Mortar Bomb event in NS, Portapique area, Canada on Wed 15th July 2026

PORTAPIQUE – A specialized Canadian Armed Forces unit, alongside Colchester County District RCMP, recently removed an old explosive device that washed ashore in Portapique by conducting a controlled explosion.

The ordnance, removed on July 15, was identified as a two-inch mortar.

Lt. Navy Andrew MacLeod, executive officer of Fleet Diving Unit (Atlantic), an operational unit of Maritime Forces Atlantic, explained that a mortar is something that’s shot out of a tube. It becomes active at that time.

“It fires for a particular distance, usually point detonating so that it’ll explode on impact,” he said, adding that 20 to 30 per cent of ordnance doesn’t actually explode.

“That’s the standard percentage. So, it’s not uncommon for us to find historical or even new ordnance that … hasn’t properly functioned.”

The unit is comprised of about 120 divers and trained support staff. One of its responsibilities is explosive ordnance disposal, which includes items from the First and Second World Wars.
FOUND BY RESIDENT

A resident originally informed police of the ordnance in Portapique. Police then reported it to the Regional Joint Operations Centre, which informed the diving unit.

Macleod said his team uses various methods to identify what the ordnance might be and assess how to approach the call. This includes looking at pictures, as well as identifying certain features and measurements.

“There’s a lot of factors that are involved with the decision of whether we can move it and transport it to some place safe to dispose of,” he explained, “or if we feel it’s too dangerous to touch, then we’ll do a demolition on site.”

WHERE IT CAME FROM

It’s hard to determine where exactly the two-inch mortar came from, said MacLeod, but he indicated it belongs to the Second World War period.

Asked why the ordinance might have washed up on the shore in the first place, MacLeod said there were a number of military sites in Atlantic Canada during the First and Second World Wars.

“There’s lots of legacy sites out there around the Atlantic provinces; old runways, ammo depots, training grounds, because a lot of individuals trained before they headed overseas,” he said, “so it’s not uncommon to find these things on the beach or you know, when you’re digging up.”

Some sites are unmarked, he added. If an ordnance gets washed into the water, it can travel quite a distance.

CONTACT POLICE

Should residents find something that looks like a piece of ordnance, they should contact their local police force, said MacLeod.

“Even though it’s been, obviously, in the ground or in the ocean, picking it up, even drying it out … it can become further sensitive.”