No matter how big or small your town is, every year people must apparently be made aware that there are other people there who are graduating. For example, one wonders if the residents of Major, Saskatchewan (most recent census population: 67) would have been aware of such a momentous occasion in 2009 if it hadn’t have been painted on the pavement of the main street?

One way to broadcast your cohort’s sheer awesomeness is to tag your local dilapidated tourist attraction. On the left in Creston, British Columbia, we see that Grad ’09 has successfully claimed this old grain elevator, one of just five such elevators left in the province. On the right, we see that Grad ’06 (along with many others) have laid claim to Greenwood, BC’s famous Tunnel of Flags, where the flags of every country on Earth have been painted on the side of an abandoned early 1900s road tunnel. Hey, now, just because it was covered in paint already…

Often, graffiti battles between different classes break out, such as on this water tower in Wilkie, Saskatchewan. Apparently prized for both its prominent visibility and the difficulty of getting to the top, we can see a turf war has broken out amongst the classes of 2007, 2008, and 2009. One class has even resorted to calling the ’09 grads “dumb”; presumably this brilliant quip was the knockout blow.

The natural environment for grad tags is the vaunted overpass, where thousands of vehicles each day can be reminded about graduation time. Some classes invest more time than others; rather than just spray paint on the side, each year this overpass in Sydney River, Nova Scotia is repainted in full with a new design by students from Riverview High School in neighbouring Coxheath.

You don’t have to live near a high school to find grad tags in Canada. Even along the most remote stretches of highway, one can find messages displayed in high-visibility areas for travellers to see. Deep in the northern Rocky Mountains, Pine Pass is an hour from the nearest school and even still is covered with graffiti of all sorts, such as this message from Grad ’04.

One of the densest accumulations of grad tags may be a stretch of Highway 10 just outside of Flin Flon, Manitoba. Flin Flon lies on the thinly-soiled Canadian Shield, which means many highways in the region are incised directly into the bedrock. The open rock cuts are ripe for graffiti, and the highway leading south out of Flin Flon is filled with names and messages from various graduating classes dating back decades.

The ultimate grad tag paradise, however, may be the colourful Kerrobert Graffiti Barn in western Saskatchewan, where every year since 1977 the grad class of Kerrobert Composite School have taken over an entire barn at the north entrance to town and given each student their own slice of the edifice.

What the… hey, Ken, quit hogging all the attention! This barn was supposed to be for Grad ’09, not Grad ‘41!

Locations: British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan / Categories: Large Type, Rudeness

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The rocky East Coast of North America is dotted with islands and rocky shoals which have been a treacherous problem for ships since the beginning of cross-Atlantic seafaring. Many of the famous coastal shipwrecks are the result of sandbars – shifting, shallow mounds of sediment often hiding just beneath the surface of the water and impossible to detect at night. Ships run aground on the invisible sandbars, sometimes incurring serious damage and ending up beached when the tide rolls out.

A number of islands and coastal features, notorious for attracting shipwrecks due to their prevalence for sandbars, have received the ominous nickname “Graveyard of the Atlantic”.

1. Sable Island, Nova Scotia (Canada)

Sable Island is a narrow, 42 km long crescent-shaped barrier island¹ about 180 km off the coast of Nova Scotia. Perhaps the oldest and best documented of the Atlantic Graveyards, between 1583 and 1999 Sable Island lured over 350 ships to their doom.

Most of the shipwrecks have today been washed away or buried by the shifting sands, and the Google imagery of the island doesn’t include any visible wrecks; but the precarious sandbars are visible just off the island’s edges.

The government of Nova Scotia has produced a map listing the location, names, and dates of about 200 Sable Island shipwrecks which occurred between 1797 and 1946.

Sable Island today is a nature preserve, known as much for its wild horses and endemic species as for its dark nautical history.

2. Cape Cod, Massachusetts (USA)

Perhaps Massachusetts’ most noticeable geographic feature, Cape Cod is the large “hook” extending from the state’s south shore. Known today as a major seaside resort area, and the playground of New England’s upper classes, Cape Cod was one of the first places visited and settled by Europeans in the New World. As a result, it became a major shipping destination from colonial times through the 1800s.

While the long peninsula offers excellent protection from storms and heavy ocean currents to the inner waters of Cape Cod Bay, the interaction with the ocean generates many long, treacherous shoals. Over 3,000 ships are believed to have wrecked off the shore of Cape Cod between 1626 and 1898, including American War of Independence vessels like the decorated HMS Somerset. Over 20 lighthouses lie along Cape Cod’s eastern shoreline to warn navigators of the danger.

The sheer amount of shipwrecks on Cape Cod made it a haven for “mooncussers“, the pejorative term for scavengers who would, upon discovery of a wreck, rush out in skiffs and gather up any lost cargo and other goods, to then sell for their own profit. During this time the Cape became known as “Graveyard of Ships“.

Recently, the remains of a 19th century 50-foot schooner washed ashore on Newcomb Hollow Beach, well-preserved by the shifting sands for an estimated 90 years or more, so perhaps you’ll be the one to discover more undiscovered wrecks in the satellite imagery.

3. Outer Banks, North Carolina (USA)

From North Carolina to the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia lies a series of barrier islands known as the Outer Banks. Like the long, curved shores of Sable Island and Cape Cod, this coastline has been responsible for over 1,000 shipwrecks dating as far back as 1526. Just like the others, this stretch of shore is also nicknamed “Graveyard of the Atlantic”, but it’s also home to the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum.

The coast between South Carolina and Virginia is lined with sunken vessels, many of them naval ships such as the most famous of the area’s shipwrecks, the USS Monitor, an early ironclad warship that saw action during the U.S. Civil War. The Association of Underwater Explorers has a map showing some of the most notable shipwrecks off the North Carolinian coast.

(Another area known for its shipwrecks is the Florida Keys, with hundreds of shipwrecks dating as far back as 1733. This area has not been granted the title “Graveyard of the Atlantic” but is known as Shipwreck Trail.)

You can read more about Sable Island, Cape Cod and the Outer Banks at Wikipedia.

Locations: Massachusetts, North Carolina, Nova Scotia / Categories: Islands, Watercraft

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On closer examination it becomes clear that the “S” is actually a tree shadow – but the remaining letters look to be formed by the shapes of three small ponds.

Since “LUT” doesn’t make a lot of sense, what if the “L” were actually a “C”? Why on Earth would anyone have built three ponds in the shape of the letters of the word “CUT”?

Thanks to hfx_chris.

Locations: Nova Scotia / Categories: Large Type

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To start with, on the coast of Nova Scotia a vineyard uses the fields to do more than grow the grapes – they also advertise wines and their website.¹

So we’ve got some wine. Next, if you happen to be driving down this motorway on the Danish island of Zealand, and feel a little peckish, you can stop off and buy some peas from the top of the hill.

You’ll know when you’re at the right place by the giant advertising for “Ærter” (that’s Danish for peas), but it sometimes it says “Æbler” instead (apples).

Lastly, a roof in Columbus urges us to “Eat Trout“. Clearly not a trout farm, from what I can gather the building is (or at least was), some sort of night club – so perhaps it’s just a public service announcement?²

So there we have it, a complete meal in Google Earth: fish, peas on the side and a glass of wine! But can anyone find me some dessert?

Thanks to Greg_Yetman, sladys and Dave Collins

(This post was updated 8th September to correct the location of the peas. Thanks to those in the comments!)

Locations: Denmark, Nova Scotia, Ohio / Categories: Large Type

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Thanks: Ashley Bouchie

Locations: Nova Scotia / Categories: Weirdness

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Locations: Nova Scotia / Categories: Buildings

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