REFERENCE MAPS

Geographic Extent of Information

 

The Atlas of Human Activities contains information on the Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) administrative region known as the Maritimes Region. This area includes the Scotian Shelf and adjacent slope to the full extent of Canada's 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone, as well as the Bay of Fundy and Canadian portions of the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank. Within DFO, the area is also known as the Scotia-Fundy Fisheries Management Region.

This map is intended to be a reference for the rest of the document. It shows the boundaries for most of the information collected for the atlas: the regional boundary, composed of the international and exclusive economic zone boundaries and the division between the Maritimes region of DFO and the Newfoundland and Gulf regions. 

The latter is also the eastern boundary of the Eastern Scotian Shelf Integrated Management (ESSIM) initiative. In a few cases, we have included information from outside this area, reflecting the management boundaries used by other government departments and agencies that are active in the area. Those administrative boundaries are shown where relevant.

The inset map shows the location of the Scotian Shelf in relation to North America and the North Atlantic Ocean. The image is a composite of multiple satellite images taken in 1996 by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) weather satellites and enhanced with digital elevation data.

Legend

 

Topography and Geographic Names

 

 The shape of the ocean floor influences the physical and biological marine environment, from the speed and direction of currents flowing over the ocean bottom to the distribution of marine plants and animals. This in turn influences the human activities that occur in the area. The present seafloor topography of the Scotian Shelf, Gulf of Maine and the Bay of Fundy is the result of many thousands of years of geological processes.

 

Compared to many other submerged continental shelf areas, the Scotian Shelf is relatively wide and extends from 125 to 230 kilometres offshore. At the shelf edge, at about 200 metres in depth, the ocean floor becomes steeper. The area from the edge of the shelf to 2000 metres in depth is known as the "slope" or Scotian Slope. From about 2000 to 5000 metres in depth, the change in depth becomes more gradual. This area is known as the "rise." Several large submarine canyons indent the outer shelf, slope, and rise, and some smaller valleys also cross the slope and rise.

Although the shelf itself is relatively flat compared with the slope, there are still many obvious features. There are broad, relatively shallow and flat bank areas, and deeper areas known as basins. Two large channels - the Northeast Channel and Laurentian Channel - divide the Scotian Shelf from Georges Bank and the Newfoundland Shelf respectively. Several deep basins, such as Jordan Basin, are the notable topographic features of the Gulf of Maine.

Geographic Names

The geographic names for undersea features originate from many different sources, including the physical characteristics of the area, names used by First Nations or from First Nation languages, names of nearby features on land, and the religious beliefs of early European explorers. For example, Sable Island Bank is named for its prominent feature, the long, sandy Sable Island. The island in turn gets its name from the French word for sand, "sable." Georges Bank was named after St. George and references to "St. Georges Bank" continued into the twentieth century . 

Since the late 1960s, the Advisory Committee on Names for Undersea and Maritime Features has made recommendations to the Geographical Names Board of Canada on authoritative names for undersea features within Canada's jurisdiction (CPCGN 1988, NRCAN 2005). The standardized names are shown on the map opposite; however, different names may be in use in some areas or among certain marine users.

Legend

BIOLOGICAL FEATURES

Plants

 

Plant growth on beaches is limited to a few species. The plants that are able to grow here either need protection in the dunes from the harsh forces of the wind, or they have to be very well-adapted to the shifting sand, temperature, salt, and limited water supply. In general, you'll see very distinct zones on a beach.

Zonation of plants on the backshore

Filamentous algae can be found in great numbers on the mud exposed at low tide. Seaweed is a type of algae and there are many different ones to discover. It is often found on the beach, washed ashore by the waves. The sand below the low tide line is too unstable and the water too turbulent for seaweed to grow. 

As a result, these plants grow in the subtidal zone below the low tide limit, where a more stable substrate is available. You can gather seaweed on the shore. It can be used as a source of food or for plant study. Sandy beaches support productive and diverse micro-algal communities of species that are adapted to moving sand. They live between sand grains or attached to them.

