TANTRAMAR – Marsh and Mud-flat

The Tantramar Marshes lie on the Isthmus of Chignecto at the head of the Bay of Fundy.  These tidal salt marshes have been dyked since the 17th century and are used to grow hay and corn and as cattle pasture.  As many as 400 hay barns once formed a distinctive feature of the marshes, but most have fallen to age and winter storms; some of the barns in the photos below are now gone. The Cumberland Basin, into which the tidal Tantramar River empties, is marked by mud-flats at low tide. In the winter, water and mud freeze to form a jagged, jumbled landscape.