A Place Apart

Nova Scotia is one of Canada's smallest provinces and yet, for it's size, one of the most diverse. It has been sculpted by geography and the ceaseless forces of nature over the eons and honed by history over the past 500 years.

Nova Scotia's ragged coastline is 7,500 kilometres of receding rocky headlands, quiet, protected harbours and long sandy beaches. Nowhere in Nova Scotia are you more than 60 kilometres from the sea, a fact that has a profound influence on the province and the people. Large, industrial towns as well as the cosmopolitan city of Halifax are tempered by the hundreds of coastal villages steeped in Nova Scotia's rich maritime traditions.

But Nova Scotia is actually two provinces in one. A narrow ribbon of water, the Strait of Canso, separates the mainland from the island of Cape Breton, creating not only a geographic separation, but two culturally distinctive areas, each with its own special charm and appeal.

Cape Breton is 'a place apart' with places and people that reflect the long and diverse history of Nova Scotia. In some areas one can almost hear the skirl of the bagpipes and enjoy the traditions of the highland Scots while, in others, immerse themselves in the Acadian culture, remnants of the French occupation that dates back to the 17th century. After all it was fishermen from the Breton coast of France who gave the name to the island.

Cape Breton noses out into the Atlantic, bordered on the north by Cabot Strait and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and mined with treacherous reefs that have interrupted safe shipping through this area for over five hundred years. Storms and ignorance have lured many ships to a premature demise. Scaterie Island off the southern tip of the eastern coast is the final resting place for dozens of ships and their crews, some dating back over 200 years. And off the northeast coast, St. Paul Island is another famous menace to navigation earning it the nickname of the Graveyard of the Gulf.

But one of the most popular diving areas in Cape Breton is Chedabucto Bay, off the southern entrance to the Strait of Canso. Here, in 1970, the oil tanker Arrow struck hard on Cerberus Rock, spilled much of it's deadly cargo and eventually sank, creating one of Canada's worst ecological disasters. Today the Arrow lies in two pieces with the stern section relatively intact and the bow 200 metres away, collapsed and strewn over the bottom. She is accessible only by boat, and charters can be arranged through the dive operators in the area.

We left from Vollmer's Island Paradise near the small town of Arichat on Isle Madame, and getting to the dive was almost as exciting as the dive itself. In the summer, several species of whales such as sei, Minke, fin and pilot whales, as well as grey and harbour seals can be sighted. And on one very memorable day we happened across an ocean sunfish, Mola mola, swimming lazily at the surface.

The stern of the Arrow lies upright in 30 metres of water, blanketed in a rich covering of marine life. The water was clear as we swam over her sun-dappled decks, now covered in clumps of sponges and anemones and home to brightly coloured sea ravens, and bizarre lumpfish. We made our way along kelp enshrouded outer passageways now transformed into emerald tunnels thanks to a thick growth of kelp. All the while we were accompanied by dozens of colourful cunners while a school of wary, but curious, pollock circled us.

The hull is disguised in a dense growth of finger sponges, anemones and tunicates and the rudder frames a very photogenic swim-through, as the propellor has been removed. The shredded metal where the stern broke away from the rest of the ship is a powerful image and testament to nature's raw power. Swimming a few yards away from the hull, debris associated with the disaster has now become home to a few secretive wolffish.

But what nature and the elements could not sink around Cape Breton, war made short work of. As the economic potential of the New World was recognized in the mid 18th century, French and British forces waged fierce sea battles around Nova Scotia for control. Today, divers come to the historic port of Louisbourg to dive on the remains of those old warships and discover large cannons, cannonballs, rigging and hull fragments. Parks Canada takes great care in preserving these wrecks, monitoring the area and keeping it clean of excessive kelp growth. A guide may be necessary to dive in Louisbourg Harbour.

Nova Scotia's history and beauty can be found both above and below the water. All along the coastline the remains of ships both new and old, and the abundance of colourful and interesting marine life that they attract, make for some great diving.

DIVER Magazine would like to thank Nova Scotia Tourism, Vollmer's Island Paradise and Splash Watersports for their assistance in preparing this article.