Maritimes - Summer 2008

July 5 - 25, 2008

Day 17 - july 21
parlee beach, shediac & riverview marsh

Riverview Marshlands Earthcache

From the Riverview Marshlands earthcache description:

"Half-a-century ago, this watercourse was more than a kilometer wide. The famous tidal bore came in twice a day at more than a meter high. The Petitcodiac was home to dozens of fish species, including gaspereaux, Atlantic salmon, shad, sea trout, blueback herring, tomcod, striped bass, smelt, eel, and sturgeon, among others. It supported a recreational and commercial fishery worth millions of dollars a year [in 2006 dollars] to the local economy. That's to say nothing of tourism.

Today, thanks to the 1.5-kilometre causeway built in 1968 to speed rush-hour traffic between Moncton and its bedroom community of Riverview, the Petitcodiac River is a mere brown shadow of it's former self. Within three years of its opening, the first signs of trouble emerged.

Prior to 1968, annual salmon runs on the river averaged 2,000 or 3,000. Yearly runs of shad numbered 50,000 to 75,000. In 1972, however, only 468 adult salmon entered the stream. In that same year, only 19 shad were counted.

The Petitcodiac causeway is also responsible for the buildup of massive silt deposits downstream from the structure, reducing the width of the Petitcodiac River from an average of 1 km in 1968 to a mere 100 m currently at the Moncton level. The causeway continues to be responsible for the ongoing buildup of massive deposits of silt reaching as far as 35 km downstream to Shepody Bay. The Petitcodiac has now acquired the unfortunate distinction of being one of the few rivers in North America where you can see man’s destructive influence from space.

The Petitcodiac causeway has further caused the near elimination of the once world-renowned Petitcodiac River tidal bore, formerly Canada’s most spectacular tidal bore and one of Atlantic Canada’s top tourist attractions. Once the pride of Moncton’s tourism industry, the Petitcodiac River tidal bore has become an embarrassment for local tourism operators, as well as the focus of ridicule by visitors and local residents.

Meanwhile, conditions below the causeway were deteriorating faster than residents might have feared (had most, in fact, given the matter much thought). Heavy siltation was destroying marine habitats in steady succession. By the mid-1970s, migratory stocks of gaspereaux, smelt, shad, striped bass and tomcod once caught by the ton had all but vanished. With them went the livelihoods of men and women whose families had, for generations, depended on the river's bounty. The degradation was so serious that between 1976 and 1979 federal fisheries officers compiled no fewer than a dozen reports detailing failure after failure in the design, construction and operation of the causeway's sluice gates and fishway. By the turn of the decade, the consensus, at least among government scientists and engineers, was that the entire apparatus should be removed.

Notwithstanding all this, in the meantime the Marshlands along the sides of the now reduced Petitcodiac, have become a viable marshlands habitat in themselves. The marshlands are flush with bird and animal life, and are now a major stop for the Canada Goose migration.

This earthcache will take you along the marshland edge. Along the way, it is a virtual guarantee that you will witness the bird and animal life living here."

So THAT'S the deal with the Moncton tidal bore. We'd seen it several times before and wondered what all the fuss was about that people would come from world wide to see it. And now we know. What a shame. Will have to take a look at our parents' home movies from the 70's to see if we can tell how it's changed.

Anyway, besides the animals on the posted signs, we saw tons of mosquitos, a grasshopper who entertained Samantha long enough that she forgot about the mosquitos temporarily, and lots of birds.

This earthcache was definitely not BORE-ing! ;-)

Samantha collecting information about red foxes
for the earthcache at the Riverview Marshlands.