Everything about The Northumberland Strait totally explained
The
Northumberland Strait (French:
détroit de Northumberland) is a
strait in the southern part of the
Gulf of Saint Lawrence in eastern
Canada. The strait is formed by
Prince Edward Island and the gulf's southern and western shores.
Boundaries
The western boundary of the strait is delineated by a line running between
North Cape, Prince Edward Island and
Point Escuminac, New Brunswick while the eastern boundary is delineated by a line running between
East Point, Prince Edward Island and
Chéticamp, Nova Scotia.
Water temperature
The strait's shallow depths lend to warm water temperatures in summer months, with some areas reaching 25 °
C, or 77 °
F. Consequently the strait is reportedly home to the warmest ocean water temperatures in Canada, and some of the warmest ocean water temperatures on the Atlantic coast north of
Virginia.
During the winter months between December and April,
sea ice covers the entire strait and Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Geomorphology
While the western shores of
Cape Breton Island and northeastern shores of the
Nova Scotia peninsula are dominated by
granite, sedimentary rocks along the central and western parts of the strait, as well as the entire south shore of Prince Edward Island, consist of
sandstone, lending to beautiful sandy beaches with minimal coastal development. The largest island in the strait is
Pictou Island.
Settlements
Major communities on the strait include the cities of
Charlottetown and
Summerside, Prince Edward Island as well as the towns of
Souris, Prince Edward Island,
Pictou, Nova Scotia, and
Shediac, New Brunswick.
Transportation
Shipping
The Northumberland Strait is a minor shipping route, with ports such as
Pugwash shipping salt, Summerside, Charlottetown, Georgetown and Souris shipping agricultural products and receiving petroleum and aggregate, and Pictou shipping forestry products and general cargo. Shipping has declined in recent decades with the decline of rail service to ports and the increased capacity of highways to larger ports outside of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, which freezes in the winter.
Confederation Bridge
The narrowest part of the strait, the 13-kilometre (7–nautical mile) wide
Abegweit Passage in the western part of the strait between
Borden-Carleton, Prince Edward Island and
Cape Tormentine, New Brunswick, is now spanned by the
Confederation Bridge.
Ferries
The strait hosts two seasonal ferry services:
Northumberland Ferries Limited operates a passenger/vehicle service between
Caribou, Nova Scotia and
Wood Islands, Prince Edward Island, a separate passenger-only ferry service also operates from Caribou to Pictou Island. The other passenger/vehicle service is located between Souris, Prince Edward Island and Iles de la Madeleine, Quebec. Both services are located at the eastern end of the strait.
There was a ferry service between Borden-Carleton, Prince Edward Island and Cape Tormentime, New Brunswick until
May 31,
1997. It was one of Canada's busiest ferry services and was operated by
Marine Atlantic across Abegweit Passage. This service has been replaced by the Confederation Bridge.
Swim Crossings
There have been several documented unassisted swim crossings of the strait, although there's no official body to verify these claims. The only known single-day double crossing was in July 26, 2007 when Jennifer Alexander (who has
Type 1 Diabetes) of
Halifax, starting from
Nova Scotia, swam across and back in 19 hours, 17 minutes.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Northumberland Strait'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://northumberland_strait.totallyexplained.com">Northumberland Strait Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
