View source for Northumberland Strait

{{Short description|Strait between Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia}}
{{more citations needed|date=February 2013}}
{{coord|46|05|N|63|35|W|region:CA_type:waterbody_scale:2500000|display=title}}
[[File:Northumberland Strait map.png|thumb|right|Map of the Northumberland Strait.]]

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 eastern, 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 [[Inverness, Nova Scotia]].
[[File:Northumberland Strait, Atlantic Canada.jpg|center|1020px|thumb|Northumberland Strait from the Gulf Shore Road, Nova Scotia]]

==Hydrography==
The Northumberland Strait varies in depth between 17 and 65 metres, with the deepest waters at either end. The tidal patterns are complex; the eastern end has the usual two tides per day, with a tidal range of 1.2 to 1.8 metres, while the western end effectively has only one tide per day.<ref name=ICEC>{{cite web|title=Ice Climatology and Environmental Conditions|url=http://www.ccg-gcc.gc.ca/Icebreaking/Ice-Navigation-Canadian-Waters/Ice-Climatology-and-Environmental-Conditions|publisher=[[Fisheries and Oceans Canada]]|access-date=18 January 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Richibucto Cape Tidal Predictions|url=http://www.tides.gc.ca/eng/station?sid=1820|publisher=Fisheries and Oceans Canada|access-date=18 January 2016}}</ref>

The strait's shallow depths lend to warm water temperatures in summer months, with some areas reaching 25°[[Celsius|C]], or 77°[[Fahrenheit|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]].

There are many sandy beaches along both the northern and southern coasts of the strait. These beaches, found in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia, are very popular with tourists.

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|Summerside]], Prince Edward Island as well as the towns of [[Souris, Prince Edward Island]], [[Pictou, Nova Scotia]], and [[Shediac]], [[New Brunswick]].

==Transportation==
[[Image:MV Holiday Island 2006.jpg|thumb|right|Northumberland Strait with [[MV Holiday Island]], [[Pictou Island (Nova Scotia)|Pictou Island]] in background]]

===Shipping===
The Northumberland Strait is a minor shipping route, with ports such as [[Pugwash, Nova Scotia|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 the Gulf of St. Lawrence, which freezes in the winter.

Cruise ships regularly visit Charlottetown during summer and fall, and since 2012 a few smaller cruise ships have been visiting Pictou, NS.<ref>{{cite news|title=County will see two cruise ship visits this fall|url=http://www.pictouadvocate.com/2014/03/25/county-will-see-two-cruise-ship-visits-this-fall/|access-date=6 January 2016|work=The Pictou Advocate|date=March 25, 2014}}{{Dead link|date=April 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

===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 Jourimain, New Brunswick]], is now spanned by the [[Confederation Bridge]].

===Ferries===
The strait hosts three seasonal ferry services:

*  [[Northumberland Ferries Limited]] operates a passenger/vehicle service between [[Caribou, Nova Scotia]] and [[Wood Islands, Prince Edward Island]].
*  A passenger-only ferry service operates from [[Caribou, Nova Scotia]] to [[Pictou Island]].
*  [[Coopérative de transport maritime et aérien|Groupe CTMA]] operates a passenger/vehicle service between [[Souris, Prince Edward Island]] and [[Cap-aux-Meules, Quebec]].

All three ferry services are located in the eastern end of the strait and operate during the ice-free months from May - December.

There was a year-round ferry service that operated in the central/western part of the strait across [[Abegweit Passage]] between [[Borden-Carleton, Prince Edward Island|Port Borden, Prince Edward Island]] and [[Cape Tormentine, New Brunswick]].  This service operated from October 1917 until May 1997.  Owned by the [[Government of Canada]], it was one of Canada's busiest ferry services and was operated by various federal Crown corporations ([[Canadian National Railways]], [[CN Marine]], [[Marine Atlantic]]).  The ferry service was replaced by the [[Confederation Bridge]] when it opened on 31 May 1997.

===Undersea cables===

;Electrical
{{see also|Prince Edward Island Cables}}
[[Maritime Electric]] supplies electricity to customers in Prince Edward Island. Although the utility does have some electrical generation facilities, since the mid-1970s the majority of Prince Edward Island's electricity has been purchased from [[NB Power]] and supplied via an interprovincial electrical interconnection.  This interconnection consisted of two {{convert|23|km|mi|abbr=on}} 138 [[kilovolt]] oil-filled submarine transmission cables installed 1975-78 under the Northumberland Strait at the western end of the [[Abegweit Passage]] between [[Murray Corner, New Brunswick]] and [[Fernwood, Prince Edward Island]].  Since the Northumberland Strait freezes in winter, the cables were designed to be protected from [[ice scour]]ing and were copied from a [[Sweden|Swedish]] design that was originally used to supply the island of [[Gotland]] in the [[Baltic Sea]]. They were replaced in 2017 by two new cables providing a capacity of 300 MW.<ref name="cbc_170829">{{cite news |title=P.E.I.'s underwater electric cable project officially plugged in - New underwater cables supply about 75% of the Island's electricity |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-electric-underwater-cable-northumberland-strait-1.4267315 |access-date=1 August 2020 |agency=CBC News |date=Aug 29, 2017}}</ref>

[[Pictou Island]], in [[Nova Scotia]] receives no electricity from that province's utility, [[Nova Scotia Power]].  Residents must generate their own electricity from off-grid sources.