Bayberry

Bayberry grows in the protection of the dunes. This shrub is also called Candle Berry. It contains a resin, which was used in candle making in earlier times.

wild rose

 

 Beachgrass

Beachgrass or Marram Grass (Ammophilia breviligulata) is the most important plant on the beach. It stabilizes the shifting sand and prepares it for further plant colonization. You'll see it mostly in the foredune where conditions are most severe. Sea Lyme-Grass (Elymus arenarius) can be found growing with Beachgrass, and it also grows in coarser sand and sometimes even gravel. This grass can also be found in salt marshes, where the sand is mixed with mud.

Ammophilia comes from ammos (Greek for sand) and philos (Greek for loving). Beachgrass has to be covered by at least seven centimetres of sand over the year to be able to survive. Its rhizomes trap the sand like a very fine-meshed net. The amount of sand coverage stimulates the growth of Beachgrass. The grass sends out runners to cover more area. The dead plant material in the sand, the living rhizomes, and the living plants on the surface very effectively trap the sand and create a more stable environment. Beachgrass receives some nutrients from the salt spray.

Molluscs

 

In the beach ecosystem molluscs are found on the sandbars and mudflats. Some molluscs feed by filtering water for tiny sources of food such as plankton and others are carnivores. Some will graze on microscopic algae. Others feed on detritus from dead animals and plants. They are an important source of food for other species such as fish and birds.

How do clams bury themselves?

A Clam buries itself by extending its foot in a tapered point into the sand. Then the foot expands and becomes an anchor. The clam pulls the rest of the body downward.

Different feeding techniques of clams

Common Northern Moon Shell

The Common Northern Moon Shell is a carnivore whose shells and sand collars can often be found on the beach. 10 cm.

Razor Clam

The Common Northern Moon Shell

The Common Northern Moon Shell lives just below the water's surface, in low intertidal and subtidal zones. Moon shell egg masses can be found on the beach in summer. Sand collars protect the eggs from predators. Moon shells are predatory and eat clams and worms. They bore holes in clam shells with a 'radula,' which acts like a drill. A radula is the 'tongue' of molluscs, a horny strip that is continually renewed and has teeth on its surface.

Where moon shells are common, the number of worms and molluscs may decrease.

 

Sand collar

 

Insects

 

Rarely are we disturbed by biting insects on the beach. They're usually kept away by the wind. But when the wind stops blowing, mosquitoes from salt marshes, horse flies, and deer flies can become a nuisance. Small flies feed on the detritus of the strand line and are in turn food for other creatures such as birds and shrews. Robins and warblers can be seen feeding on these insects. Ants and spiders live in the dunes and the holes of sandwasps can often be observed in the sand.

Short-tailed Black Swallowtail

The Short-tailed Black Swallowtail is a common butterfly in the dunes. Its caterpillars feed on the leaves of Scotch Lovage and develop into large, black butterflies with yellow and white spots.

Crustaceans

 

Crustaceans are a familiar group of organisms. Most of them are edible and quite visible in the sand, debris, and the water.

Sand Shrimp

Sand Shrimps are lower shore carnivores that can be found at the seaweed, digging into the sand. They are about 9.9 mm long when mature.

amphipod

Some amphipods get thrown up by waves and then feed on detritus. They dive back into the protection of the sand when the waves recede. Beach hoppers live in this zone and are around 3 cm large.

Rock Crab

This common crab washes up on the beach or is caught in lobster traps. It feeds on dead animals but will also eat any live prey it can catch. To 13.1 cm.

Echinoderms

 

Sand Dollar

The Sand Dollar mainly eats microscopic algae that are found in the sand. To 7.5 cm.

Worms

 

Marine worms occur in the intertidal zone. Some are carnivores, while others eat seaweed or detritus (non-living materials). Marine worms put organic matter back into circulation. They also provide food for a great variety of animals such as crustaceans, fish, and birds.
red-lined worm

Fish

 

From the beach you can observe some species of flounders, Capelin, Atlantic Silverside and the American Sand Lance. Sand Lances are an important food source for Cod, Haddock, Pollock, Plaice, and Yellowtail Flounder. Winter Flounder are an important food source for seals, Osprey, Great Blue Heron, and cormorants. Capelin feed on plankton. Many bird species, fish, and marine mammals feed on capelin. The Atlantic Cod is presumed to be a main predator. Minke Whales and Fin Whales also feed extensively on Capelin.

