family (biology), family Nephropidae or its Synonym (taxonomy), synonym Homaridae. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on th ...

catching with a season running from the last Monday in November until the last day of May. A second, and growing industry, is tourism. The Bay of Fundy is known for

whale watching Whale watching is the practice of observing whales and dolphins (cetaceans) in their natural habitat. Whale watching is mostly a recreational activity (cf. birdwatching), but it can also serve scientific and/or educational purposes.Hoyt, E. ...

and Long Island offers several tour operator throughout the summer months. Another attraction is

Balancing Rock A balancing rock, also called a balanced rock, precariously balanced rock (PBR), or precarious boulder, is a naturally occurring geological formation featuring a large rock or boulder, sometimes of substantial size, resting on other rocks, bedro ...

, a large

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

column that appears to be balancing on its end on the southern shore just outside Tiverton. It also has commonly-sighted

deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...

, sea birds, and as of 2013 a

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family (biology), family Ursidae (). They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats ...

which had not previously been seen for a century. Sometimes whales can be seen from the water's edge. Image:Tiverton ferry.JPG, Ferry leaving from Tiverton, Nova Scotia going to Digby Neck File:Balancing Rock, NS.jpg, The Balancing Column on Long Island

External links

Virtual Museum - Survival of a People: Using our Natural Resources 1875-1975

Nova Scotia Oceanfronts
{{coord, 44, 19, 35, N, 66, 16, 22, W, type:isle_region:CA, display=title Islands of Nova Scotia Landforms of Digby County, Nova Scotia Volcanism of Nova Scotia

See also

External links