Bestiary in the Bay

Scott Leslie · Issue 39, Nov/Dec 2007 · pp. 36–42

Products mentioned: Nikon F90x, Aquatica housing, Nikkor 20mm lens, Sigma 24mm macro lens, 60mm Micro Nikkor, Canon 20D, 15-30mm zoom lens

Bestiary in the Bay Observing life in the Bay of Fundy By Scott Leslie The ebb tide gets pinched into a powerful eight-knot current as it passes through the narrows of Grand Passage between Long and Brier Islands at the western tip of Nova Scotia. The current meets head on with the brisk wind, whipping the water into a froth of standing waves. Our lobster fishing boat pitches and rolls through the passage as we make our way to our dive site in the Bay of Fundy, home of the world’s highest tides. Samuel de Champlain first sailed these turbulent waters some 400 years ago, when he discovered what was to become Canada. The torrent of Grand Passage behind us, our destination looms into view: Gull Rock. Three kilometres off Nova Scotia’s Brier Island, this obdurate basalt islet looks pretty unremarkable; that is until you look below the surface. Swept by powerful currents, the waters around th…