Bay of Fundy misses final cut in new seven nature wonders popularity poll

The Bay of Fundy, Canada's entry in the New Seven Wonders of Nature competition, didn't make the final cut when the provisional winners were announced on Friday.

The Maritime site, which features the world's highest tides, was listed among 28 finalists in the four-year competition. But the Bay of Fundy missed out, along with some other famous world sites.

The winners were South America's Amazon region, Vietnam's Halong Bay, South Korea's Jeju Island, Indonesia's Komodo Island, the Puerto Princess underground river in the Philippines and Table Mountain in South Africa.

The Bay of Fundy is in good company among sites that didn't make the final seven, including the Grand Canyon in the United States, the Galapagos Islands and the Dead Sea in Israel.

The competition was organized by a Swiss-based organization in 2007, with more than 400 initial entries. Millions of people voted online or via text or telephone for their favourites and a panel of experts pared the entries down to a short list of 28, including the Bay of Fundy.

The federal, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick governments got behind the campaign to get the bay into the final group.

"We would like to thank everyone who has voted and spread the word about the beauty and power of the Bay of Fundy," Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter said in a statement Friday. "We have seen an overwhelming level of support from across the country, and around the world, but particularly here in Atlantic Canada."

Regardless of the finish, the campaign was seen as great publicity for the bay. Tourism officials still planned a fireworks celebration in Halifax on Friday.

Disappointed Canadians can now gear up for the next campaign to identify the world's new seven wonder cities. That campaign gets underway next year.