As our lobster industry closes for the winter our tourism industry opens. Businesses get ready with a fresh set of paint and reorganize their merchandise for the upcoming summer season.
Whale watching has always been a big industry in our area. It is amazing how far these whales migrate every year to feed in the Bay of Fundy. The powerful tidal system creates strong currents called upwellings that occur in ledge areas around Brier Island. Upwellings act as a biological pump that bring nutrients to the surface layers of the ocean and fertilizes the phytoplankton. Phytoplankton is an important food source and is the start of a very complex food chain. Krill, copepods, and year old herring called, "Brit" is what these whales have come for.
This is a major feeding area for humpback, fin, minke and right whales. Pelagic seabirds also benefit from the enriched waters of the Bay of Fundy. Pelagic seabirds spend all of their life at sea only going to land to nest. They too are affected by this intricate food web system and can be seen by the thousands feeding. Greater Shearwaters, Sooty Shearwaters, Puffins, Petrels and Phalaropes all make the long trek to the Bay of Fundy.
What a great place to live when the ocean is your playground! I guess I am one of the lucky few that get to experience this great diversity of marine life every day I go to work.
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