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A photo taken from a mountaintop in the Cape Breton Highlands showing an ocean, a small island and a dark mass has sparked intense debate about whether Newfoundland can be seen from Nova Scotia.
Traveler Wayne Mackay from Sydney, North Carolina, took the much-discussed photo on a clear, sunny October day.
He and his 16-year-old daughter headed to the Meat Cove Mountain Trail for a short but steep hike to take in the splendor of the area's fall colors.
At the top of the mountain, McKay said, he saw a panoramic view of nearby St. Paul Island and beyond, what he claims is the inland distance of Newfoundland.
“I immediately thought it was Newfoundland because of the direction I was standing,” he said.
“It couldn't be anything else. There's no other land beyond St. Paul Island in that direction.”
The post caused a stir on social networks
McKay took a photo of the ocean view and posted it on social media, sparking what he called a “firestorm” of comments that was almost evenly split between people who agreed with him and those who insisted he was wrong.
Among the more than 750 responses were ones that read: “I wish I had such good eyesight,” “Stop believing in nonsense,” and “Proof that the Earth is flat.”
However, others came to Mackay's defense, saying they had spotted the Rock from other vantage points on Cape Breton Island.
“I saw Newfoundland myself on the top of Money Point, which is Cape North,” said Hamilton Carter, 81, a veteran sailor who lives in Dingwall, North Carolina.
“You could see little white dots that were houses that you couldn't make out. You're basically looking at Cape Ray and the mountains behind.”
Carter said anyone leaving Dingwall and heading towards Port aux Basques by boat would also see Newfoundland from a few kilometers off the Cape Breton coast.
“It's quite possible”
Tim Webster is a geomatics researcher at Nova Scotia Community College who specializes in the study of maps and Earth measurements.
He said it was “quite possible” that Mackay's photograph showed Newfoundland in the distance.
“You can see something on the horizon that definitely looks like land,” Webster said.
Meath Cove Mountain is about 277 meters above sea level, and Cape Ray, Netherlands, is about 400 meters high, he said. The distance between them is 118 kilometers.
Webster said there is a limit to visibility between two points on the Earth's surface due to the planet's curvature and atmospheric conditions.
“If you go higher, like the top of Meat Cove Mountain, and you look out over the ocean, something like the Cape Ray area, you start to hit the mountain range. Then the higher you go, you have a better chance of seeing it.”
See Cape Breton from Newfoundland
Some Newfoundlanders say they also saw Cape Breton from their side of Cabot Sound.
Tyler LeFrance is an avid ATV racer who lives in Ile aux Mortes, a town about 20 kilometers from Port aux Basques.
LeFrance said he spotted Cape Breton several times while driving along the road from Cape Ray to Table Mountain.
“The thing is, if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I probably wouldn’t have known,” he said.
“You can see a dark area on the horizon. Now with binoculars you can see it perfectly.”
McKay said anyone who doubts him should go and see for themselves at Meat Cove Mountain.
“You'll see it if the skies are clear enough. So I encourage people to do it and get out there and really enjoy it,” he said.
“People in Newfoundland, do the same. Get up and go there because there are some beautiful places to see Cape Breton there too.”
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