The Northumberland Strait (French: détroit de Northumberland) is a strait in the southern part of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence in eastern Canada. The strait is formed by Prince Edward Island and the gulf's eastern, southern, and western shores.
Boundaries
The western boundary of the strait is delineated by a line running between North Cape, Prince Edward Island and Point Escuminac, New Brunswick while the eastern boundary is delineated by a line running between East Point, Prince Edward Island and Inverness, Nova Scotia.
Hydrography
The Northumberland Strait varies in depth between 17 and 65 metres, with the deepest waters at either end. The tidal patterns are complex; the eastern end has the usual two tides per day, with a tidal range of 1.2 to 1.8 metres, while the western end effectively has only one tide per day.
The strait's shallow depths lend to warm water temperatures in summer months, with some areas reaching 25°C, or 77°F. Consequently, the strait is reportedly home to the warmest ocean water temperatures in Canada, and some of the warmest ocean water temperatures on the Atlantic coast north of Virginia.
There are many sandy beaches along both the northern and southern coasts of the strait. These beaches, found in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia, are very popular with tourists.
During the winter months between December and April, sea ice covers the entire strait and Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Geomorphology
While the western shores of Cape Breton Island and northeastern shores of the Nova Scotia peninsula are dominated by granite, sedimentary rocks along the central and western parts of the strait, as well as the entire south shore of Prince Edward Island, consist of sandstone, lending to beautiful sandy beaches with minimal coastal development. The largest island in the strait is Pictou Island.
Settlements
Major communities on the strait include the cities of Charlottetown and Summerside, Prince Edward Island as well as the towns of Souris, Prince Edward Island, Pictou, Nova Scotia, and Shediac, New Brunswick.
Transportation
Shipping
The Northumberland Strait is a minor shipping route, with ports such as Pugwash shipping salt, Summerside, Charlottetown, Georgetown and Souris shipping agricultural products and receiving petroleum and aggregate, and Pictou shipping forestry products and general cargo. Shipping has declined in recent decades with the decline of rail service to ports and the increased capacity of highways to larger ports outside the Gulf of St. Lawrence, which freezes in the winter.
Cruise ships regularly visit Charlottetown during summer and fall, and since 2012 a few smaller cruise ships have been visiting Pictou, NS.
Confederation Bridge
The narrowest part of the strait, the 13-kilometre (7–nautical mile) wide Abegweit Passage in the western part of the strait between Borden-Carleton, Prince Edward Island and Cape Jourimain, New Brunswick, is now spanned by the Confederation Bridge.
Ferries
The strait hosts three seasonal ferry services:
Northumberland Ferries Limited operates a passenger/vehicle service between Caribou, Nova Scotia and Wood Islands, Prince Edward Island. A passenger-only ferry service operates from Caribou, Nova Scotia to Pictou Island. Groupe CTMA operates a passenger/vehicle service between Souris, Prince Edward Island and Cap-aux-Meules, Quebec.
All three ferry services are located in the eastern end of the strait and operate during the ice-free months from May - December.
There was a year-round ferry service that operated in the central/western part of the strait across Abegweit Passage between Port Borden, Prince Edward Island and Cape Tormentine, New Brunswick. This service operated from October 1917 until May 1997. Owned by the Government of Canada, it was one of Canada's busiest ferry services and was operated by various federal Crown corporations (Canadian National Railways, CN Marine, Marine Atlantic). The ferry service was replaced by the Confederation Bridge when it opened on 31 May 1997.