Bras d'Or Lake

The Bras d'Or is a vast inland sea that divides Cape Breton Island nearly in two. At 1,100 square kilometres it is larger than many Canadian provinces' entire lake systems, and its mixture of fresh and salt water supports an extraordinary variety of wildlife. Bald eagles nest along almost every shore. Osprey fish the shallows. The deeper channels hold abundant Atlantic salmon, and blue herons are almost omnipresent.

The best base for exploring the Bras d'Or is Baddeck, a small town on the northern shore with a working marina, sailing equipment hire, and direct access to the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site. Bell's summer estate at Beinn Bhreagh stands on a headland across the water (private property, but visible from the lake). The historic site in town is excellent on its own — the breadth of Bell's interests beyond the telephone, from kite design to hydrofoils, is genuinely surprising.

Kayaking and sailing are the best ways to see the lake. The Bras d'Or is recognized as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. The Mi'kmaq have inhabited these shores for at least 4,000 years and consider the lake sacred.

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A story
Despite the name, Bras d'Or Lake is not really a lake. It is a tidal estuary connected to the Atlantic by two channels, with salinity levels between freshwater and seawater depending on location and depth — which is why the same body of water can support freshwater mussels in one bay and oysters in the next. Alexander Graham Bell, who built his summer estate at Baddeck on its shores, called it "the most beautiful saltwater lake in the world" and spent the last 37 years of his life there, conducting experiments in aviation and hydrofoil technology on its calm surface.