Gulf of Saint Lawrence is the world's largest estuary. It is the outlet of North America's Great Lakes through the Saint Lawrence River into the Atlantic Ocean.
The river goes into the gulf through the Jacques Cartier Strait between the Côte-Nord region of Quebec and the north shore of Anticosti Island, and the Honguedo Strait between the south shore of Anticosti Island and the Gaspe Peninsula.
The gulf is bounded on the north by the Labrador Peninsula, to the east by Newfoundland, to the south by the Nova Scotia peninsula and Cape Breton Island, and to the west by the Gaspe and New Brunswick. It contains Anticosti Island, Prince Edward Island, and the Magdalen Islands.
It flows into the Atlantic through the Strait of Belle Isle between Labrador and Newfoundland, the Cabot Strait between Newfoundland and Cape Breton Island, and the Strait of Canso between Cape Breton Island and peninsular Nova Scotia. It should be noted that since construction of the Canso Causeway in 1955, the Strait of Canso does not permit free-flowing exchange of waters between the gulf and the Atlantic.
St. Paul Island, Nova Scotia, off the northeast tip of Cape Breton Island, is referred to as the "Graveyard of the Gulf" for its many shipwrecks.
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A view of the Gaspe Peninsula from Quebec. |
Large rock formation off the Gaspe Peninsula. |
