In the middle of the island are the Bras d’Or Lakes. Together, these salt water lakes are 80 kilometres (50 miles) long and 32 kilometres (20 miles) wide. Bras d’Or in French means “arm of gold.” When the sun sets on these lakes, it is not hard to understand why the French would give it this name. But, there is one other story behind this name. Some people think the lakes were named after an explorer from Portugal who was a llabrador, the word for a Portuguese landowner.

Place Names Continued Mira East Bay Mira River United States

How was Cape Breton Made?

Cape Breton Island was formed about 750 million years ago from volcanic rock that cooled. It had been under the ocean. When it pushed up above the water, it also brought sediment with it that became part of the island. Cape Breton Island was not always where it is now. In fact, when the earth was first forming, all the land was joined together. Cape Breton Island was near where Northern Africa is today. But over millions of years large blocks of land drifted away into the continents we have today.

The land continued to change. It rose and fell and folded over itself many times over the years. This gave us mountains and valleys. The highest mountain on the island is White Hill, near Ingonish. It is 532.62 metres (1,747 feet) high. Nature’s last big change to the land came from glaciers.

Glaciers started moving over Cape Breton Island about one million years ago. They scraped the hills in Creignish, Boisdale, Mabou, Mira and East Bay until they were all about the same height. The weight of the glaciers created the Bras d’Or Lakes. In some places, the glaciers scraped off soil leaving bare rock.