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 southern and western shores.

Northumberland Strait with MV Holiday Island, Pictou Island in background

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 Chéticamp, Nova Scotia.

Water temperature

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

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

Transportation

Confederation Bridge crosses the Northumberland Strait

Shipping

The Northumberland Strait is a minor shipping route, with ports such as 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 of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, which freezes in the winter.

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 Tormentine, New Brunswick, is now spanned by the Confederation Bridge.

Ferries

The strait hosts two seasonal ferry services: Northumberland Ferries Limited operates a passenger/vehicle service between Caribou, Nova Scotia and Wood Islands, Prince Edward Island, a separate passenger-only ferry service also operates from Caribou to Pictou Island. The other passenger/vehicle service is located between Souris, Prince Edward Island and Iles de la Madeleine, Quebec. Both services are located at the eastern end of the strait.

There was a ferry service between Borden-Carleton, Prince Edward Island and Cape Tormentime, New Brunswick until May 31, 1997. It was one of Canada's busiest ferry services and was operated by Marine Atlantic across Abegweit Passage. This service has been replaced by the Confederation Bridge.

Swim Crossings

There have been several documented unassisted swim crossings of the strait, although there is no official body to verify these claims. There are only two documented single-day double crossings (~28km) to date:

• On July 26, 2007, Jennifer Alexander (who has Type 1 Diabetes) of Halifax, swam a double crossing in 19 hours, 17 minutes ^[1].
• On July 26, 2008, Kristin Roe, also of Halifax, swam a double crossing, recorded at 40 km in 15 hours, 40 minutes for the Stephen Lewis Foundation and Farmers Helping Farmers ^[2].

External links

• Natural History of Nova Scotia - Northumberland Strait (Nova Scotia Museum)
• DFO Gulf Region Working Group on the Northumberland Strait
• CBC.CA 2007-02-21 "Northumberland Strait ecosystem in trouble"
• Northumberland Strait Ecosystem Overview and Assessment Report

References

fr:détroit de Northumberland