A look back at news in 2023

A look back and some of what made the news in 2023. We'll have more Year in Review tidbits in other January issues.

‘IT BLEW MY MIND'

It was an 18-month journey across the North Atlantic for a note in a bottle tossed overboard on the snow crab fishing grounds off Cape Breton to be found on the southeast coast of Ireland.

Wexford, Ireland, resident Elaine Cullen found the bottle on Dec. 19, 2022, while out walking her dog Brody on Rostonstown Beach. Inside the bottle was a note in a bag that read; “Lauren Ellie, 2021, Friday, July 9 snow crab fishing out of Louisbourg Nova Scotia.” Four names were on the note: Eddie Strang, Claire, Brody Cottreau and Hime Muse, along with social media contact information.

Cullen connected with Cottreau, who lives in Wedgeport, on social media to tell him she had found the bottle. When he heard the news,

“It blew my mind, it made my day,” he said. “It blew my mind that that glass bottle traveled roughly 4,500 km.”

CAPE NEGRO RENAMED EEL BAY

The community of Cape Negro in Shelburne County was officially renamed Eel Bay on Feb. 8, 2023. The community was one of four locations in Shelburne County that bore the derogatory place name. Service Nova Scotia and Internal Services began public engagement on renaming

The note that was sent on a voyage across the North Atlantic in a bottle by the crew of the Lauren Ellie while fishing for snow crab in offshore Cape Breton on July 9, 2021. It was found on a beach in Ireland on Dec. 19, 2022.

the four derogatory place names in 2021.

Work is ongoing to rename Negro Harbour, Cape Negro Island and Cape Negro (point).

“We're in the process of reviewing and redesigning our geographic naming process. Once that process is complete, we'll be re-engaging the community to move forward with discussions on other place names in Shelburne County,” said Geoff Tobin, communications advisor for Service Nova Scotia & Department of Cyber Security and Digital

Solutions as 2023 was coming to an end.

In 2016, GeoNova, which is part of the Information, Communications, and Technology Service Branch of the Department of Internal Services, received two applications to rename the four locations.

‘HOW MANY STORIES COULD THAT BOTTLE TELL'

It was late summer 2016 when the crew of the

KATHY JOHNSON The community of Cape Negro in Shelburne County has officially been renamed Eel Bay. The community is one of four locations in Shelburne County that bear the derogatory placename. Service Nova Scotia and Internal Services began public engagement on renaming the four derogatory place names in 2021. The name Eel Bay was proposed and selected by members of the community and was officially renamed on Feb, 8. New community signage has been installed last week and highway signage is anticipated to be changed in the spring.

CONTRIBUTED It took almost seven years, but Shelburne County fishermen Jimmie Atwood (from left), Brett Sears, Pierce Atwood, Joey Atwood and Alex Huskins received a reply to a message in a bottle they sent while coming in from a fishing trip in 2016. Missing from photo is Brian Pothier.