Cooks Gardens

Found off the northerly coast of Maine and extending into Canada from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, a natural phenomenon called the Bay of Fundy has a length of 270 km and is home to the planet's highest tides.

The Bay of Fundy has diverse ecosystems and a sea biodiversity that is close to the Amazon rainforest. Water filled with up to 12 species of whales, an abundance of dolphins, porpoises, fish, seals, sea birds and a lot more.

All this is framed by the encircling landscape which consists of similarly varied geology composed of a stone heart, eroding sandstone cliffs, mud flats and dramatic marshes.

And the culture of this area ranges from Maine and the tradition-bound Sea Islands of Fundy, to the pride of the loyalist Saint John and fertile farmland of the rich Valley of Annapolis, the homeland of Acadian heritage.

It really is one of the most unique natural tourist attractions on the world and up until a few weeks ago represented Canada as one of the 28 finalists in the Wonders of Nature contest.

The Bay of Fundy is found in the rift valley called the Fundy basin. When cracks began to separate from mainland North America, volcanic activity occurred, forming volcanoes and flood basalts.

These flood basalts poured out over the landscape, which includes most of southern Nova Scotia. Part of the flood basalts have been eroded away, but still form a mountain range known as North mountain. As a consequence, a lot of the basin floor is made of tholeiitic basalts giving brown color.

Here you can see the dramatic landscape of the steep cliffs. There are also volcanic rocks to present a enormous number of fossils and a sign of life of millions of years back. The Bay is feted for coastal rock formations, the acute tidal effects (both vertical and horizontal) and a critical place for migratory birds.