Big Tancook Island



Big Tancook Island is a Canadian island located off the coast of Nova Scotia. The island is one of the 365 islands dotting Mahone Bay. It measures approximately 4 km (2.5 mi) long (north to south) and 1.6 km (0.99 mi) wide, forming roughly a "C" shape. The island is separated from nearby Little Tancook Island to the east by a 1 km (0.62 mi) wide strait called "The Chops". Big Tancook Island is approximately 4 km (2.5 mi) from Sandy Cove Point on the Aspotogan Peninsula - 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.

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 in Canada - Big Tancook Island Elementary School. The residents primarily make their living through lobster fishing, although a unique artistic community adds a certain dynamic vibrancy to the island.[citation needed]

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 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 in Canada, which was transported to market in barrels packed in the holds of Tancook schooners.[citation needed] Only after the popularity of the cabbage and sauerkraut industry diminished did the island[who?] shift to fishing.

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Contents
[hide] *1 Industry
 * 2 Services
 * 3 Notes
 * 4 See also
 * 5 External links
 * }

edit] 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 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.

edit] 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. &nbsp