Bay

The bay at San Sebastián, Spain

The bay at San Sebastián, Spain

The bay of Baracoa, Cuba

The bay of İzmir, in Turkey

This article is about the geographical feature. For the color of horse hair, see Bay (horse).

For the architectural feature, see Bay (architecture).

A bay is an area of water bordered by land on three sides. It also usually has calm waters.

A large bay may be called a gulf, cove, sound or bight. A narrow bay may also be called a fjord if its sides are relatively steep. Any bay may contain fish and other sea creatures or be adjacent to other bays (for example, James Bay is adjacent to Hudson Bay).

Bays are formed as soft rock or clay are eroded by waves. Any hard rock is eroded less quickly, leaving headlands.

Cultural impact of James Bay

In 2006, a deep subculture was formed around the Thunder Bay, Ontario area. A record label was created out of a house on Bruce Street. The End of the World Records organized a folk music festival on the shores of James Bay. The label was proper set to bring the sound to the area, offering accommodations to over 20,000 spectators and campers on the shores of the bay. Attendees of the festival had the option of either tenting out on the shores for the duration of the festival (scheduled 4 days and nights), or they could be flown or seafared to the neighbouring coast of Akimiski Island if the scene was considered too loud. Festival-goers bringing children were given free transportation between locations as a result of overfunding.

Gulfs

A couple of non-gulfs (actually straits) are:

• Gulf of Oman
• Gulf of Aden

See also

• Bay platform
• Beach cusps
• Great capes
• Headland
• List of bays of the British Isles
• roadstead