The Bay of Fundy and Brier Island

Every six hours and thirteen minutes, over 100 billion tonnes of Atlantic Ocean seawater move in and out of the Bay of Fundy, where the world’s highest tides rise and fall twice a day. But the tides themselves are just one reason that Fundy has become such an iconic piece of Canada. Our tour of this region begins in the upper bay where hundreds of thousands of migrating Semipalmated Sandpipers fill mudflats and beaches for a few magical midsummer weeks. We then move to Brier Island in the lower bay where puffins, Razorbills, gannets, storm-petrels, shearwaters, and whales are too numerous to count. Brier Island has a pull of its own, owing to its unspoiled nature and welcoming island residents.

We are staying three nights in a single lodge on Brier Island near Fundy’s entrance where so many people have first felt the bay’s allure. Startling rock formations, coniferous forests, and tidal pools are the backdrop to an incredible annual migration of songbirds and shorebirds. Offshore, resident and migratory seabirds join whales in spectacular congregations of marine life. There is a pervasive “anything-can-happen” vibe underscoring each day here.