September 2012 Sea Glass Big Red on Souris Beach PEI, Canada

by Kerry Ettinger
(Souris PEI, Canada)

Found this Big Red on Souris Beach PEI, Canada

Found this Big Red on Souris Beach PEI, Canada

Photos submitted by: Kerry Ettinger - Souris PEI, Canada

Odyssey Sea Glass - About Souris and Prince Edward Island Sea Glass

Prince Edward Island sits almost at the eastern edge of Canada just above Maine.

Some of you may remember the stories of Ann of Green Gables.

Those stories have their quaint setting on Prince Edward Island, a large island nestled in the southern part of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

The entertaining stories tell of the adventures of a young lady on PEI (Prince Edward Island) and are very entertaining. Lin and I, not to mention daughter Kelsey, have read probably all of the Green Gable books more than once.

A lesser known but important (to all of us) fact about Prince Edward Island is that it is a good place to collect sea glass.

In fact, the Souris East lighthouse on PEI has a museum whose entire second floor features... sea glass!

The Location of Souris, PEI

Take a look at the map below of the area that includes Souris and Souris Beach Provincial Park. You may need to zoom out using the " - " symbol.

You can see that the beach itself seems to be fairly surrounded by land and not exposed to the open sea.


View Larger Map

To the west and north is the large body of Prince Edward Island itself.

To the south is Nova Scotia and to the east is the Island of Cape Breton.

So it appears that there would be very little wave action to produce good sea glass.

And it is true that quite a bit of the sea glass found there is not jewelry grade (see links below for more pages and photos about PEI).

However, you'll notice that the main channel is quite wide, about 40 miles across. Although this is not really wide enough for a lot of waves, it allows for regular small waves.

Then, looking to the northwest, there is a long sweep, or fetch, stretching for 400 miles. This would allow larger waves to perhaps wrap around the northern tip of PEI and have some effect on the beach in the Souris area.

The History

For glass to become well tumbled,
two things are needed - waves and time.

Logically, the less waves there are, the more time is needed.

Well, time is something that Souris has had in abundance, so even with little wave action, the old glass has had up to 2 1/2 centuries to get nicely done.

Established in 1727 as a fishing settlement, Souris grew slowly over time and developed industries not only of fishing and oysters, but also agriculture and in more recent history, tourism.

Souris Beach Provincial Park

Notice what Wikipedia has to say about Souris's Beach Park:

Souris Beach Provincial Park is a day-use provincial park located near the town of Souris in eastern Prince Edward Island, Canada.

The beach is very shallow, allowing visitors to walk several hundred feet from shore on an all sand bottom.

The shallow water also results in the waters at this beach being warmer, as a result of warming by the sun, than other Island beaches where depths increase more quickly.

Unlike many beaches in eastern PEI, this beach has red sand, which is a result of the tidal current and erosion from the nearby red sandstone cliffs.

Unfortunately, the beach has suffered from extreme erosion in recent years, as winter storms have obliterated the dune system, allowing tidal waters to further advance on the beach; restoration efforts are anticipated to occur in 2011.

You’ll see long sandy beaches, pristine coastline and green rolling hills. As you enter Souris you will find the beautiful Souris Beach where you not only can swim and relax with a picnic but also clam dig for your supper or look for the sea glass that is along the shore.

All in all, with the age of the populated shore, even in this more protected shore of Prince Edward Island, Souris is definitely a place that would be worth a trip for sea glass!

See these pages about Souris and PEI, Canada:

Large Piece of Ruby Red Beach Glass - by Rita - Souris, PEI, Canada

"Sea Glass Behind Glass" - by Lisa Cancade Hackett - North Bay, Ontario, Canada

Purple Sea Glass Heart
 
Find out why 58 travelers recommend staying at the Rodd Crowbush Golf & Beach Resort when visiting Prince Edward Island.

Comments for September 2012 Sea Glass Big Red on Souris Beach PEI, Canada

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Dec 21, 2013
 Souris Seaglass Festival 2014
by: Anonymous

As a Reminder Please Don't miss the 2014 Souris Seaglass Festival held every last weekend in July' There were opver 6000 visitors last year.

Not bad for Souris first year.

This year will be bigger and better. Please call PEI Seaglass (902)940-9171 for further info as a vendor or as visitor.

THANKS - See you there.

Last year was a major success and was so much fun. Richard Lamotte was also here last year. See you in July!

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