| Cabot Strait | |
|---|---|
 Cabot Strait from White Point, Cape Breton Island. St. Paul Island in the distance. | |
  Cabot Strait Cabot Strait | |
| Location | Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia &Newfoundland |
| Coordinates | 47°15′00″N59°45′00″W / 47.25000°N 59.75000°W /47.25000; -59.75000 |
| Type | Channel |
| Part of | Gulf of Saint Lawrence |
| Ocean/sea sources | Atlantic Ocean |
| Basin countries | Canada |
| Max. length | 20 nautical miles (37 km; 23 mi) |
| Max. width | 70 nautical miles (130 km; 81 mi) |
| Max. depth | 550 metres (1,800 ft) |
| Islands | St. Paul Island (Nova Scotia) |
| Trenches | Laurentian Channel |
| References | Geographical Names of Canada - Cabot Strait |
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Cabot Strait[1] (/ˈkæbət/;French:détroit de Cabot,French:[kabo]) is inAtlantic Canada betweenCape Ray,Newfoundland, andCape North,Cape Breton Island.[2] Thestrait, approximately 110 kilometres wide, is the widest of the three outlets for theGulf of Saint Lawrence into theAtlantic Ocean, the others being theStrait of Belle Isle andStrait of Canso. It is named for the Italian explorerGiovanni Caboto.[2]
The strait's bathymetry is varied, with theLaurentian Channel creating a deep trench through its centre, and comparatively shallow coastal waters closer to Newfoundland and Cape Breton Island. These bathymetric conditions have been known by mariners to causerogue waves.[citation needed]
The steep slope of the Laurentian Channel was the site of a disastrous submarine landslide at the southeastern end of the strait, triggered by the1929 Grand Banks earthquake and leading to atsunami that devastated communities along Newfoundland's south coast and parts of Cape Breton Island.[3]
An infamous location in the strait forshipwrecks during theage of sail,St. Paul Island came to be referred to as the "Graveyard of the Gulf" (of St. Lawrence).[citation needed]
A strategically important waterway throughout Canadian and Newfoundland history, the strait is also an important international shipping route, being the primary waterway linking the Atlantic with inland ports on theGreat Lakes andSt. Lawrence Seaway.
In October 1942, German U-boatU-69 torpedoed and sank the unlit Newfoundland ferrySS Caribou, killing 137 people.[4] Then on 25 November 1944HMCSShawinigan was torpedoed and sunk with all hands on board (91 crew) byGerman submarine U-1228.[5]
In 1998, the Cypriot bulk carrier theMV Flare split in half in the Cabot Strait while sailing from Rotterdam to Quebec with the loss of 21 lives on board.[6]
The strait is crossed daily by theMarine Atlantic ferry service linkingChannel-Port aux Basques andNorth Sydney.Ferries have been operating across the strait since 1898, and asubmarine telegraph cable was laid in 1856 as part of thetransatlantic telegraph cable project.[3]
TheTrans Canada Microwave system was extended toNewfoundland in 1959.[7] To get it to Newfoundland, it was fed fromSydney, Nova Scotia to a repeater in Cape North that was 427 metres above sea-level. That allowed it cross the 127 kilometres across the Cabot Strait to a repeater station perched 198 metres above sea-level inRed Rocks, Newfoundland and Labrador. From there, the signal was microwaved over land to St. John's.[8]
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