Big Tancook Island
Encyclopedia
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
island located off the coast of Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
. The island is one of the 365 islands dotting Mahone Bay
Mahone Bay
Mahone Bay is a bay located on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada along the eastern end of Lunenburg County.Opening south directly onto the Atlantic, its eastern shore is formed by the Aspotogan Peninsula and its western shore is formed by the First Peninsula...
. It measures approximately 4 km (2.5 mi) long (north to south) and 1.6 km (0.994196378639691 mi) wide, forming roughly a "C" shape. The island is separated from nearby Little Tancook Island
Little Tancook Island
Little Tancook Island is a Canadian island located off the coast of Nova Scotia. The island is one of the 365 islands dotting Mahone Bay. The island is long by wide and is roughly triangular in shape. It is separated from Big Tancook Island by the wide strait called "The Chops"...
to the east by a 1 km (0.621372736649807 mi) wide strait called "The Chops". Big Tancook Island is approximately 4 km (2.5 mi) from Sandy Cove Point on the Aspotogan Peninsula
Aspotogan Peninsula
The Aspotogan Peninsula is a peninsula in the eastern part of Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, situated between St. Margarets Bay in the east from Mahone Bay in the west. The Peninsula was originally settled by second generation French immigrants on the eastside of the Aspotogan and second...
- the nearest point on the mainland.
The island measures 550 acres (2.2 km²) and has a rocky shoreline with open fields and softwood forest dotted by ponds, tidy residential properties and fish stores. It is the largest island in Mahone Bay
Mahone Bay
Mahone Bay is a bay located on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada along the eastern end of Lunenburg County.Opening south directly onto the Atlantic, its eastern shore is formed by the Aspotogan Peninsula and its western shore is formed by the First Peninsula...
.
The community of Big Tancook is the only one located on Big Tancook Island. Big Tancook has a population of about 200 people during the summer months and approximately 120 people during the winter months. It is home to one of the last remaining one-room schoolhouses
One-room school
One-room schools were commonplace throughout rural portions of various countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Ireland and Spain in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In most rural and small town schools, all of the students met in a single room...
in Canada - Big Tancook Island Elementary School. The residents primarily make their living through lobster fishing
Lobster fishing
Lobster fishing, sometimes called lobstering, is the commercial or recreational harvesting of marine lobsters, spiny lobsters or crayfish.-Lobster tools and technology:...
, although a unique artistic community adds a certain dynamic vibrancy to the island.
Wildlife populations are limited to deer, muskrats, snakes, and pheasants. There is however, a great variety of birds.
The island was originally a summer fishing ground for native peoples. The word "Tancook" is an anglicized Mi'kmaq
Mi'kmaq language
The Mi'kmaq language is an Eastern Algonquian language spoken by nearly 9,100 Mi'kmaq in Canada and the United States out of a total ethnic Mi'kmaq population of roughly 20,000. The word Mi'kmaq is a plural word meaning 'my friends' ; the adjectival form is Míkmaw...
term that translates into "facing the open sea." The island was later settled by German immigrants. The industry at that time was mostly agricultural, and primarily consisted of cabbage farming. Tancook was at one time the leading producer of Sauerkraut
Sauerkraut
Sauerkraut , directly translated from German: "sour cabbage", is finely shredded cabbage that has been fermented by various lactic acid bacteria, including Leuconostoc, Lactobacillus, and Pediococcus. It has a long shelf-life and a distinctive sour flavor, both of which result from the lactic acid...
in Canada, which was transported to market in barrels packed in the holds of Tancook schooners. Only after the popularity of the cabbage and sauerkraut industry diminished did the island shift to fishing.
Industry
The majority of residents on Big Tancook Island are employed with the fishing industry (primarily lobster fishing) or the ferry service, although several small professional and artistic businesses operate on and from the island.Because of its incredible beauty and unspoiled setting, the island is a natural provider of eco and experiential tourism. It is an interesting place to visit year round and, being surrounded by the water of beautiful Mahone Bay, the summer tourist season runs from early May to late September. Island visits begin and end with an inexpensive public ferry ride with breathtaking scenery.
The majority of visitors are families and outdoor enthusiasts on day trips or in tour groups, all wanting to experience the island by hiking, cycling, sail and power boating. Tourists to Big Tancook experience beaches and reefs, the island's human history of living by the sea, as well as boat building, island ancestry, wildlife – birds, and some unique garter snakes, flora and fauna, fossils and geology, special interests like geo-caching and a unique "Hamm" radio
Amateur radio
Amateur radio is the use of designated radio frequency spectrum for purposes of private recreation, non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, and emergency communication...
location, night sky tours due to exceptionally dark night skies, special activities for children, as well as studio tours for photography, painting, caning and carving.
Services
A scheduled ferry service operates daily year-round from Chester to Big Tancook Island and Little Tancook Island. The MV William G. Ernst is a passenger-only ferry operated by the provincial Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal that transports passengers from the mainland to the island.Students take instruction in the elementary grades at the Big Tancook Island Elementary School, while high school education is obtained in Chester, requiring use of the ferry service.
Emergency response is provided by the Big Tancook Island Emergency Response Association (BTIERA), which is supported through volunteer efforts and community fundraising and which is entering its 10th year of service.