Belle Isle Street
| Belle Isle Street | ||
|---|---|---|
| Connects waters | Gulf of Saint Lawrence | |
| with water | Atlantic Ocean | |
| Separates land mass | Newfoundland | |
| of land mass | Labrador Peninsula | |
| Data | ||
| Geographical location | 51 ° 40 ′ N , 56 ° 15 ′ W | |
|
||
| length | 125 km | |
| Smallest width | 15 km | |
| Coastal towns |
L'Anse-au-Clair , Red Bay , Blanc-Sablon |
|
| Islands | Belle Isle | |
 |
||
The Belle Isle Strait ( English Strait of Belle Isle , French Détroit de Belle Isle , sometimes also referred to as Straits of Belle Isle or Labrador Straits ) is a strait in eastern Canada that separates the Labrador Peninsula from the island of Newfoundland .
The Belle Isle Road is approximately 125 km in length. Their width varies between 15 and 60 km.
Navigation through this strait can be very dangerous due to strong tidal currents and their interaction with the Labrador Current. In addition, ice floes drift through the Belle Isle Strait 8 to 10 months a year . Weather conditions can change very quickly. Strong winds and fog are common here. The Canadian Coast Guard maintains a ship control system to avoid collisions. The narrowest part of the strait is marked by the Point Amour lighthouse .
On the north side of the road is the former Basque whaling base Red Bay . The region is ecologically important because of its fish and seabird populations.
Belle Isle Street is the third and northernmost exit of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence , along with Cabot Street and the Strait of Canso . It is therefore part of the St. Lawrence Seaway .
The name of the Strait of the Sea refers to the island of Belle Isle , which lies at its eastern end and about equidistant from Table Head in Labrador and Cape Bauld on Newfoundland.
Newfoundland Labrador Connection
Seasonal ferries operate between Blanc-Sablon in the province of Québec and St. Barbe in Newfoundland. The journey takes two hours. The idea of a fixed link between Newfoundland and Labrador has been raised again and again in recent times after an attempt to build a tunnel for power cables under the Belle Isle Road failed in the 1970s. A tunnel would be around 17 kilometers long and would reduce Newfoundland's dependence on the ferry service to Nova Scotia . However, there are no efficient connecting roads in the north towards Québec. The only land connection between Blanc-Sablon or Red Bay to Québec via the graveled Trans-Labrador Highway , which was completed in 2012 , first leads further north, then at Happy Valley-Goose Bay to the west and requires a huge detour.
Bibliography
- Auger, Reginald. Labrador Inuit and Europeans in the Strait of Belle Isle. From the Written Sources to the Archæological Evidence . Collection Nordicana, no 55. Québec, Canada: Center d'études nordiques, Université Laval, 1991.
- Bailey, WB, and HB Hachey. Hydrographic Features of the Strait of Belle Isle . St. Andrews, NB: Atlantic Oceanographic Group, 1951.
- Buck, Allan. Out of necessity. The Story of Sealskin Boots in the Strait of Belle Isle . Shoal Cove East, Nfld: GNP Craft Producers, 1991.
- Bostock, HH, LM Cumming, and Harold Williams. Geology of the Strait of Belle Isle Area, Northwestern Insular Newfoundland, Southern Labrador, and Adjacent Quebec . Ottawa, Canada: Geological Survey of Canada, 1983. ISBN 0-660-10608-6
- LeGrow, Keith Herbert. Distribution of Marine Birds in Relation to Water Masses and Fronts in the Strait of Belle Isle, Northwestern Atlantic Ocean . Ottawa: National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 2001. ISBN 0-612-54902-X
- McGhee, Robert, and James A. Tuck. An Archaic Sequence from the Strait of Belle Isle, Labrador . Mercury series. Ottawa: National Museums of Canada, 1975.
- Murphy, Joe. The Strait of Belle Isle Fixed Link . 2004.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Now let's dig an expensive hole report in The Economist , 2003
