Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada

Reader submitted article about Cold Water Wreck Diving in Nova Scotia

By Michael Gerhartz
Dive Center: PADI Dive Center Easy Dive Canada

Okay, here I am! My love for wreck diving and diving with huge numbers of fish finally got me here. To be precise: “Here” in this case is Cape Breton Island, a beautiful place just north of Nova Scotia and connected with a Causeway to the Mainland. It might not be the typical tropical island; however it has been ranked several times by National Geographic as the second most beautiful island in the world. Looking around at the rolling hills and visiting the famous Cabot Trail and Cape Breton Highland National Park, I can only agree. But I came here for the diving. Cape Breton Island and Nova Scotia have played major parts in the seafaring history of the last 3 centuries. Throw in the fact the this area has been a first port of many trans Atlantic voyages for centuries, it’s strategic importance during the two world wars, combined with the rough weather and sometimes questionable navigational equipment, it is easy to understand why this region is called the graveyard of the Atlantic. Although the coastline is literally littered with shipwrecks and easy access, we are taking it easy and pay a visit to a dive spot in the Bras d’Or Lake, Cape Breton’s huge inland lake.

So here I’m standing at that nice sandy beach overlooking the Bras d’Or Lake. The natural shape of the little cove that I’m looking at protects us against all wind. My eyes are searching the water, looking for animals on the surface. Above us, I hear the seagulls screaming, in the distance I can see a bold eagle, circling the sky, searching for prey.  While my buddy and I are getting ready to dive, we can see some minks, cleaning some food in the water. My buddy is telling me something about a 180 foot long shipwreck of an open barge just behind those old wooden piles in just 60 feet of water. Sure, I think, wondering what my buddy for breakfast when he continued to list all the fish we will see. Cunnars, flounders, eels, lobster, Sea Ravens, Sculpins, Ocean Pout, the odd winter skate, cod fish, lobster and so on. If that would be true, you could basically take most of the pictures for the northern Atlantic fish guide just at this wreck alone. At this time I’m starting to get concerned about my buddy. He is now talking about a second shipwreck, not far behind the first one. This one is suppose to be the remains of an old wooden tugboat, most likely the same that was towing this barge in that dreadful night in the 1950’s. If my buddy is right, it would mean that we could dive two wrecks from shore, in waters not deeper than 66 feet. I make myself a note to keep and eye on my buddy, since he must be hallucinating. Since it is August, he explains that the water temperature would be between 15 and 20 Celsius. I have a hard time believing that, since I still believe that Canadian waters must be so cold that even the fish have fur. After a detailed briefing I am now curious.  We put our gear on the tailgate of our Pick-Up truck, which I parked right at the waterline. Helping each other in the gear, we are soon ready to enter the water.

Standing in just 4 feet of water in the protected cove, we done our fins and bubble check our buddies gear. A quick look around shows us, that we will have a visibility of around 30 feet. Checking the camera, a final “ok” and the water closes over our heads. We dive for about 45  feet over the sandy bottom, seeing all kinds of little flounders, moon snails, crabs and ground fish, but we are just passing by until we reach the guide rope. Following this rope, we are soon crossing a little channel, about 15 feet deep and perfect for the safety stop. The kelp is moving in the mild current, we see more fish, but we are still going on.After another 30 feet we arrive at the wooden piles of the old train bridge. They are totally covered with Sponges and Anemones. The current during the tides provides them with all the plankton they need. We switch the lights on and are caught in an ocean of red, yellow and orange colors.The ground is covered with mussels, sea urchins, snails and some of the biggest sea stars I’ve ever seen. I could spend the whole dive here, but my buddy is just gliding by, signaling me to follow him through the labyrinth of wooden piles.

Leaving the piles behind us, I get me first glimpse of the shipwreck that lies in front of me.  We are hovering down to the sandy bottom in 60 feet. To our right, the old steel barge has found it’s final resting spot after hitting the main bridge pile in a foggy night, carrying white marble.  Over 180 feet long, this wreck is indeed the home for thousands of Flounders, Cunnars, Ocean Pouts, Crabs, Snails, Eels, Lobsters and Anemones. The bottom is covered with some of the largest bottom crawlers around. Between them, we can see Rock Crabs, Hermit Crabs, Sea Urchins and Snails. We dive along the bottom to the rudder of the barge. We are watching a big lobster, which found himself a nice little hole under the wreck. While we are watching him, a Sea Raven glides by, showing no fear at all. Staying motionless at one spot will catch the attention of all the cunnars. Although we are on OC, the show no fear at all and within seconds we are surrounded by hundreds of them. We enjoy this experience, not without taking many pictures, before my buddy urges us to go on. I cannot understand, why we do not investigate this wreck further, by my buddy is pointing to another guide rope on the bottom and asks me if I want to go on visiting the second wreck. After a quick glimpse to my pressure gauge I find myself diving along the guidance rope for another 150 feet.

