Province ropes off sea caves in St. Martins after rock fall
The province is warning people to stay away from the sea caves at St. Martins because of a large rock that fell from the cliffs there.
The caves and the rock face around them are now blocked off with caution tape.
"With the coastal and the climate change, all this is erosion," said Allen Bard, director of parks and attractions for the province.
"There's a high tide that goes into the cave every day, twice a day, and we realized anything that's coastal right now is eating away."
"So these types of things are going to happen, not only in that area, but also around all the province."
A rock, about a metre wide and half a metre long, fell from the cliffs two weeks ago. A witness told someone with the village of St. Martins, who told the province.
Caution tape was put up, then provincial experts from Hopewell Rocks came to assess the situation and provided the cable and signs for the area.
Safety first
Bard told Information Morning Saint John the province is responsible for safety there, and it will assess the situation and decide if and when people can return to the sea caves.
"We realize that is a beautiful sight and people love to go to the caves but our primary focus is to ensure the safety of the public," said Bard.
"As we move forward with this, if we decide to open up the caves based on the rock situation, we will do that but again we want to assess the situation for the safety of the public before we move forward."
Bard said this situation is different from the Hopewell Rocks, where visitors are allowed to be around the rock formations despite the risks of falling rocks.
Bard said Hopewell Rocks has staff there, and the sea caves in St. Martins do not. He wouldn't say when a decision would be made on the reopening of the caves.
"Right now we're just assessing. We're hoping to have something fairly quick but no time frame," said Bard.
