Immense glaciers engraved the landscape of this beautiful region, creating single abrupt cliffs landscape, plateaus and sharp-edged peaks. The Saguenay fjord has an average width of 2 kilometers and a depth of 270 meters. At the mouth of the Saguenay River, in Tadoussac, the river is "blocked" by a glacial bolt, permitting only a thin layer of water of approximately 20 meters through. 

The top level waters of  the Saguenay, relatively warm and fresh, slip literally on a very salty and very cold sheet of bottom water. This exceptional ecosystem permits the juxtaposition of a arctic marine animal-life  with other species that live in a more moderate environment.