American Sand Lance

The American Sand Lance is a small fish that can burrow several inches deep into the bottom above the low tide level. They can be observed looking out of their holes from time to time, perhaps verifying whether the water is coming back. They primarily feed on copepods, but also to a lesser extent on snails, worms, etc. To 15 cm.

Smooth Flounder

The Smooth Flounder is the smallest of flounders and is found mainly in estuaries. It feeds on copepods, small shrimp, crabs, molluscs, etc. To 32.3 cm.

Winter Flounder

 

Birds

 

Few birds use the beach for nesting. Among these are the Piping Plover, a small endangered bird. Horned Lark and Spotted Sandpiper, the Common Tern, Red-breasted Merganser, and several species of gulls make their nests in the grass of the dunes, where as the Piping Plover uses a shallow depression in the sand as a nest.

Horned Lark

The genus name of the Horned Lark, 'Eremphila,' means desert-loving. They prefer to nest in the dry upper reaches of the beach. This species is also known for its courtship displays. The bird will suddenly rise silently very high in the air where it will begin a high-pitched tinkling song as it circles for 15-20 minutes at a time. Then suddenly it drops to the ground with its wings closed. They breed on the northeast coast of New Brunswick and some winter along the coast of Nova Scotia while others fly farther south.

Some birds' habitat and food

Bird	Habitat	Food
Piping Plover	beach, sandflats, mudflats	marine worms, shore flies, beach hoppers, microscopic crustaceans
Semipalmated Plover	beach, sandflats, mudflats; abundant migrant; breeds in the Arctic and locally on dark cobble beaches in Eastern Canada	marine worms, small molluscs, small crustaceans, eggs of marine animals, insects
Semipalmated Sandpiper	nest in Arctic Tundra; abundant migrant; beaches, intertidal area	periwinkles, marine worms, amphipods
Spotted Sandpiper	adjacent to bodies of water, beaches, sand dunes	small fish, crustaceans, insects
Horned Lark	upper beach, sand dunes	seeds and insects
Common Tern	beaches, shorelines, shallow saltwater	Sand Lance, Pipefish, Gaspereau, sticklebacks, Mummichog, crustacean

During migration, the beach and adjacent mud and sandflats are very important feeding and resting grounds for shorebirds. Worms, molluscs, and small crustaceans in the sand and mud provide the food necessary to continue the migration. Since shorebird species are very similar in appearance, they require time and patience to identify. Bank Swallows often burrow into cliffs on sand dunes.

Other birds like Gannets, scoters, or Common Eiders can be observed from the shoreline, although they in general do not visit the beach. Check the species list under birds for an idea of what birds you might find in your area.

Migration

The rate at which birds use up energy is very high. They have to eat large amounts of food, and often, in comparison to their body weight. As flying is an energy-intensive activity, their metabolic rate is of course high, and especially so during migration when they have to fly thousands of kilometres.

Despite this, birds use energy far more efficiently than any plane or machine. Birds use beaches and associated mud and sandflats for staging and resting during migration. Before they fly thousands of kilometres to South America or the southern United States, shorebirds will double the amount of fat in their body tissues: necessary fuel for the flight.

Piping Plover

The Piping Plover is a small, pale-coloured, sparrow-sized endangered shorebird. They are often called the 'piper' because of their pipe-like call. 18 cm.

Semipalmated Plover

The Semipalmated Plover resembles the Piping Plover except for its darker back. 26-34 cm.

Mammals

 

A variety of mammals can be observed at the beach ecosystem. You can sometimes see fox, mice, shrews, raccoons, meadow voles or at least their tracks. Deer also come to the shoreline to feed on seaweed on the beach. Sometimes Grey Seals come onto beaches to rest.

Fox track on the beach

 

Washed-up Treasures

 

Animals and plants often get caught in storms, currents, and tides and get washed-up on the shore. These organisms for the most part do not live here, but come from the deeper ocean. You can find bits of bleached shell, pieces from crabs, lobsters, and snails. Mermaid's purses (the egg cases of skates) are often washed up. In the strand line you can find sea stars, beached jellyfish, dog whelk egg cases (a snail), and lots of seaweed. Holes in driftwood often point to the work of Gribbles, a wood-boring amphipod.

