Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
and fossilized creatures that look like they're from outer space. In New Brunswick
province, you can see remains of the first life to walk on land in North America (a
giant centipede, just in case you're wondering) as well as evidence of the most
primitive terrestrial plants. Nova Scotia, however, holds the most accessible fossil
viewing at the UNESCO Joggins Fossil Cliffs; you can also search for fossils and
semi-precious stones in the low tide flats around Parrsboro in Nova Scotia (but
note you can't actually keep the fossils). While in Parrsboro don't miss a stop at
Parrsboro Rock & Mineral Shop (
Click here
)
, where owner Eldon George sells inex-
pensive copies of his famous discovery of the world's smallest dinosaur footprint.
Environmental Issues
Early Europeans explorers were dumbfounded by the apparently inexhaustible numbers
of animals they encountered in Atlantic Canada. It was a scene of such incredible abund-
ance that they thought it would never end, so they bent their will toward exploiting and
profiting from the natural wealth in every way possible. The result is only too predictable
and sad: animals lost forever include the mythical great auk, the Labrador duck and the
sea mink. Today Atlantic Canada is facing the horrifying prospect that the greatest fish-
ery in the world, the uncounted millions of cod that sustained their provincial livelihood
for 400 years, may have come to an end when cod were listed as endangered in 2003.
Even with fishing limitations the recovery of stocks is hindered by the proliferation of
species cod and other predator fish once fed on, such as herring and snow crab, which eat
fish eggs making it even more difficult for the fish to make a comeback. In the end, not
only has the environment suffered great damage, but so have the villages and traditions
that needed the fish for their survival.
Unfortunately resource exploitation continues unabated on several other fronts. Some
$3 billion a year is generated from logging, with half of the production coming from
New Brunswick. Vast ore deposits are being explored and developed all the time, with
huge areas stripped of their forest and soil cover to access coal, iron, nickel and other
mineral resources.
The newest threat to the environment yet perk for jobs and suffering local economies
is hydraulic fracturing for natural gas exploration (often called 'fracking'). The technique
involves drilling into shale or coal bed deposits and injecting a water and chemical frack-
ing fluid filled with ceramic beads into the holes. The beads hold open the cracks allow-
ing natural gas to rise to the surface and be collected. The environmental risks here are
many, including a huge use of valuable fresh water and the risk of fracking chemicals to
leak into the water table and ocean. Fracking rigs also emit large amounts of greenhouse
gases into the atmosphere. In 2013 there were fracking wells in or planned to be open in
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