ART PRINTS: Abandoned Campobello
Abandoned and wrecked boats are common around our shores. This simple lobster boat began its journey on Campobello Island
Images, news and opinion from the around the Bay of Fundy area and beyond.
Friday, March 17, 2017
POSTERS: Fishing Boats on the Bay of Fundy. William Bradford, 1860
Enjoy art at reasonable poster prices. This delightful painting is by William Bradford, circa 1860.
By Art MacKay in ART PRINTS
2 pages, published 3/17/2017
William Bradford was a famous marine artist. this scene shows fishing activity in the Bay of Fundy during the sailing era.
Thursday, March 16, 2017
EXPLORE: Pirate Ed Lowe and the Treasures of Isle haute
By Art MacKay in EXPLORE
8 pages, published 3/17/2017
Isle Haute is a wild isolated island at the mouth of Minas Basin in the Bay of Fundy. Documents suggest that Pirate Edward Lowe visited the island and buried treasure there.
EXPLORE: Planning a trip? Don't miss our Downeast lighthouses online guide
Planning a trip?
Here's most of the lighthouses from Massachusetts to Newfoundland courtesy of Google My Maps and the many contributors to this effort. Enlarge the map and click on each for more details about individual lighthouses.Need this information on the road?
Download Google's "My Map" app on your phone or tablet and search for "Downeast Lighthouses". Presto, you can access all of this information. Click through to the weblink where you will find detailed information about most lighthouses.
Wednesday, March 15, 2017
WHAT DO YOU THINK NOW? Bay of Fundy Tidal Turbines will Kill Marine Life and Impact Our Eco-economics 2009
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN 2009.
What do you think about this now?
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Turbines perilous to marine animals
Image via Wikipedia
By MICHAEL DADSWELL
Wed. Sep 23 - 4:46 AM
What do you think about this now?
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Turbines perilous to marine animals
Image via WikipediaBy MICHAEL DADSWELL
Wed. Sep 23 - 4:46 AM
There are misconceptions concerning the turbines that will be used to extract energy from the Bay of Fundy tides and these need addressing. Tidal power from free-running, propeller driven generators is not a free energy gift. There will be environmental costs extracted from the fisheries and tourism of Nova Scotia, which your readers should know.
I have been studying the effects of tidal power on fish and fisheries since 1980 when it became apparent a tidal power plant would be installed at Annapolis Royal. Yes, I am a biologist, but I have consulted with many physical scientists and engineers over the last 29 years during my studies on hydraulic turbines. These include George Baker, an engineer and the former vice president of the Nova Scotia Tidal Power Corporation, who was primarily responsible for the design and construction of the Annapolis Royal tidal power plant. In fact, Mr. Baker funded our work over a period of 10 years because he also wished to know effects of these turbines on fish. What we found was not pretty!
During our studies at Annapolis Royal, we found there was a dramatic impact on the fishes using the Annapolis River estuary. Impacts, which continue today (see blog of the Annapolis Royal Heritage Society Sept. 8, 2009 concerning dead sturgeon found below the generator), were spread across the entire community of fishes.
Francis Jordan asked for the numbers, so here they are. We found that 40 per cent to 50 per cent of the small, out-migrating juvenile fishes (shad, gaspereau, herring, 10 cm long) were killed by turbine passage. Death was mainly by pressure flux and shear around the turbine blades.
Large fishes were mainly injured or killed by turbine blade strike. Experiments with acoustic-tagged adult shad (50 cm long) found that 20 per cent to 25 per cent were killed from a single pass. Larger fishes such as striped bass and sturgeon (one to two metres long) were often found cut in half and many gaspereau, mackerel, flounders, eels and other species were killed or maimed.
Our findings were published in peer-reviewed, scientific journals. If Mr. Jordan does not believe me, then contact the graduate students who worked on the project, many of whom are now university professors or fisheries scientists with the government.
All turbines proposed for the Bay of Fundy and discussed in the environmental assessment released by tidal power proponents in July are generically similar to the Annapolis Royal turbine. They are hydraulic lift turbines that work by Bernoulli’s Principle (which allows airplanes to fly).
