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Barely 15 000 years old, the St. Lawrence River is the world's youngest seaway!
When out in the middle of the river, you feel you are
at sea, and when close to shore, the physical traces
of this waterway's birth and evolution can be read on its rocky shoreline. The
St. Lawrence originates in the Great Lakes, but the waters from several other
rivers that flow into the seaway contribute to its powerful current. Learn about
the fascinating natural phenomena that create
the magic of the St. Lawrence River.
Things are splishing and splashing in the St. Lawrence River, whose waters are
fresh until a little past Île d’Orléans, located near Quebec
City. But the ocean's tides and currents have their grain of salt to add. The
river gradually transforms into a sea the more you travel east. The beautiful
islands in the St. Lawrence, buffeted by wind and storm, weave an enchanting spell
that beckons visitors to explore them in order to unravel their many mysteries.
Islands
Several thousand islands of all sizes are found in
the St. Lawrence, some just barren rock, others teeming with life.
A number of them are wonderful to visit, while others seem to bear
a curse…
Here
is a list of some of the most noteworthy islands:
An artificial island near Montreal
Île Notre-Dame was built for Expo 1967 held in Montreal. Creating
this man-made island required millions of tonnes of gravel, rock,
sand and earth; a project where humans and ants suddenly had a lot
in common! Did you know the materials used to build the island comprised
the earth and rock excavated from beneath the river during the construction
of the subway linking Montreal and Longueuil? Talk about killing two
birds with one stone (or, in this case, a big pile of stones)! But
human construction of this magnitude has had negative repercussions
on St. Lawrence ecosystems.
The Sorel Islands are as richly biodiverse as
a tropical forest
Located at the mouth of the Richelieu River, the Sorel Islands comprise
a swampy, tropical landscape criss-crossed by canals that limit boat
travel to light watercraft. In this humid environment teeming with
life, the great blue heron is king, ruling majestically over the rushes
and tall grass in a kingdom populated by many aquatic species.
Grosse-Île, the final resting
placefor thousands of immigrants
It is ironic that Grosse-Île, which means "Large Island",
was given this name, as it is smaller than its neighbour, Île
d’Orléans! However, its history is marred by tragedy.
For over a hundred years, Grosse-Île served as a quarantine
station for immigrants who travelled from Europe to North America
by boat. Thousands of them perished, and were laid to rest, on the
island.
Many of these immigrants were Irish who fled the famine and epidemics
rampant in their homeland during the 1800s. They crossed the Atlantic
packed aboard sailing vessels, where they were kept below deck, living
in cramped and unhygienic conditions. They were often exhausted and
ill when they arrived. As soon as a passenger was thought to have
a contagious disease, he or she was put in quarantine, which meant
being sent to an isolated hospital on the island. Sometimes entire
vessels were put in quarantine when they got to Grosse-Île,
with specific instructions to let no one disembark. Despite the care
provided by devoted doctors and nurses, Grosse-Île was the first
and last part of the New World many of these mostly Irish immigrants
would ever see.
You can visit the island, now a national park, to learn more about
its history. Grosse-Île is only accessible by boat. Tour boats
travel to the island in the summer.
To learn more:
Grosse
Île and the Irish Memorial National Historic Site of Canada
Anticosti Island, the cemetery of the St. Lawrence
Gulf
Sailors used to refer to Anticosti Island as the cemetery of the St.
Lawrence Gulf because nearly 400 ships ran aground along the island's
coast or sank after hitting its reefs! Even today, you can see the
hulls of wrecked ships on the island's flatlands. Some of the sailors
who made it to shore had a terrible time afterwards, resorting to
piracy and cannibalism in order to survive. Anticosti Island was even
home to a sorcerer by the name of Gamache. But that is another story…
The island's inhabitants had a much more positive experience under
the leadership of Henri Menier, a rich chocolate maker from Switzerland.
Menier purchased the island at the end of the 1800s. This extravagant
and larger-than-life character was bursting with good ideas, and had
the resources at his disposal to make his dreams come true. He founded
a model village with a saw mill. He also created a fantastic hunting
park by introducing mated pairs of white-tail deer, foxes and other
mammals on the island, which had no game animals of its own. Even
frogs were introduced in the marshes! Did you know there are now over
120 000 deer on the island?
Mingan Archipelago
Once part of the sea bed only 8000 years ago, the Mingan Archipelago
is connected to the North Shore, which has some of the oldest mountains
in the world. But just how old are they? About a billion years, give
or take a decade! But unlike its neighbours, the mountains in the
archipelago are composed of a fairly friable rock: limestone. After
slowly rising to the surface of the sea after being crushed under
the weight of an enormous glacier during the Ice Age, the landmass
in this area was a mess of fragile rock. The tides, winds and tectonic
shifting caused the limestone to split, creating a superb range of
broken islands inhabited by strange formations called monoliths These
natural sculptures sometimes resemble animals or humans, such as one
of the more famous monoliths called the Old Stone Woman on Niapiskau!
To learn more:
Mingan
Archipelago National Park Reserve of Canada
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