What is sea glass?
Before you can fully understand the beachcombing experience, it's helpful to know more about what sea glass actually is.
Sea glass is naturally weathered glass that has been shaped and frosted by the ocean over many years. Originally discarded bottles, jars, tableware, shipwreck debris, and any glass objects, these fragments are transformed by waves, saltwater, sand, and sun exposure into smooth, polished pieces. This process can take 20 to 50 years or more, depending on the coastline conditions. While sea glass and beach glass are often used interchangeably, there's a difference: sea glass forms in saltwater and has a smoother, more frosted finish, while beach glass may come from freshwater and often looks less weathered.
Because of its extreme tides, the Bay of Fundy makes the Saint John Region a unique place for sea glass hunting and beachcombing adventures.
What is beachcombing?
People have always been drawn to the beach to collect essential resources such as wood, or simply to pick up unfamiliar objects out of curiosity. But what does beachcombing look like today? The definition of beachcombing is "the activity of walking along beaches looking for objects of value or interest," in other words, to search for and collect objects such as seashells, sea glass, rocks, and driftwood along the seashore.
I was born and raised near the Pacific Ocean and going to the beach was a weekly activity. My favourite part of going to the beach was always collecting seashells. I didn’t know anything about sea glass until I moved to Saint John, but I was immediately hooked.
