Exhibit Hall
From the geologic origins of the Northumberland Strait to our future climate...from the history of human occupation of Jourimain and Trenholm Island to the birds that now call the area home - our world class Exhibit Hall tells the stories of Cape Jourimain through beautiful, informative and interactive displays.
The Exhibit Hall is located in the Interpretation Centre.
World Class Sculptures
Numerous carvings by award-winning wildlife carver Jim Edsall can be found throughout the Exhibit Hall.
The diversity of Cape Jourimain's natural habitats is explained through our 12 "signature" birds. Each of these is represented by one of Jim's detailed sculptures and set into a natural backdrop. Information panels and an interactive migration map further tell each bird's story. In addition to the signature birds, Jim also made a giant saltmarsh mosquito and a sculpture of 75 life-size shorebirds, carved and painted in painstaking detail and arranged in a typical flying formation.
As you enter the exhibit hall you are greeted with the sharp call of the willet - a shorebird that was almost extirpated from its breeding grounds in the Maritimes. The cause of the decline was over hunting and the closure of the hunt has allowed the population to rebound. Cape Jourimain now has one of the healthiest populations in the region.
The willet is a bird of salt saltmarshes, one of the dominant natural habitats at Cape Jourimain. For this reason, and because of the important environmental lesson it teaches us, the willet was chosen as the symbol for Cape Jourimain Nature Centre.
Our 12 signature species
- Willet (80.6 KB PDF)
- Great Blue Heron (150 KB PDF)
- Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow (81.3 KB PDF)
- Short-billed Dowitcher (65.4 KB PDF)
- Yellow-rumped Warbler (65.3 KB PDF)
- American Redstart (73.8 KB PDF)
- Cliff Swallow (109 KB PDF)
- Black Scoter (61.7 KB PDF)
- Black Duck (73.4 KB PDF)
- Sanderling (63.8 KB PDF)
- Great Black-backed Gull (65.7 KB PDF)
- Osprey (144 KB PDF)
The Ice Boat Story
Watch your step as you walk into the iceboat room - you wouldn't want to fall through the ice! That's exactly what happened to the poor fellow shown in this three-dimensional exhibit. Beginning in 1827, groups of men would alternately drag, paddle or sail small "iceboats" across the 18-kilometer winter passage between PEI and Cape Jourimain. Special boats with runners were designed to ease dragging across patches of ice and prows were designed to ride up on the ice and allow safe disembarking. Passengers were allowed to stay in the boats, if they paid the higher fare, others had to get out and pull with a harness. Ice-breaking ferries eventually replaced this unique and often dangerous winter crossing.
This is just one of the fascinating local stories told in the Exhibit Hall. Visit the Centre to see the other exhibits on the people who inhabited the Jourimain Islands and how they used the land and sea, local genealogy, ferries and the lighthouse.