Brier Island
Encyclopedia
Bay of Fundy
The Bay of Fundy is a bay on the Atlantic coast of North America, on the northeast end of the Gulf of Maine between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine...
in Digby County, Nova Scotia
Digby County, Nova Scotia
Digby County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.Taking its name from the Township of Digby , which had been named in honour of Rear Admiral Robert Digby who dispatched HMS Atlanta to convey loyalists from New York City in the spring of 1783 to Conway, which became known as Digby,...
.
Geography
The island is the western-most part of Nova ScotiaNova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
and the southern end of the North Mountain
North Mountain (Nova Scotia)
North Mountain is a narrow southwest-northeast trending volcanic mountain range on the mainland portion of southwestern Nova Scotia, stretching from Brier Island to Cape Split...
ridge with Long Island lying immediately northeast; both islands constitute part of the Digby Neck
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 the eastern portion of the North Mountain by a deep,...
. Brier Island measures approximately 7.5 km (4.7 mi) long and 2.5 km (1.6 mi) wide and is made up of basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
.
The island's shoreline measures approximately 25 km (15.5 mi) in length. Brier Island is separated from Long Island by the 0.5 km (0.310686368324903 mi) Grand Passage. Westport is the only village on the island. The population , as of October, 2009, is 210.
The island is an important stopover point for migrating sea birds
Bird migration
Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...
.
The island's name is believed by some to come from the wild brier roses
Dog Rose
Rosa canina is a variable scrambling rose species native to Europe, northwest Africa and western Asia....
found there, another possibility is that the original name of the Island was "Bryer's" after a sea captain from New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
who was one of the first settlers to spend any time on the island.
Economy
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
industry and the seasonal tourism industry, which is largely focused on whale watching
Whale watching
Whale watching is the practice of observing whales and other cetaceans in their natural habitat. Whales are watched most commonly for recreation but the activity can also serve scientific or educational purposes. A 2009 study, prepared for IFAW, estimated that 13 million people went whale watching...
tours.
The island has one general store(that includes gas pump and cafe), one hotel and several hostels, bed and breakfasts, and gift shops.
The island contains the fishing village of Westport
Westport, Nova Scotia
Westport, Nova Scotia is a village in Digby County, Nova Scotia and it is located on Brier Island in the Bay of Fundy. The village was incorporated in 1946. A ferry service connects the village with Freeport, Nova Scotia on Long Island...
which is connected to Freeport
Freeport, Nova Scotia
Freeport, Nova Scotia is a village in Digby Country, Nova Scotia and it is located on Long Island in the Bay of Fundy.At the end of Digby Neck on Long Island, Freeport is a working fishing village nestled around tidal basin...
on Long Island by a ferry operated by the provincial government.
Brier Island is frequently inundated by fog
Fog
Fog is a collection of water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. While fog is a type of stratus cloud, the term "fog" is typically distinguished from the more generic term "cloud" in that fog is low-lying, and the moisture in the fog is often generated...
and has witnessed 57 recorded shipwreck
Shipwreck
A shipwreck is what remains of a ship that has wrecked, either sunk or beached. Whatever the cause, a sunken ship or a wrecked ship is a physical example of the event: this explains why the two concepts are often overlapping in English....
s. The island has "a lighthouse per mile" with the Northern and Western lighthouses on the island, as well as the Peter Island lighthouse in Grand Passage; all are automated and are operated by the Canadian Coast Guard
Canadian Coast Guard
The Canadian Coast Guard is the coast guard of Canada. It is a federal agency responsible for providing maritime search and rescue , aids to navigation, marine pollution response, marine radio, and icebreaking...
. The wreck of the barque
Barque
A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts.- History of the term :The word barque appears to have come from the Greek word baris, a term for an Egyptian boat. This entered Latin as barca, which gave rise to the Italian barca, Spanish barco, and the French barge and...
"Aurora" in 1908 provided the lumber for the Westport Community Hall.
The Canadian Coast Guard operates CCG Station Westport in the village. The rescue cutter CCGC Westport
CCGC Westport
CCGS Westport is a Canadian Coast Guard search and rescue vessel homeported in Westport, Nova Scotia.She is a Canadian Coast Guard Arun-class lifeboat, based on the United Kingdom Arun-class motor life boat design.She entered service in 1997....
provides 24-hour per day, 7 days per week response to search and rescue incidents within the eastern Gulf of Maine
Gulf of Maine
The Gulf of Maine is a large gulf of the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of North America.It is delineated by Cape Cod at the eastern tip of Massachusetts in the southwest and Cape Sable at the southern tip of Nova Scotia in the northeast. It includes the entire coastlines of the U.S...
and the southern and eastern Bay of Fundy
Bay of Fundy
The Bay of Fundy is a bay on the Atlantic coast of North America, on the northeast end of the Gulf of Maine between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine...
.
Famous residents
Brier Island was the childhood home of world famous sailor Joshua SlocumJoshua Slocum
Joshua Slocum was the first man to sail single-handedly around the world. He was a Canadian born, naturalised American seaman and adventurer, and a noted writer. In 1900 he told the story of this in Sailing Alone Around the World...
who became the first person to circumnavigate the world alone. A monument to Slocum and the bootshop where he worked as a boy can be seen in Westport.