2025 | Migration Interrupted

Every fall, as you cross the Canso Causeway, if you glance north, northeast towards Aulds Cove, chances are you will spot an unusual abundance of birds and possibly a pod of porpoise or even a whale. My birthday is in early November and the first few times I experienced this phenomenon on my way to visit Cape Breton it felt like the most incredible birthday gift. However they aren’t there to celebrate me (surprise!) but rather because of how I am getting to Cape Breton. When the Canso Causeway was built in 1952-1955 Canada did not yet have an Environmental Impact Assessment program. From underwater the causeway is basically a giant pile of rocks that blocks the Strait of Canso expect for a small canal for boat traffic. Turns out, Atlantic Saury or billfish use this passageway to migrate. While other species over time have learned to find another path, the saury keep being driven into this dead end. What I saw as a rare opportunity to spot a whale up close from shore is really a school of fish trapped and feasted upon so that it’s easier for me to cross back and forth between Cape Breton Island and mainland Nova Scotia.

Created for the group exhibit “Flora & Fauna” at Northern Contemporary Gallery, the sky in this collage is full of turning, diving gannets and gulls. Underwater a school of silver fish swims towards and is rebuffed by a pile of stones and hints of marine mammals break the surface in the distance. At first glance, all this life blends into the chaos of water and sky. Start to notice and a story unfolds.