Still in 66 feet of depth, I can now make out the debris field of the second, much smaller wreck. Immediately I can make out an anchor on my left, while my buddy points out some old copper nails and other interesting points. Again, we see many lobsters, Sea Ravens, Sculpins and Ocean Pouts, who have found a perfect habitat. We spend almost 15 minutes on the wreck before we head back to the first wreck. We decide to dive around the wreck and inspect the area where it had hit the bridge pile. Examining the debris field around the area of impact, we can see many more lobster and other critters. Way to early in my opinion, my buddy urges me to follow him inside the wreck. I remember him telling me, that it basically is like an open giant bathtub, with no overhead areas, but with enough opportunities for fish to hide.  This obviously the hatching station for the fish, since the inside is literally covered with thousands of juvenile fish. We again see some Lobster on the ground and a big Eel peeking out of his hole.  Looking up to the surface, I can see some kelp in the current.

After we left the wreck we prepare to dive back to the shore. A last look back, just enough to see a Skate gliding by, and we are on our way back. I spend the biggest part of my safety stop inside the wooden piles, watching the little nudibranches and other small animals. Just after an hour of total dive time, we are back at the shore. A look at the camera shows me that I took more than 80 pictures, digital cameras have their uses.  I look at my buddy who is smiling all over. I am speechless myself, since it would be very easy to spend here a complete week of diving before you have seen everything.  We are checking our gear, firing up the BBQ and spend the next 2 hours watching the water.  Soon enough, the water will close again over our heads.

What: Cold Water Wreck Diving

Where: Cape Breton Island on the northern Tip of Nova Scotia, Eastern Canada

Why: Diving in Cape Breton is wreck diving at it’s best. With more than 5000 wrecks reported around the Shore Line of Cape Breton, a diver can witness the history of wrecks of the last 3 Centuries.  Nova Scotia has always been an important landmark in sea fare history. Dating back almost a millennium ago, the ancient Vikings were the first foreign sailors to set foot on this soil. It would take several hundred years, before the first European settlers arrived in the New World. Their nationality were as different as their hopes about the new world, they all had one thing in common: When they navigated over the Atlantic Ocean from France or Great Britain, their first landing was always in Nova Scotia. Unchartered coastlines, strong eastern gales and heavy fog caused many of the early settlers to wreck only a short distance from their new homes. Later on, the British and the French used both Halifax in main land Nova Scotia as well as Louisburg in Cape Breton as their closest ports to Europe, causing many more merchant ships to wreck. Especially the French were challenged to navigate around Cape Breton's treacherous coastline to get access to the St Lawrence River, which brought them to Quebec. Later on in history, during the first and second World War, Halifax was still the closest port to Great Britain. Strategically important, most of the convoys formed in Halifax and left from here to their dangerous voyage over the Atlantic. The German submarines, called the “Wolf Pak” waited for them just outside the harbor, claiming their price on the merchant ships. So it is no wonder, that Nova Scotia has the highest density of shipwrecks in the world. Whether it is the old French ship “Le Celebre’” in the protected Marine Park of the harbor of Louisburg, to some wrecked merchant steel vessels or even a sunk submarine, Nova Scotia and Cape Breton have it all.

Sea life: The waters around Cape Breton are known for their Sponges and Anemones. It is not unusual to see a huge variety of different medium sized fish, including Cod Fish and Skates. Lobster are a frequent site, however you are not allowed to bag them here in Canada. Hefty fines will spoil any appetite…

Conditions: Thanks to the Gulf Stream, water temperature can go up to 22 degree Celsius at the surface during the summer. Diving is usually done from the easy accessible shore, with most shipwrecks in recreational diving limits. Visibility is good, usually you can count on 15 – 45 feet of visability in moderate temperatures. But be advised, diving 90 feet deep in the Atlantic Ocean after a strong eastern wind can be challenging: The eastern gale pushes cold water from greater depth to the shore line, and the water will be chilly, no matter what time of the year.

Surface: It is not unusual to see whales, dolphins, seals and sunfish. Even Basking sharks and leatherback turtles have been sited frequently on the way out to some wrecks.  Above the water, the Cabot Trail shows you one of the most wonderful places on earth, giving you the opportunity to watch moose and bear in their nature. Ranked as the second most beautiful coastal roads in the world, the Cabot Trail is a nature’s masterpiece.

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