Freshwater Bay is a
bay upon the
Strait of Juan de Fuca
The Strait of Juan de Fuca (officially named Juan de Fuca Strait in Canada) is a body of water about long that is the Salish Sea's outlet to the Pacific Ocean. The international boundary between Canada and the United States runs down the centre ...
on the northern coast of the
Olympic Peninsula
The Olympic Peninsula is a large arm of land in western Washington that lies across Puget Sound from Seattle, and contains Olympic National Park. It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, the north by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and th ...
, west of
Port Angeles off
State Route 112 and north on Freshwater Bay Road. It is just east of
Striped Peak. The bay has water access via a small boat ramp, although launching is only recommended for small boats and kayaks. Launching and retrieving of boats can be especially difficult at low tide, as the bay is very shallow, leaving the small paved ramp completely exposed. The launch ramp has no dock.
The park also includes 1,450 lineal feet of public tidelands. It is a starting point for many boaters and kayakers. Also, located there is a park open during the summer months.
A small public beach is accessible surrounding the boat ramp, and at low tide extends significantly northward into the bay. One can also go clamming and observe a number of species of wildlife, including,
sea stars
Starfish or sea stars are star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class Asteroidea (). Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to as brittle stars or basket stars. Starfish ar ...
,
sea anemones
Sea anemones are a group of predatory marine invertebrates of the order Actiniaria. Because of their colourful appearance, they are named after the ''Anemone'', a terrestrial flowering plant. Sea anemones are classified in the phylum Cnidaria, ...
,
kelp
Kelps are large brown algae seaweeds that make up the order Laminariales. There are about 30 different genera. Despite its appearance, kelp is not a plant - it is a heterokont, a completely unrelated group of organisms.
Kelp grows in "underwa ...
, and
sea gulls. Bachelor Rock, a
sea stack
A stack or sea stack is a geology, geological landform consisting of a steep and often vertical column or columns of rock in the sea near a coast, formed by Coastal_erosion#Wave_action, wave erosion. Stacks are formed over time by wind and wate ...
, is also visible from the bay.
History
The Spanish Explorer
Manuel Quimper
Manuel Quimper Benítez del Pino (c. 1757 – April 2, 1844) was a Spanish Peruvian explorer, cartographer, naval officer, and colonial official. He participated in charting the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Sandwich Islands in the late 18th ...
named the bay ''Ensenada de Davila'' in 1790. It received its present name in 1846 from
Henry Kellett
Vice Admiral Sir Henry Kellett, (2 November 1806 – 1 March 1875) was a British naval officer and explorer.
Career
Born at Clonacody in Tipperary County, Ireland, on 2 November 1806, Kellett joined the Royal Navy in 1822. He spent three yea ...
.
References
*
Bays of Washington (state)
Bodies of water of Clallam County, Washington
{{ClallamCountyWA-geo-stub