CAPE ST. MARY'S. A point of land on the southwestern tip of the Avalon Peninsula, Cape St. Mary's was known to mariners at least as early as the 1530s when it was called C da tromenta, a name derived from the Portuguese tormenta, meaning storms.

Later in the Sixteenth Century it became known as Cabo de Sancta Maria and since then that name and variants of it have been applied to the Cape.

The cape itself is a steep cliff rising approximately 76 m (250 ft) out of the sea at the southwestern terminus of the southwestern plateau of the Avalon Peninsula. Off the Cape are numerous dangerous shoals around which some of the best and most famous fishing grounds of Newfoundland are located.

The famous fishing grounds off the Cape, which have been immortalized in Otto P. Kelland's song" Let Me Fish off Cape St. Mary's" and in the phrase "Cape St. Mary's will pay for all" (the latter referring to the returns from the lucrative fishing there) extend roughly from the waters just off Point Lance to a point near St. Bride's, the most prolific of these grounds is located at St. Mary's Keys, about 6.5 km (4 mi) south of the Cape itself.
Long before permanent settlement in the area these grounds were probably exploited by European fishermen who came out to the Island every summer during the Sixteenth, Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries.

When permanent English settlement did occur the Cape is known to have become the site of a highly concentrated summer and early fall cod fishery, conducted principally by fishermen from both sides of Placentia Bay, from St. Mary's Bay and from the Southern Shore.

It is claimed that the fishery there was so important during the Nineteenth Century that many communities in Placentia Bay would probably not have grown as they did, had it not been for the Cape St. Mary's fishery.

Fishing has continued off Cape St. Mary's ever since. In the late 1970s and the 1980s the fishery was conducted in boats from 7.5 to 9 m (25 to 30 ft) long and longliners up to 12 m (40 ft) long by fishermen from the Cape Shore, the Placentia area and the east side of St. Mary's Bay. Cod, some flounder and skate are caught there.

There is no town by the name of Cape St. Mary's, but there is, as mentioned before, an ecological reserve, with an interpretive centre, that should not be missed (even if you are not a birder).

Cape St. Mary's was established as an ecological reserve in 1983 and is one of the most popular visitor sites on the island.

From the website comes the following description of the site: Located about 200 km southwest of St. John's, Cape St. Mary's Ecological Reserve also known as "the Cape" is one of Newfoundland and Labrador's major seabird colonies.

During the breeding season, it is home to 24,000 Northern gannet, 20,000 black-legged kittiwake, 20,000 common murre, and 2,000 thick-billed murre.

In addition, more than 100 pairs of razorbills, more than 60 pairs of black guillemot, plus double-crested and great cormorant, and Northern fulmar nest there.

What makes it so spectacular, however, is that all these birds can be seen from land, as close as 10 metres away.

Most of the Northern gannets, for example, make their nests on "Bird Rock"-a 100-metre-tall stack of sandstone that is separated from the viewing area by a chasm only a few metres wide.

The gannets' courtship, nesting, and feeding behaviours, interactions, and delicate flying manoeuvres over the crowded sea stack are endlessly fascinating and easily observed from the natural, cliff-top viewing area.

Bird Rock is reached by a 1-km footpath through the open meadows that top steep cliffs, where wild iris grow and sheep sometimes graze.

Cape St. Mary's is within the Eastern Hyper-oceanic Barrens ecoregion, one of the world's most southerly expanses of sub-Arctic tundra. Mosses, lichens, alpine wildflowers, and low-growing shrubs carpet the seemingly treeless plateau over which visitors walk.

The area has ponds, bogs, brooks-and sheer cliffs plunging down to the sea. Offshore, during the summer, whale spouts can often be spotted.

Particularly in the early part of the breeding season (April through June), the weather at Cape St. Mary's can be damp, foggy, and cool.

The average temperature in July is 14 °C and there are 200 days of fog a year, on average, at the Cape.

On such days, the attractions of the modern, bright Interpretive Centre are particularly strong. The birds and their environment are interpreted inside. The building is located near the parking lot and Coast Guard operated lighthouse, which was originally built in 1860....

Cape St. Mary's Ecological Reserve covers 64 km2; 54 km2 of this is the marine portion. The waters offshore are an important wintering site for thousands of sea ducks, including harlequin, common eider, scoter, and long-tailed duck.

Used with permission from "Uncovering the Origin of 1001 Unique Place Names in Newfoundland and Labrador" 2021 Jennifer Leigh Hill

Address of this page: http://nl.ruralroutes.com/CapeStMarysNL