Whale of a smelly problem at Sandy Cove
SANDY COVE — The beach at Sandy Cove is one of Nova Scotia’s finest.
Travelling some 40 kilometres down Digby Neck’s Highway 217, you’ll find a sheltered cove on the Bay of Fundy attracting carloads of tourists each year.
They stroll the crescent-shaped beach, sunbathe and swim. When the evening comes, they roast marshmallows over low fires.
But this year, something is definitely different.
A rotting, stinking, fly-encrusted whale carcass is ruining the otherwise pleasant surroundings, say locals.
The province thinks so highly of Sandy Cove Beach that it directs tourists there. A large, Plexiglas sign near the beach tells the story of Jerome, the mystery man who appeared 150 years ago, marooned very near, in fact, where the dead whale now decomposes.
The province apparently isn’t lifting a finger to remove the whale, and that irks the council of the Municipality of the District of Digby.
“We want it gone,” Warden Linda Gregory said Monday.
It’s a smelly blight that might cut the tourist season short, she said.
Municipal council has written about it to the Health Minister, copying the letter to Natural Resources Minister Charlie Parker.
Health protocols stipulate the landowner must remove such a carcass. That would be the
province, but it doesn’t seem to understand what the problem is, said Gregory.
“They feel the carcass is all right there. We don’t,” she said.
Some residents say they’ve also written politicians to no avail.
“Nothing is being done and tourist season is here,” Kendra Gidney said in an email.
“If the whale had washed up in the town of Digby, do you think that it would still be there?
“I don’t think so.”
Government representatives could not be reached for comment.
Sandy Cove is a beautiful spot, said resident Bruce McCullogh.
“Tourism is important down here. Who knows how long it’s going to take to disappear?” he said of the whale carcass.
More out-of-province licence plates are being spotted daily on Digby Neck, and soon the beach will be full of visitors.
“Where else would you rather be?” said McCullogh. “It’s just a spectacular place.”