;Telecommunications
[[Bell Aliant]] has two [[fibre optic]] telecommunications cables spanning Northumberland Strait to serve [[Prince Edward Island]].  The first is a submarine cable running from [[Caribou, Nova Scotia]] to [[Wood Islands, Prince Edward Island]].  The other runs through the [[Confederation Bridge]]; this cable replaced a submarine cable that used to run from [[Borden-Carleton, Prince Edward Island]] to [[Cape Tormentine, New Brunswick]].

[[EastLink (company)|Eastlink]] has a fibre optic telecommunications cable connecting [[Gaspereau, Prince Edward Island]] with [[Port Hood, Nova Scotia]].

===Swim crossings===
Swim-related details about crossings, tides, currents, marine life, and navigation can be found at [http://www.openwaterpedia.com/index.php?title=Northumberland_Strait OpenWaterPedia's Northumberland Strait page].

There have been several documented unassisted swim crossings of the strait, although there is no official body to verify these claims. All documented single and double crossings except one have been at the western end of the strait across the [[Abegweit Passage]].

The first documented single crossing of [[Abegweit Passage]] (approximately {{convert|14|km|nmi}}) with assistance was made by Evelyn Henry of [[Keppoch, Prince Edward Island|Keppoch, PEI]] on July 15, 1951, when she swam from [[Cape Tormentine, New Brunswick|Cape Tormentine, NB]] to [[Borden-Carleton, Prince Edward Island|Borden, PEI]] in 8 hours, 47 minutes.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.peisportshalloffame.ca/inductees/evelyn-henry-brown/ |title=PEI Sports Hall of Fame inductee Evelyn (Henry) Brown |access-date=2016-01-07}}</ref>

There have been two documented single-day double crossings of [[Abegweit Passage]] (approximately {{convert|27|km|nmi}}) with assistance to date:
* Jennifer Alexander of [[Halifax Regional Municipality|Halifax, NS]], swam a double-crossing on July 26, 2007, in 19 hours, 17 minutes from [[Cape Jourimain, New Brunswick|Cape Jourimain, NB]] to [[Borden-Carleton, Prince Edward Island|Borden, PEI]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.journalpioneer.com/index.cfm?pid=1632&cpcat=atlantic&stry=17073014 |title=The Canadian Press: Halifax woman completes two-way swim of Northumberland Strait |access-date=2008-08-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071030075349/http://www.journalpioneer.com/index.cfm?pid=1632 |archive-date=2007-10-30 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* Kristin Roe of [[Halifax Regional Municipality|Halifax, NS]], swam a double-crossing on July 26, 2008, in 15 hours, 40 minutes from [[Cape Jourimain, New Brunswick|Cape Jourimain, NB]] to [[Borden-Carleton, Prince Edward Island|Borden, PEI]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/index.cfm?sid=156725&sc=98|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120604220226/http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/index.cfm?sid=156725&sc=98|url-status=dead|archive-date=2012-06-04|title=The Charlottetown Guardian: She's Doing It for Everyone But Herself|access-date=2008-08-13}}</ref>

The first and to date only, documented single crossing with assistance across the eastern end of the strait (approximately {{convert|24.5|km|nmi}} was made by Jill Leon of [[Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island|Charlottetown, PEI]] on July 31, 2013, when she swam from [[Caribou, Nova Scotia|Caribou, NS]] to [[Wood Islands, Prince Edward Island|Wood Islands, PEI]] in 9 hours, 48 minutes.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/swimmer-makes-long-swim-to-p-e-i-from-nova-scotia-1.1310120 |title=Swimmer makes long swim to P.E.I. from Nova Scotia |access-date=2016-01-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ngnews.ca/News/Local/2013-07-31/article-3333870/UPDATED:-PEI-swimmer-takes-on-Northumberland-Strait/1 |title=UPDATED: PEI swimmer takes on Northumberland Strait |access-date=2016-01-07}}</ref>

==Cultural significance==
The strait is famous in [[folklore]] circles for regular sightings of the [[Ghost Ship of Northumberland Strait]], a flaming vessel which appears in the middle of the strait. The strait is also notable for the [[Iceboat|ice boats]], small oared boats which made regular dangerous crossings of the strait in winter carrying mail and passengers before the era of [[icebreaker|ice breaking]] [[ferries]].

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20030415141549/http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mnh/nature/nhns2/900/914.htm Natural History of Nova Scotia - Northumberland Strait (Nova Scotia Museum)]
*[http://www.glf.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/sci-sci/northumberland/index-e.jsp DFO Gulf Region Working Group on the Northumberland Strait] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061208212501/http://www.glf.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/sci-sci/northumberland/index-e.jsp |date=2006-12-08 }}
*[https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/northumberland-strait-ecosystem-in-trouble-report-1.681184l CBC.CA 2007-02-21 "Northumberland Strait ecosystem in trouble"]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070929065332/http://www.northumberlandstraiteoar.com/home.htm Northumberland Strait Ecosystem Overview and Assessment Report]

{{Rivers of New Brunswick}}
{{Rivers of Nova Scotia}}
{{Portal bar|Canada|Nova Scotia}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Bodies of water of Prince Edward Island]]
[[Category:Bodies of water of New Brunswick]]
[[Category:Straits of Nova Scotia]]
[[Category:Straits of Canada]]
[[Category:Borders of New Brunswick]]
[[Category:Borders of Nova Scotia]]
[[Category:Borders of Prince Edward Island]]