A boardwalk about two metres from the ground slithers along this 12-kilometre strip of land, resembling a giant bird’s wing outstretched into the ocean. It’s about a 45 minute walk from one end of the boardwalk to the other, and along the way you’ll pass stoic blue herons, the odd raspberry bush and palm-sized crab corpses or purple jelly fish washed up by the tides. Families play in the white sand and surf to a soundtrack of crickets, whose whispers emanate from windswept grasses growing on the marshy Dune de Bouctouche.

To study and preserve this unique eco-system—one of the last undeveloped sand dunes in North America—students and professors from the University of Moncton work at the Irving Eco-Centre to conduct butterfly counts, an insect inventory and a migratory shorebird study, among other things. The Centre welcomes school groups with up to 50 students for educational visits by appointment.

Open from May to October; admission is free.