Blade design generates lift from the flow of water over them, making the turbine turn and similar physical effects (pressure flux, shear, strike) will occur in these units and harm marine organisms. The problem is there are many more fishes passing through the Minas Channel. They will encounter the turbines more often because the planned turbines will generate in both directions of the tide (Annapolis only generates on ebbing tide), and the open Bay of Fundy contains many marine mammals, including seals and whales with larger body sizes, (two to 20 metres), making probability of blade strike high.
There is little difference between ship propellers and tidal turbines: both work because of Bernoulli’s Principle. The saving grace of ships’ propellers is that most are much smaller than the turbines. If you do the math, a 15-metre diameter tidal turbine turning at the RPMs outlined in proponent’s environment assessment actually have blade tip velocities of 34 to 62 km/h. Few fish or whales can swim that fast and avoid the blades, especially smaller species.
Having said that, every year fish and whales turn up dead on beaches around the Maritimes having been killed by ships’ propellers. Ships may not leave a trail of fish carcasses behind them, but they do kill some of the marine fauna. Ask whale biologists what they think.
My contention is that the large-scale development of tidal power in the Bay of Fundy will do immense damage to the fisheries and whale-watching businesses in the Maritimes. Please remember fisheries and tourism are two of our larger economic engines. Why replace one renewable resource with another when we can obtain it from other sources (wind, solar)? Hydroelectric turbines have done immense damage already to the fisheries resources and tourism of the Maritimes. Remember all the Atlantic salmon rivers we have lost to hydroelectric power generation.
Michael Dadswell is a biology professor at Acadia University
.
I have been studying the effects of tidal power on fish and fisheries since 1980 when it became apparent a tidal power plant would be installed at Annapolis Royal. Yes, I am a biologist, but I have consulted with many physical scientists and engineers over the last 29 years during my studies on hydraulic turbines. These include George Baker, an engineer and the former vice president of the Nova Scotia Tidal Power Corporation, who was primarily responsible for the design and construction of the Annapolis Royal tidal power plant. In fact, Mr. Baker funded our work over a period of 10 years because he also wished to know effects of these turbines on fish. What we found was not pretty!
During our studies at Annapolis Royal, we found there was a dramatic impact on the fishes using the Annapolis River estuary. Impacts, which continue today (see blog of the Annapolis Royal Heritage Society Sept. 8, 2009 concerning dead sturgeon found below the generator), were spread across the entire community of fishes.
Francis Jordan asked for the numbers, so here they are. We found that 40 per cent to 50 per cent of the small, out-migrating juvenile fishes (shad, gaspereau, herring, 10 cm long) were killed by turbine passage. Death was mainly by pressure flux and shear around the turbine blades.
Large fishes were mainly injured or killed by turbine blade strike. Experiments with acoustic-tagged adult shad (50 cm long) found that 20 per cent to 25 per cent were killed from a single pass. Larger fishes such as striped bass and sturgeon (one to two metres long) were often found cut in half and many gaspereau, mackerel, flounders, eels and other species were killed or maimed.
Our findings were published in peer-reviewed, scientific journals. If Mr. Jordan does not believe me, then contact the graduate students who worked on the project, many of whom are now university professors or fisheries scientists with the government.
All turbines proposed for the Bay of Fundy and discussed in the environmental assessment released by tidal power proponents in July are generically similar to the Annapolis Royal turbine. They are hydraulic lift turbines that work by Bernoulli’s Principle (which allows airplanes to fly).
Blade design generates lift from the flow of water over them, making the turbine turn and similar physical effects (pressure flux, shear, strike) will occur in these units and harm marine organisms. The problem is there are many more fishes passing through the Minas Channel. They will encounter the turbines more often because the planned turbines will generate in both directions of the tide (Annapolis only generates on ebbing tide), and the open Bay of Fundy contains many marine mammals, including seals and whales with larger body sizes, (two to 20 metres), making probability of blade strike high.
