Fogo Island has always been about cod fishing. Just off the northeastern tip of Newfoundland, it was populated a few centuries ago by immigrants from Ireland and Britain. You can read about overfishing, the imminent demise of the community, and its (at least for now) rescue. I will refrain from providing details!
Roughly 237 square kilometers in size, Fogo Island has 11 creatively-named communities, and a diversity of churches. This is an Anglican cemetery in Barr’d Islands in a foggy mood.
The Great Auk. This statue by sculptor Todd McGrain is located on the tip of Joe Batt’s Arm, facing the old lighthouse and beyond that, the Funk Islands, where the last great auks were seen in North America. There is a similar statue on Reykjanes Peninsula, Iceland, facing Eldey Island, celebrating the location where last pair of breeding great auks was killed in 1844. First the auks, then the cod. Good job, humans…In spring, icebergs migrate south, trading places with the whales coming back for the summer. The way things are going, soon we won’t have any of those, either.
Berry season. They claim there are seven seasons on Fogo Island: Winter, Pack Ice, Spring, Trap Berth, Summer, Berry, and Late Fall. We were there in October, which must be the most glorious and colorful time of the year. The moods of this island vary dramatically, from quiet and foggy, to blustery and intimidating, sparkling and playful, and more.
Sunset over Barr’d Islands and Eastern Tickle. a calm and contemplative end to the day.
BIO: Martha Nance. The photographer is a physician in Minnesota who has never met a place in Canada that she didn’t like. She likes places that do not include neon, buses filled with selfie-stickers, and trash bins overflowing with wrappers and containers. She has to confess to a certain amount of hypocrisy, however, as her first stop after completing a fishful few days in Fogo was…the McDonald’s in Gander (really, it was her husband who couldn’t make it another moment…).
Wanderlust 