Gribbles and shipworms: which is which?

Although both Gribbles and shipworms bore into wood they are not the same animals. Gribbles are related to shrimp; they feed on the fungus in the wood, not the wood. Shipworms are not worms but worm-like bivalves that bore into wood and eat the sawdust. They're more common in warm water but can be found in driftwood as far as Newfoundland.

THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT

Formation

 

Most beach sand comes from glacial erosion. Eroding forces break down rocks into smaller particles. In the past, during glaciation, glacial rivers transported sand to the coast. Today, headlands and cliffs are eroded and sand is formed. Looking at the colour of the sand can be a clue as to where the sand originates from. In Prince Edward Island it is easy to determine. 

The sand is red as the red sandstone that is seen exposed everywhere along the coast. In Nova Scotia there are white beaches, whereas the beaches in northeastern Atlantic Canada are darker in colour. Sand is constantly on the move. In the summer, beaches are built and sandbars eroded; in the winter, the reverse happens. Wind and water sort the sand

Processes on a beach

Dunes are formed wherever large quantities of dry sand are exposed to wind. Dunes have a tendency to wander. Wandering dunes are called 'active dunes.' As they move they can even cover roads or buildings. When they are unstable, little vegetation grows on them. It is too difficult for plants to get established.

Beach Zonation

The 'foreshore' is the sloping portion of the beach between high and low tide. A 'berm' is nearly horizontal and is formed when the waves deposit sand. A storm berm can mark the highest limit of storm waves. Several berms can occur at spring and neap tide levels. The 'back beach' or 'backshore' is rarely touched by wave action and ends at the edge of the first dune.

The 'active dune' or 'primary dune' is the first dune. A 'swale' is the hollow between dunes, often close enough to the water table so that marsh plants or peatland plants can get established. Stagnant freshwater pools can develop. 'Fixed dunes' or 'secondary dunes' can follow, sometimes in great numbers. 'Blowouts' are holes in the dune scooped out by wind and/or water.

 

Physical Characteristics

 

Currents

 

Currents on the beach act as agents of erosion and rebuilding. They carry sand and nutrients from one spot to another. The shape of the beach front is influenced by different currents. The most common are longshore (along the beach) currents, refractive, and rip currents.

Ice

 

Unusually heavy winter ice cover can change or erode dunes and alter the shape of the beach, or it can protect the beach from the influence of wind and waves.

Freshwater

 

On the beach most freshwater percolates rapidly down into the substrate. Thus the surface is always dry. Evaporation on the surface can be rapid.

Ripples and dangerous currents

Ripples are a feature well known on beaches and sandflats. They are the result of an oscillation of the sand, created by wave action and tides. The ripple crests are transverse to the current direction. The 'drag' on the ocean bottom that can be felt by swimmers is caused by rip currents. They are narrow currents moving at right angles away from the beach, after having been heaved against the shore. They can pull swimmers out to the open ocean.

 

Salt

 

The salinity in the inundated area of the beach varies only slightly. In depressions at the beachfront, when sea-water collects, salinity can rise sharply as the water evaporates. Plants are constantly exposed to the wind. The wind carries salt spray and deposits it further inland on the plants. The exposure to salt prevents many organisms from living at the beach.

Sediment

 

Waves move and shift sand around to form a beach. The interaction of sediment and waves forms beaches. The interaction of sediment and wind forms dunes. Sediments are transported to different places by water and wind depending on their size and density. Sand shifts constantly. It can vary in colour dramatically, from the red beaches of Prince Edward Island to the almost white beaches of Nova Scotia. The colour of the sand can also affect the kinds of organisms that live on a beach, because they have to be camouflaged from their predators. Most organisms have some adaptability. Those that do not simply bury themselves.

