Gimme A Dream Vacation

Posted By admin on March 3, 2010

As with all coastal regions, the Magdalen Islands is suffering from the almost constant buffering of the wind and the waves from off the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. Unlike most places though, the islands is mostly made of sand and compressed sandstone, of which neither is of much protection against the elements of nature.

There are two types of erosions going on around the islands. First of capes…,

With all the fractured cracks in the capes, it is only time before some of it breaks off and falls into the sea. This is a natural phenomenon that is ripping our little paradise apart.  Sea Cow Path, one such sector of Old Harry, has been a constant design flaw for the population. It has been eroded as far as the main road. In the 70’s, the government considered expropriating land to move the road closer to the lagoon side of the island.

The people became desperate and tossed old unused automobiles into the hole. Finally the government decided to put the money into building the hole up with granite, probably taken from East Cape Mountain.  The cost of the reparations, not counting the exorbitant monetary value was the loss of much of the beautiful East Cape.  Huge scars gape out at the sky and will never be repaired.

And second of the beaches and sand dunes…,

This past January, the islands were hit by 100 km winds from the southeast and extreme high tides the same day. The wave action ripped into the Martinique area, reaching the main road and chewing much of the capes upon which there are several cottages.

During the same storm, the cape broke at Entry Island, dumping garbage into the sea from the vestiges of an old dump from years past. The cape is next to the harbour and it is feared that the wash will come around and take the harbour out someday. This fear is not considered a priority at this point but the dump is and the municipality is taking measures to clear the dump before any more of the wood, plastic, and scrap metal get thrown to the sea.

The worst fear appears to come from the northwest winds though. The north beach is the sole means of commuting between the islands. Should the beach be eroded it could conceivably take the main and only road network with it. According to experts on the subject, the north dunes have lost 10 to 15 meters of shoreline in the area since the 1950’s, when the road was originally made.

This seems to have put the fear of God into the mayor of the largest island municipality, Iles-de-la-Madeleine, Joel Arseneau. He appears convinced that the Magdalen Islands will be split into separate islands within a few years if measures are not taken now to prevent nature from taking over.

Financially speaking, it would cost millions of dollars to replace this road. It would probably be cheaper to bring the old Lovat back into service and she, I believe has been dismantled for scrap metal many years ago.

Trying not to be an alarmist, Mr. Arseneau has already asked the province to include the islands on the list of areas at risk for urgent investments.

Categories: MI News
Tags: beaches, dunes, erosion, Iles-de-la-Madeleine, Magdalen Islands, sandstone