Cape Breton Island: Nova Scotia's dramatic destination

December 1995 - January 1996

This is an article from WaveLength Magazine, available in print in North America and globally on the web.

by Scott Cunningham

Rock arch on rugged Cape Breton Island

Cape Breton Island occupies the north-eastern end of Nova Scotia. It is an irregular shaped triangle less than 150 km through the widest section but with a rambling shoreline that exceeds 2000 km. A causeway over the Strait of Canso links it to the mainland. The island separates the Gulf of St. Lawrence from the Atlantic Ocean and its geology and topography vary dramatically from one side to the other. The ancient volcanic rock of the eastern shores has formed a cordon of submerged shoals interrupted by broad, exposed beaches with few sheltering inlets. There is good reason why divers search this area for wrecks. Fishing communities have developed in some relatively protected harbours (e.g. Forchu, Louisbourg, Garbarus, and Main-a-Dieu). Abundant drumlin material supplies the sediment for the baymouth bars that close off the inlets. Offshore islands, so common along the Eastern Shore of the mainland, are rare. Otherwise the climate and vegetation is similar. The water is cold most of the year, resulting in a constant threat of fog, even well into the summer. The landscape has a stark appeal but it is only for the experienced paddler.

 

On the western, or Gulf, shore the dearth of islands also applies but that is where the similarity ends. The coastline is relatively linear and, Port Hood and Cheticamp excepted, the Gulf harbours of Cape Breton are narrow river mouths which often require dredging. Strong current flowing over sandbars at the entrances can produce chaotic conditions. Rocky shoals are not as common. The water temperature is usually quite warm in summer (often exceeding 16 C), more reminiscent of Prince Edward Island than the Atlantic coast, and fog is rare. The highlight of this shore is the Highland region, beginning at the National Park in Cheticamp and continuing around the northern tip. Ancient bedrock has thrust up through a layered carpet of sedimentary strata. The oldest rock is over a billion years old, a tiny segment of the Canadian shield tucked into the Maritimes. The youngest is of the Carboniferous era of fern forest and evaporating seas. Erosion has since carved them down to under 1800' but they are still impressive when seen erupting abruptly from Gulf waters, a powerful combination of sheer cliffs, incised valleys, sea caves, and pinnacles. This is one of the most spectacular coastal areas in all of North America. Hiking is a natural adjunct to a paddling tour, and the perfect option when stormbound. A climb up to the denuded plateau highlights the undulating sequence of cliffs and coves weaving up the coast. Good landing spots are scarce and with the prevailing winds coming from the west (i.e., on shore) caution and experience are needed.

Unique to Cape Breton Island is the Bras d'Or Lake. This is a large saltwater basin occupying much of the interior and it is essentially landlocked, open to the sea via two narrow passages (and the canal at St. Peters). These are the warmest of all the coastal waters (in winter, though, large expanses become a solid sheet of ice). It is the preferred realm of the sailor, sheltered from the storms and fog of the open Atlantic Ocean (but the long fetch in some sections can result in an acute chop). Well appointed marinas and small villages share the surrounding rolling hills with rich deciduous forest and open farmland. If empty wilderness is your destination then you may have to look elsewhere, although the kayaker can usually find some undisturbed shoreline even on the Bras d'Or.

Tidal range around Cape Breton is modest (2-4 feet in the Gulf; 3-6 feet on the Atlantic and negligible in the Bras d'Or Lakes) and the currents light, except around prominent headlands and in narrow passages (e.g., Cape North, between Scatarie Island and Main-a-Dieu). Here, when combined with opposing winds, they can be treacherous. The ocean currents (usually counterclockwise) predominate over tidal flow in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

The Cape Breton coastline is home to an assortment of seabirds and marine mammals, some of which are seldom encountered elsewhere in the province. This is the southern limit of the Black-legged Kittiwake (which nests at only a few places along the eastern shore) and the site of Nova Scotia's only significant Atlantic puffin colony (the Bird Islands). Bald eagles are common in the Bras d'Or Lake, and along the Highlands where pilot whales pursue mackerel and squid, a sure sight in the late summer. Larger whales (Minke, humpback, Fin) are occasionally spotted further offshore. Seals, both the grey and harbour, frequent the shoals. There are no exotic large mammals inland, but you may catch sight of black bear, deer, or moose (in the Highlands). There have also been unconfirmed reports of cougar.

The human history of Cape Breton dates to the last ice age when indigenous peoples in the south followed the retreating glaciers into the area. Little is known about these early inhabitants and they eventually disappeared. The ancestors of the present Micmacs settled the region a couple of thousand years ago and their descendants still live in several communities on the shores of the Bras d'Or Lake. The first incursions of the Europeans are obscure. Myth has it that a group of Irish monks, prone as they were to wander the North Atlantic in search of converts, were the first to find their way here. That may be fanciful thinking, for there is no evidence to support this romantic theory, nor the claim that the Vikings or, later, even John Cabot visited. However, such stories do embellish the tourist brochures. What is known for certain is that the French and English disputed this territory, along with the rest of North America for well over a century. The latter eventually won out, with the capture of the fortress of Louisbourg, and evicted the French inhabitants. The reconstruction of this fortress, the most ambitious on the continent, depicts accurately the life of those times.

Following the expulsion of the French, Britain encouraged immigration to the island which was accelerated by the "clearances" in Scotland. Powerless tenants were evicted from the Scottish Highlands to make way for large sheep farms. Many of them have left a lasting imprint in the place names (such as MacDonald Glen, Inverness, and Lock Lomond) and in the continuing popularity of traditional celtic music. Gaelic is still spoken by a few of the older folk and is taught at a local college. Many of the dispersed Acadians also made their way back, settling on the rocky shores spurned by the other immigrants. Isolation has preserved their language and in communities such as Isle Madame and Cheticamp, a bountiful ocean led to prosperity, until the recent collapse of the Atlantic fishery. Coal was discovered and mined in thick seams that ran well out under the ocean, iron was smelted and an industrial economy developed around the deep water port of Sydney (the province's third largest city, pop. 45,000). Changing economic patterns doomed the mills and has left a legacy of unemployment and isolated pollution that has burdened the province for decades.

Tourism is the new big hope as more and more visitors arrive each summer to sample the island's diverse and accessible fare. No less an illuminary than Alexander Graham Bell chose Baddeck, overlooking the Bras d'Or Lakes, to spend his summers and conduct much of his research. Although he had traveled the globe he found that Cape Breton "outrivaled them all". Perhaps somewhat of a hyperbole, but not by much, as both the casual tourists and the avid coastal paddler have discovered.

Scott Cunningham runs Coastal Adventures in Nova Scotia. You can reach him at PO Box 77 Tangier, NS B0J 3H0. Ph: 902-772-2774

The above text is excerpted from Scott's newest volume of Coastal Paddling Routes in Nova Scotia -- Cape Breton and the North Shore, published this year. 106 pp., 8.5"x11", cerlox bound, with maps, route descriptions and tips.