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 Quoddy Head & Quoddy Head Light - Lubec, ME Posted by:  T0SHEA
N 44° 48.856 W 066° 57.074
19T E 661995 N 4964359
When standing at the given coordinates looking east, one sees the easternmost point in the US. Nearby are some historical markers which relate a bit of the story of Quoddy Head and the Quoddy Head Light.
Waymark Code: WMV3KT
Location: Maine, United States
Date Posted: 02/18/2017
Views: 4
The easternmost point in the US is Sail Rock, a few hundred feet off the eastern tip of Quoddy Head in Eastern Maine. Sail Rock is the third and last in a series of rocks off the shore. It has been a navigational hazard to shipping for as long as man has sailed these waters. As a result, a lighthouse, the Quoddy Head Lighthouse, stands on the coast nearby and a groaner buoy has been installed on the seaward side of the rock.
All the land that one sees offshore from this point is in Canada, with Grand Manan Island being to the southeast and Campobello Island to the northeast. Some information on the area, from nearby plaques, is included below.
Quoddy Head
A lighthouse beacon and fog signal have guided ships through the Quoddy Narrows between Campobello and West Quoddy Head since 1808. The present brick, red-and-white banded lighthouse was built in 1858. The beacon, 83 feet above sea level, can be seen from 20 miles at sea on a clear night. A radio beacon from the lighthouse serves as a navigational aid. A whistle or groaner buoy, located one mile offshore sounds a warning for Sail Rock.
West Quoddy Head Light looks over the islands of two nations. Campobello, The Wolves and Grand Manan lie in Canada. Sail Rock, which reportedly caused many shipwrecks off these shores, belongs to the United States.
Finback, minke, humpback and northern right whales migrate here each summer from their winter habitats off the southern coast of North America and the north-eastern coast of South America. They find these waters rich with food, such as herring, mackerel and microscopic plant and animal life. Studies show that northern right whales mate, and northern rights and finbacks calve in this part of the Bay of Fundy
These whales can be recognized by the distinctive shapes of their dorsal fins and tails. When exhaling, whales also emit a characteristic "blow", which aids in identification.
The waters off West Quoddy Head peninsula form part of the open end of Canada's Bay of Fundy, which lies between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
The shape of the Bay of Fundy causes extremely high tides. At West Quoddy Head, tides rise and fall an average of 15.8 feet in six hours. The cool, nutrient-rich waters host abundant marine life in the large intertidal zone. Northern types of seaweed are found here, along with arctic clams and snails, anemones and sea stars.
Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick, lies about ten miles southeast of West Quoddy Head and, on clear days, can be seen from many points on the park's shoreline. Grand Manan is famous for spectacular rock cliffs along its west shore that rise 200 to 400 feet. The island was first settled by British Loyalists who fled the American Revolution. Today, as in the past, Grand Manan's population of about 2,300 lives on the island's east coast, where fishing for herring, cod and lobster is a way of life.
From the Plaques
Address and /or location:
Quoddy Head State Park, Quoddy Head Light, Lubec, ME
Who put it there (Sponsor): Bureau of Parks & Recreation, Maine Department of Conservation
Date (Erected or Dediated): January 1, 2000
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Visit Instructions:
1) A new photo taken by you. Make it a quality one. You do not have to be in it, nor your hand held.
2) Some new insight to the history, and/or your personal experience finding the site.
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