Highest Tide in the World

What causes the tide to change?

The highest tide in the world is recorded in the Bay of Funday which is between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia in Eastern Canada. There the Petitcodiac River narrows, and forces the inrushing tide to the greatest height found anywhere on earth. The difference between high water and low water in the Bay of Fundy is no less than 50 feet.

Fishermen make use of these extreme tides as you see in the illustration. They set their nets at high tide and collect their catch of fish when the tide goes down.

Tides throughout the world are caused by the varying power of the pull of the sun and the moon on the oceans. They draw the water up in a great wave, and the rotation or spin of the earth every 24 hours sends this wave round the world washing the coasts of the continents and islands. The varying shapes of the coastlines and inlets also affect the tides, and, therefore, ports and navigation.

At certain times of the month, the sun and moon are said to be in conjunction -- that is, they are pulling in the same direction, which causes tides to be higher. These are called spring tides. At other times in the month, the sun and moon are in opposition, which means they are pulling against one another. Then the tides are lower and are called neap tides.