Hillsborough Bay is a

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

on the south shore of

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has seve ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and is a sub-basin of the

Northumberland Strait The Northumberland Strait (French: ''détroit de Northumberland'') is a strait in the southern part of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence in eastern Canada. The strait is formed by Prince Edward Island and the gulf's eastern, southern, and western sho ...

Description

Hillsborough Bay is the largest bay in terms of surface area in Prince Edward Island, followed by

Malpeque Bay Malpeque Bay is a estuarine bay on the north shore of Prince Edward Island, Canada. Description Malpeque Bay is the second largest bay in terms of surface area in Prince Edward Island, following Hillsborough Bay. It is also notable for almos ...

. Its southerly limits are Rice Point in the west and Point Prim in the east. It opens directly south and west onto the Northumberland Strait while its northern and eastern shores are formed by Prince Edward Island; the Point Prim peninsula also extends along its southeastern boundary. The bay is notable for the entrance to

Charlottetown Harbour The Hillsborough River, also known as the East River, is a Canadian river in northeastern Queens County, Prince Edward Island, Queens County, Prince Edward Island. History Battle at Port-la-Joye After the Siege of Louisbourg (1745) during Ki ...

along its northern shore, which is formed by the tidal estuaries of the Hillsborough (East) River, North (Yorke) River, and the West (Elliott) River.

Islands

Hillsborough Bay has several islands located within the bay: *

Governors Island Governors Island is a island in New York Harbor, within the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is located approximately south of Manhattan Island, and is separated from Brooklyn to the east by the Buttermilk Channel. The National Park ...

* St. Peters Island * Cameron's Island * Judson Island * Christie Island

Sub-basins

Hillsborough Bay has several sub-basins: * Charlottetown Harbour, formed by the tidal estuaries of the Hillsborough (East) River, North (Yorke) River, and the West (Elliott) River * Pownal Bay * Orwell Bay, fed by the tidal estuary of the Vernon River and Orwell River

Marine and wildlife

Hillsborough Bay is home to large nesting colonies of

heron The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychus ...

s and

cormorant Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the IOC adopted a consensus taxonomy of seven ge ...

s and is a nursery area for fin and shell fishes. A colony of

harbor seal The harbor (or harbour) seal (''Phoca vitulina''), also known as the common seal, is a true seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. The most widely distributed species of pinniped (walruses, eared sea ...

s is located on

Recreation

The bay supports several recreational areas, primarily at Port-la-Joye–Fort Amherst National Historic Site and Tea Hill Park in the town of Stratford. There are several beaches along the bay's shoreline that are suitable for swimming, notably Keppoch Beach and Kinlock Beach in Stratford.

Communities

The town of Stratford is the largest population centre directly fronting the bay. The following communities are located along the bay's shoreline from west to east: * Rice Point * Nine Mile Creek *

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

* Rocky Point * Stratford *

Alexandra Alexandra () is the feminine form of the given name Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus it may be roughly translated as "defender of man" or "prot ...

* Pownal * Waterside * Mount Mellick * Cherry Valley *

Earnscliffe Earnscliffe is a Victorian manor in Ottawa, Ontario, built in the Gothic Revival style. During the late 19th century, it was home to Canada's first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald. Since 1930, it has served as the residence of the Brit ...

* Vernon Bridge *

Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitari ...

* Orwell Cove * Lower Newtown * Eldon * Mount Buchanan * Point Prim

References

{{coord, 46, 08, N, 63, 05, W, scale:250000, display=title Bays of Prince Edward Island Geography of Queens County, Prince Edward Island