Sand

Young (geologically speaking) sand usually consists of sharper particles not yet rounded off by wind and water as is the case with old sand. Airborne sand rounds more than water-borne sand. Fine sand is carried away easily and compresses well. There are few spaces between particles. Once they settle they do not shift as readily. Coarse sand stays behind and does not compress well. There is lots of airspace between particles for organisms to live in, but this sand shifts constantly. Irregularly shaped particles have large pore spaces in between and thus more surface area.

When creatures die the skeleton that remains is broken up. These parts consist mainly of calcium carbonate. Some sands consist mainly of calcium carbonate particles. Sand can be made of small particles originating from erosion of rocks through water, chemicals, and temperature. Quartz sand is the most common on the East Coast, a result of the breakdown of granite or sandstone.

Some sand particles 'sing' when blown over the beach by high winds. Singing sands are a feature of the Basin Head sand dune system in eastern Prince Edward Island.

 

Temperature

 

Along the beach shoreline the temperature changes with the tides and the seasons. Without shelter from plants the sand can get so hot that people cannot walk on the beach with their bare feet. Below the surface the sand becomes cold quickly. At night the sand cools off rapidly due to the lack of a protecting plant cover. On hot days the temperature can be high enough to coagulate blood proteins of organisms such as insects. As a result some beach creatures are nocturnal to avoid the heat of the day. Others spend most of the day in deep sand, where the temperature doesn't get too hot.

Tides

 

The tidal range determines the area of shore that is exposed to the air at any low tide. In the intertidal area, where the sand is subject to the ebb and flow of the tides, the sand remains moist. In the upper range of the intertidal area, the sand may dry out and blow inland. Spring tides reach high up on the beach. When they are combined with strong waves, they can cause wash-outs or breaches in the dunes.

Waves

 

The strongest waves on the beach are the ones that break on the surface (surf). They shift and sort the sand. Shifting sand hinders plants and animals from anchoring themselves. Storms with high waves can cause blowouts (breaches). They can destroy parts of dunes, making the beach more unstable. However, this is a natural process. Where the sea-levels rise, there is a landward migration of the beach/dune system.

Large, high-energy waves in the fall and winter have a completely different influence than the low energy waves of summer. Storms in late summer and fall hurricanes contribute to the longest waves. In the fall and the winter waves are even more damaging. In the fall they cause erosion of the beach and dunes. In the summer the waves actually help the beach by bringing in more sand.

Wind

 

The wind is a mechanism for the transfer of energy.
Dunes are formed by the interaction of sand and wind.

Miscou Island dune system

On the west coast of Miscou Island in northeastern New Brunswick a unique dune system has formed, with more than 30 parallel dunes. The area is called Grande Plaine by residents and is a perfect place to study dune systems. The dunes have different heights and are not regularly spaced. They were first noted in 1905 by W.F. Ganong, a New Brunswick naturalist, who wrote several articles on the phenomenon. 

On the Grande Plaine, succession in the dune system can be observed very well. There is a definite transition from open grass dunes to dunes that are even covered with forest, interspersed with hollows that show a different plant composition. Rare plants have been reported here, and the area is well known to botanists throughout New Brunswick. The dunes also provide evidence that the dune systems have moved toward the ocean. Remnants of Walrus, a once abundant species in northeastern New Brunswick, have been found in an area far away from the shoreline. Proof can also be found for rising sea-levels. You can observe the characteristically steep cliffs where the beach has been cut and forced to retreat.

There are good examples of well-developed and successive dune ridges throughout the Maritime provinces. In Nova Scotia, Pomquet Beach in Antigonish County has one of the best examples of dune ridges in the province with up to seven. Bouctouche spit in New Brunswick also has good examples. In Prince Edward Island, one of the largest and best-developed dune systems can be found at the Greenwich sand dune system on the north shore.

Rising sea-level

Ice, storms, and wind are not the only forces eroding and changing beaches. The rising sea-level causes a more frequent overwash and a gradual landward migration of the entire beach system. Global warming has an accelerating effect on how much the sea-level rises. The ocean absorbs the increased heat in the atmosphere and warms up slightly, increasing the volume of water. Snowfields and glaciers melt, the amount of sea-water increases. A beach made up of loose sediment will move landward by 0.15 m per 1 mm rise in sea-level on, for example, the Northumberland shore.