Maritimes - Summer 2008

July 5 - 25, 2008

Day 7 - July 11: Fundy, Coppermine & Herring Cove: Herring Cove Beach Walk and Matthews Point

One of the things they have for kids at Fundy National Park is a Naturalist program for kids. You pick up a passport at the Visitor Center and for each level the child must complete several tasks and answer some questions about certain things in the park. When they complete a task, a park interpreter will stamp their passport and when all the tasks are completed and questions answered, the child brings the completed passport to the Visitor Centre and receives a button for that level. It's a great way for the kids to learn. For level 1, Samantha was to attend 2 guided activities in the Park so today we decided to attend the guided Herring Cove Beach Walk. Samantha was very excited to walk on the ocean floor and we joined the group on the beach to collect lots of specimens of animals. Once the bucket was full a park interpreter told us a bit about the various things that had been collected. It was lots of fun not just for the kids, but also for the adults.

After the Beach walk, we decided to take the trail to Matthews Head to do another geocache but after about a kilometer of climbing, Rubby completed the fairly arduous hike. The cache in question was on the theme of the cougar, the story of which became a favourite for Samantha. [Note to Christine: This is not the same cougar as a certain canadian cougar currently residing in Argentina... *evil grin*]

Here is the story of the New Brunswick Cougar as described in the geocache:
"Back from the Brink - The cougar lives in the east! New Brunswick's last known cougar was killed in 1938. Each year since then, residents and visitors alike have reported brief glimpses of "large cats with long tails". Are these elusive big cats still out there? Fundy National Park is determined to solve the mystery. Special hair-snare posts baited with scented lures are located in and around the park. Attracted by the smell of the lure, these cats rub against the post and leave behind a few hairs. DNA analysis of these hairs identifies the species. Using this technique we have proven that at least two cougars have passed through the park area in the last couple of years."

A view of the people gathering on the Beach for the guided tour.

We were a little late so we missed the introduction.

On the path coming down to the beach.

Some barnacles on the beach. During low tide, the barnacles will close up so they don't dry out.

Samantha adds to the collection of specimens found on the beach.

Christopher is watching everything with great interest.

Everyone is helping out to find more specimens.

With passport in hand, Samantha gets to see some dog whelks up close.

Side swimmers (cause they swim on their sides) and dog whelks which feed on smaller snails by sitting on top of them and using their 'tongues' to grind a small hole in the shell, and then slurping out the contents.