- Mahone Bay
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Map highlighting Mahone Bay.
- This article is about the water body. See Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia for the article about the municipality.
Mahone Bay is a bay located on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada along the eastern end of Lunenburg County.
Opening south directly onto the Atlantic, its eastern shore is formed by the Aspotogan Peninsula and its western shore is formed by the First Peninsula (of Lunenburg). The Chester Peninsula juts several kilometres into Mahone Bay at roughly its midpoint.
The bay's geological history differs from its eastern neighbour, St. Margarets Bay, in that Mahone Bay shows a greater variety of soils and bedrock. Numerous glacial drumlins on the western shore near the towns of Mahone Bay and Lunenburg have resulted in small-scale farming operations.
Mahone Bay also differs from St. Margarets Bay in that it is dotted with innumerable small and medium-sized islands throughout its waters. The shelter provided by these islands, along with the summer southwesterly flow, led to the scenery around Mahone Bay becoming a tourist attraction in itself. Today the towns of Chester and Mahone Bay have become a destination for cruising in pleasure yachts. A scenic provincial park at Graves Island just east of Chester is a popular camping destination.
Mahone Bay is home to numerous picturesque working fishing communities, one of the most famous being the communities of Tancook Island and Little Tancook, located on Big Tancook Island and Little Tancook Island respectively. Other important fishing ports include Blandford.
Mahone Bay was named after the French mahonne (English: Barge), which referred to a type of boat used by local privateers[1].
In popular culture
Frank Parker Day's novel Rockbound takes place on the fictional island of the same name, which was based on the Mahone Bay island of East Ironbound. Day visited the area and created Rockbound as a fictionalized, exaggerated account of life on the islands.
Mahone Bay contains Oak Island, well known in connection with tales of buried treasure.
The 2006 independent movie 'A Stone's Throw' was filmed primarily at locations in and around Mahone Bay.[2]
References
- ^ The Canadian Encyclopedia
- ^ "Follow Me Home, from The Coast, Sept 14, 2006". http://www.thecoast.ca/halifax/follow-me-home/Content?oid=1016672.
External links
- Mahone Islands Conservation Association
- Oak Island Treasure Discover the legend of lost treasure buried on Oak Island, Mahone Bay
Categories:- Bays of Nova Scotia
- Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia
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