My Watermark is the South Shore of Nova Scotia on the Atlantic.

It is my favourite because the water is clear, you can see a long way underwater when diving, and the sand beaches are white. From the shore the saltwater is clear, then green, and finally blue as you get deeper. Sea life is abundant starting from seaweed and small shrimp to the giant bluefin tuna who would be at the top of the food chain if it wasn't for the odd orca and mako shark. The largest of course, are the whales which visit our shores each summer to feed. Recently, we had a beluga whale visit our coastal community of Guysborough and delight the locals as it spent the summer there.

From time to time I go blue shark fishing off Halifax Harbour and it is catch and release. The skipper is Art Gatean, an acquaintance, and he is out of Eastern Passage. Not only is he the top blue shark captain, the DFO considers him an expert at catching porbeagles which they are now studying.

Art is a charter boat captain and has many different charters. He told me of one where he was engaged by two gentlemen visiting from Asia. Rather than bring beer for the day, they brought two cartons of cigarettes. They hooked a large shark mid-morning and still had it on at suppertime. They hadn't seen it all day until it finally tired of the match and breached and jumped clear in the air and over the top of Art's cruiser – a 25 foot mako. The sports screamed; one ran over and cut the line while the other ordered Art to take them to shore.