Bear Island - A Tombolo EarthCache

Bear Island - A Tombolo

Smith's Cove is a community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in the Municipality of the District of Digby. in Digby County. Smith's Cove is a small community, named after Loyalist Jeremiah Smith, that overlooks the Annapolis Basin. It sits on the edge of the Dibgy Gut near the mouth of Bear River. It is a popular destination for tourists with it's great views, with two large campgrounds and seven motels, inns and cottages. Smith's Cove has a number of beaches, and beach-combing is a favourite activity.

Bear Island lies off shore, north of Smith’s Cove near the mouth of the Bear River. Bear Island is an island connected to the mainland by a sandbar which is only visible 2 hours before and after low tide. This is called a tombolo and Bear Island would be called a Tied Island.

Most importantly  you can’t see the lowest part of the causeway from Bear Island. The part that gets covered with water first is way in near the mainland.  So be careful when you walk the sandbar keeping an eye on tide times as not to get stranded on the island as the tide comes in. YOU DO NOT NEED TO CROSS TO ISLAND TO COMPLETE EARTHCAHE

Tombolo

A tombolo is a sandbar that connects an island to the mainland. They are formed when the wave refraction off two landmasses (the island and the mainland) is such that sand and other sediments (solid fragments of organic or inorganic materials that come from weathered rock and transported by wind, water, or ice) are deposited between them and build up faster than they can be removed.

Sandbars begin forming underwater. As waves break, this pulls material from the shoreline, migrating further into the ocean. During heavy storms, large waves can build sandbars far from shore, until they rise above the water’s surface. Over time, these sediments form a ridge that eventually becomes higher in elevation than sea level and connects the island to the mainland at all tides. Once attached, the island becomes known as a tied island.

You DO NOT need to cross to the island to complete the earthcache.

To log this Earthcache visit the viewing location.  Please answer the following questions and send in a timely manner to my geocaching profile or email. Answers not received will result in deleted logs.

Questions:

1. How far is the island from the mainland (Smith’s Cove)?

2. At your current location and using your GPS determine the elevation of the island?

3. Will the sandbar change in size over time, why?

4. Post a picture in your log with a personal item or hand in picture to prove you were there.

[REQUIRED] In accordance with the updated guidelines from Geocaching Headquarters published in June 2019, photos are now an acceptable logging requirement and WILL BE REQUIRED TO LOG THIS CACHE. Please provide a photo of yourself or a personal item in the picture to prove you visited the site.