August 3, 2016 Joggins Fossil Cliffs, Nova Scotia

We both love the shore, rocks, and fossils, so the Joggins Fossil Cliffs was a Great Adventure for us. Way back in the olden days, sailors could see coal seams in these cliffs, and soon there was coal mining happening, with the mine(s) even extending out under the waters of the bay!  Talk about dangerous!  The guide said they lost a miner a month.....

At the visitor center, there is access down to the cliffs, so of course we headed straight down the stairs!  However, it was almost high tide, so our time was limited.  Fascinating to walk along looking at these rocks and seeing the occasional small fossil (while keeping a sharp eye on the incoming tide!)

This black rock stood out, and each one was full of ancient mollusk fossils.

The coal mining took place right here.  Ships would come to dock just before high tide
and the miners would load the coal on the ship with trams, as fast as they
could;  the ship could only stay docked for about an hour because of the tide.

Someone told us that if we went down to South Cove, we would find many more fossils and that it was much more beautiful there.  We stopped in town for lunch at the single cafe, and then headed down to South Cove.  What a place!  Great towering cliffs, tide going out, and fossils - what a grand time we had, exploring this area!

This picture really doesn't show the scale, but these were massive cliffs.
The brownish water at the shore is caused by the tide going out.

I'm in this picture, can you see me?

Here is a sure-nuff fossil of a gigantic fern-y plant stem.
I put my toe in for scale.  We were awed by this one!