There is little difference between ship propellers and tidal turbines: both work because of Bernoulli’s Principle. The saving grace of ships’ propellers is that most are much smaller than the turbines. If you do the math, a 15-metre diameter tidal turbine turning at the RPMs outlined in proponent’s environment assessment actually have blade tip velocities of 34 to 62 km/h. Few fish or whales can swim that fast and avoid the blades, especially smaller species.
Having said that, every year fish and whales turn up dead on beaches around the Maritimes having been killed by ships’ propellers. Ships may not leave a trail of fish carcasses behind them, but they do kill some of the marine fauna. Ask whale biologists what they think.
My contention is that the large-scale development of tidal power in the Bay of Fundy will do immense damage to the fisheries and whale-watching businesses in the Maritimes. Please remember fisheries and tourism are two of our larger economic engines. Why replace one renewable resource with another when we can obtain it from other sources (wind, solar)? Hydroelectric turbines have done immense damage already to the fisheries resources and tourism of the Maritimes. Remember all the Atlantic salmon rivers we have lost to hydroelectric power generation.
Michael Dadswell is a biology professor at Acadia University
.
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
MARINE ART: The Ship Paintings of James Edward Buttersworth
The Ship Paintings of James Edward Buttersworth
(Based on wikipedia)
James Edward Buttersworth (1817–1894) was an English painter who specialized in maritime art and is considered among the foremost American ship portraitists of the nineteenth century.[1] His paintings are particularly known for their meticulous detail, dramatic settings, and grace in movement.
Early life and education
Buttersworth was born in London, England in 1817 to a family of maritime artists. He studied painting with his father Thomas Buttersworth Jr., who was also noted for the genre.
Career
He moved to the United States around 1845 and settled in West Hoboken, New Jersey (now Union City, New Jersey),[2] and also maintained a Brooklyn studio in 1854. He returned to England in 1851 for the Race for the Hundred Pound Cup that took place on 22 August 1851. His sketches and paintings of that yachting competition provide the definitive record of events in that benchmark season of sailing.
Buttersworth’s paintings of the 1893 Vigilant vs. Valkyrie II Cup match were done one year before his death, completing the chronicling of America's Cup races by oil painting just before the advent of successful photographic imagery. He was inducted into the America's Cup Hall of Fame in 1999. About 600 of his pieces survive today, which are found in private collections and museums all over the United States, including New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Virginia, and have also been featured on the television series Antiques Roadshow.[3]
Gallery
Magic and Gracie off Castle Garden (c. 1871), in the collection at The Mariners' Museum
Steamboat Escort off the battery (1863) in the collection at The Mariners' Museum
SEE MORE
COMMENTS ARE NOW POSSIBLE!
Seems I had the wrong button pushed and it wasn't possible for anyone to comment. I think that is fixed ... so ... give it a try to see if it is working. Be nice! ;-)
Monday, March 13, 2017
Sunday, March 12, 2017
Friday, March 10, 2017
Another great Google map showing some of the sea glass sites in Nova Scotia
Another great Google map showing some of the sea glass sites in Nova Scotia. It’s a personal map that can’t be shared … so follow this link to get the details: BEST PLACES FOR SEAGLASS IN NOVA SCOTIA
Sunday, March 5, 2017
Friday, March 3, 2017
No Marine Protected Area for Quoddy-Cobscook Area. Why is that?
In fact researchers have identified the area as having the richest biodiversity on the northern coast of the Atlantic and an area that is vital to a large list of threatened and endangered species.
Numerous attempts have been made to industrialize the area stretching back to earliest settlers and developers. In each and every case, local fishing, tourism and environmental interests have successfully fought to retain the area. Losses still occur through pollution and near-local activities and the future is far from secure.
A recent opportunity to design and create a Marine Protected Area was introduced by the new Federal Government. Meetings were held and pitches were made, but it was clear early on that this area was not up for consideration in spite of the fact that it was mentioned in early press releases.
Why is that? Who or what prevents the protection of this vital area shared by Canada and the United States?
What do you think?
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Rockweed: Lawsuit news alert
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