The Bay of Fundy (2024)

FAQs

What is so special about the Bay of Fundy? ›

Not only is the Bay of Fundy famous for high tides, but its shoreline cliffs and beaches are home to the world's most complete fossil record of life 300 million years ago, making it part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site AND a UNESCO Global Geopark.

In the Bay of Fundy you can see two high and two low tides each day. The time between a high and low tide, on average, is six hours and 13 minutes. If you come back to the same place two or three days in a row, you will notice that the water is at its highest and lowest about an hour later each day.

Twice everyday the bay fills and empties of a billion tonnes of water during each tide cycle—that's more than the flow of all the world's freshwater rivers combined.

The Bay of Fundy, located in Canada between the eastern Maritime Provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, has one of the world's largest tidal ranges. High tide can be as much as 16 meters (the height of a three-story house) higher than low tide (SF Fig. 6.14 A).

Fundy's tides are the highest in the world because of an unusual combination of factors: resonance and the shape of the bay. The water in the Bay of Fundy has a natural resonance or rocking motion called seiche. You could compare this to the movement of water in a bathtub.

Located in New Brunswick on Canada's Atlantic Coast, Fundy National Park encompasses 20 kilometres of dramatic shoreline along the Bay of Fundy, famous for having the world's highest tides. Twice a day, up to 12 metres of water or more rush in and out, roughly equivalent to the height of a four-floor building.

Bathymetric map of the Bay of Fundy. Red-to-orange colours indicate shallow water and blue-to-violet colours denote deeper water. Much of the bay is less than 100 m deep but the southwest part of the bay reaches 240 m water depth.

Saint John, NB, is the only major city on the Bay of Fundy.

Being of heavy salt content, the Bay of Fundy does not freeze over, and further, the air over the water is heavy in saline content.

It was here at Burntcoat Head that the highest tides ever at 53.6 feet were recorded on the Bay of Fundy. The Guinness Book World Records declared in 1975 that this unique place on the bay has the highest tidal range in the world. The range at high tide swings between 47.5 and 53.6 feet.

Where is the biggest tide in the world? ›

The highest tides in the world can be found in Canada at the Bay of Fundy, which separates New Brunswick from Nova Scotia. The highest tides in the United States can be found near Anchorage, Alaska, with tidal ranges that average around 30 feet . Tidal highs and lows depend on a lot of different factors.

Watching the changing tides from atop cliffs that overlook the bay is awesome. Check out Cape d'or, Partridge Island, Cape Split and Blomidon Park. Hiking in Cape Chignecto Provincial Park or along the Bay of Fundy coastline between Advocate Harbour and Economy will also give you super views.

The World's Highest Tides

It overflows. The tides in the Bay of Fundy can rise an unbelievable 16 metres (52.5 ft.), with 160 billion tonnes of seawater gushing in and out of the bay twice a day.

Bay of Fundy has the worlds highest tidal range. Bay of Fundy is known for having the rarest whales in the world, the highest tides on earth and for being scattered with dinosaur fossils. In 2014 experts made Bay of Fundy one of the natural wonders of the world.

Twice a day the Atlantic tide is forced into a narrow channel in the mouth of the Bay of Fundy, its force reversing the flow of rivers and carving out dramatic coastal features while its surge of nutrients sustains migrating cetaceans who spend the summer here from mid-June to mid-October, making it a haven for whales ...

The upper Bay of Fundy is recognized for having the highest tides in the world, rising and falling 13 meters on average and more than 16 meters during spring tides. Fed by 100 billion tons of water, these tides expose over 80,000 hectares of invertebrate-rich mudflats when they retreat.