Brier Island

Nova Scotia is known for coastal beauty, that’s not news to anyone. But what may surprise people is the amount of wildlife that can be accessed from the coast. Nova Scotia features a wide variety of options for wildlife tours, from watching puffins in Cape Breton to spotting massive humpback whales off Brier Island. From end to end, this province has something for all wildlife lovers.

The journey from Cape Breton Island to Brier Island was a long 8 hour drive but the scenery along the way was beautiful, the highways were clear and traffic was light. The real highlight was getting to show my family how beautiful the province is along the way. I had to make a detour into Wolfville before travelling through the Annapolis Valley. I haven’t been in Wolfville since graduating from Acadia University and it was great to see this small town, how it had changed and yet stayed the same.

When you travel to Brier Island you have to take two separate ferries, one short ferry ride from East Ferry (on the Digby Neck mainland) to Tiverton, Long Island and another slightly longer ride from Long Island to Brier Island. The ferry from East Ferry to Tiverton leaves the East Ferry side on the half hour (i.e. 1:30 pm, 2:30 pm, etc.). It takes about 20 to 25 minutes to drive through Long Island to catch the second ferry that leaves Freeport for Brier Island on the hour (i.e. 1:00 pm, 2:00 pm, etc.).  To return, the ferry leaves Brier Island to Freeport at 25 minutes past the hour (i.e. 1:25 pm, 2:25 pm, etc.) and the ferry from Tiverton to the mainland leaves on the hour (i.e.1:00 pm, 2:00 pm, etc.). The ferries load approximately 10 minutes before departure and when they fill up they will take that load of cars and come back for any left behind. It’s worth noting that during the summer months the ferries experience many overloads and wait times are minimal.

Once I arrive on Long Island, I took advantage of the time to take a quick hike. I’ve seen photos of the Balancing Rock over the years in magazines and wanted to see it in person for so long… I needed to see how it actually stood there. The hike was pretty short on a well groomed trail that lead us straight to the coast. It’s a stop definitely worth taking if you have a little bit of time to spare.

When you arrive on Brier Island you have the choice to either immediately turn left or right – if you’re staying at the Brier Island Lodge take the right as The Lodge is only a few minutes away from the ferry. In fact, everything on Brier Island is only a few minutes away. The island is 6 km long and 2 km wide. Most of what Brier Island itself offers is found along its main street. This community makes its living off fishing in the Bay of Fundy and you know what is synonymous with the Bay of Fundy? Tides! The piers stretch out into the coast where you can see just how extreme the tides rise and fall on a daily basis. Photographing the island alone was great. It’s a such a unique island setting. Any type of photographer would have a field day here.

While the island itself is worth a few days of photographing and exploring, the real reason I traveled here was to see humpback whales! I booked a few tours with Brier Island Whale and Seabird Cruises. Since I was travelling with a 5 year old, I felt like a zodiac tour may be a little too long for her to handle. The boat, the Mega Nova, provided ample places to sit and stay socially distant and have views of the whales. After the crew introduced themselves and gave a safety talk, we left the island to explore the Bay of Fundy.

When you’re looking for humpbacks you scan the horizon and watch for spouts of water shooting up from the whales after they surface and exhale. On foggy days you can even rely on the sound of their breath to pin point their location. It didn’t take long for the crew to spot our first whale. I always knew humpbacks were large creatures, but I don’t think you can appreciate actually how large they are without seeing them in person. We saw at least 7 whales, hundreds of phalaropes, a puffin, multiple shearwaters and gannets on our tour but the real gem of the tour was when we saw two humpbacks side by side when one lifted its pectoral fin and slapped it back down against the water. The humpback’s pectoral fin is considered to be the largest appendage in world and this one easily reached over 2 to 3 meters.

I booked an another tour to see what evening light could offer. I was really hoping to see a humpback breach with a jump out of the water so I wanted to book as many tours as I could take in. The evening tour started off with a bang; instead of seeing a humpback first, a North Atlantic Right Whale surfaced next to the boat barely after leaving the island!  These whales are critically endangered with less than 300 existing. Honestly, I could’ve turned around after seeing that whale, it was a real gift!

The evening tour didn’t have any whales that breached unfortunately but I was still very satisfied with all I got to see. It’s impossible to have a bad time when you’re cruising for whales on the Bay of Fundy in the evening light. I can’t wait to go back again to try and see a whale jump – I’ll be using this as motivation to get back to Brier Island!

Before finishing my time in the Digby area, we visited Bear River – what a gem this community is! It’s a short drive off the highway and the winding road leads to a small community centre that features two galleries, some restaurants, cafés and even a coffee roaster! We did a tour of Bear River Vineyards – owner Darren Carey showed us the old barn that is the center-piece of the winery. When the grapes are collected from the vines and brought in for crushing, they use the lay of the land and gravity to feed the juice from the grapes through the barn to the fermenting vats.  After that, gravity is used again to feed the wine to the bottling and labeling stations. Bear River was a real treat that my wife and I are still talking about! I’d love to go back in the fall when I image the foliage and landscape will be incredible.

From end to end, Nova Scotia is gorgeous and full of amazing scenery just waiting to be captured on your camera and in person. I can’t wait to explore so much more.

About our Guest Writer

Adam Hill is a nature photographer concerned with conveying the beauty he sees and feels in nature. His award-winning photography has been published in books, magazines and calendars and his prints have been collected all over the world. Adam was raised in Cape Breton and his work has appeared in Outdoor Photographer Magazine, Toque & Canoe, Globe & Mail, Explore Canada, Canadian Geographic, Impact Magazine and Huffington Post to name just a few. His work has even been featured on a coin by the Canadian Mint and a stamp from Canada Post.