Malpeque Bay is a

estuarine An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

bay on the north 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 ...

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 almost dividing the province; an

isthmus An isthmus (; ; ) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea counterpart of an isthmu ...

occupied by the city of Summerside and the unincorporated communities of North St. Eleanors,

Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( ; ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François and Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territory equivalent to a regional count ...

and Travellers Rest separates Malpeque Bay from Bedeque Bay on the island's south shore.

Islands

Malpeque Bay has several islands located along its northern border as well as entirely within the bay itself: * Mary Fraser Island * Courtin Island * Little Courtin Island * Little Rock * Ram Island * Bird Island * Lennox Island * Hog Island, a barrier island forming the northern boundary of Malpeque Bay * Fish Island, a section of Hog Island that occasionally separates/joins due to erosion and accretion

Inlets

Malpeque Bay has several inlets: * Hardys Channel, separating Hog Island and the Conway Sand Hills connects the northwestern part of Malpeque Bay to the open Gulf of St. Lawrence * Conway Narrows, connects the northwestern part of Malpeque Bay to

Cascumpec Bay Cascumpec Bay is within Prince Edward Island in Canada and is adjacent to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. Description Cascumpec Bay is located where Prince Edward Island's north shore at its northwestern extreme turns northeasterly to become the east s ...

* Ship Channel / Malpeque Harbour, separating Hog Island/Fish Island from Royalty Point in Prince Royalty, connecting the northeastern part of Malpque Bay to the open Gulf of St. Lawrence

Communities

The city of Summerside is the largest population centre directly fronting the bay. The following communities are located along the bay's shoreline from west to east: * East Bideford *

Lennox Island First Nation Lennox Island is a Mi'kmaq First Nations band government in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island. Its only currently inhabited reserve is Lennox Island 1, on Lennox Island, purchased by the Aborigines' Protection Society on behalf of ...

* Port Hill *

Birch Hill Birch Hill is a southern suburb of Bracknell, originally part of the now-defunct civil parish of Easthampstead, in the England, English county of Berkshire. Although Birch Hill is a separate Wards of the United Kingdom, ward in Bracknell Town Cou ...

* Bayside * Grand River *

Wellington Centre Wellington Centre was a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 1904. It was located in the provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. It was created by the ...

* Southwest Lot 16 * Central Lot 16 * Belmont Lot 16 * North St. Eleanors * Slemon Park * Summerside *

* Travellers Rest * New Annan * Clermont * Indian River *

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages * Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originati ...

* Malpeque *

Darnley Darnley is an area in south-west Glasgow, Scotland, on the A727 just west of Arden (the areas are separated by the M77 motorway although a footbridge connects them). Other nearby neighbourhoods are Priesthill to the north, Southpark Village t ...

Ramsar site

Malpeque Bay was classified as a wetland of international importance via the

Ramsar Convention The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on Wetlands. It i ...

on April 28, 1988. It consists of marine and coastal wetlands ranging in altitude from sea level to 8 m. It is protected from the Gulf of St. Lawrence by a sandspit and dune formation that stretches 25 km. Small rivers and creeks are the source of freshwater for the lagoon. It is "important for supporting 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 meaningful nursery area for fin and shell fishes. Malpeque

oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not al ...

s are prized by connoisseurs. Calta, Marialisa
'I brake for oysters.'
''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', 6 September 2003. The bay supports several recreational areas, primarily at

Cabot Beach Provincial Park Cabot Beach Provincial Park is a provincial park in Prince Edward Island, 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 ...

and Green Park Provincial Park. There is some concern regarding development of the area and its surroundings. There has been extensive cottage development on the eastern and southern shores of the bay since the 1950s. Prince Edward Island's largest industrial operation, two

french fry French fries (North American English), chips (British English), finger chips (Indian English), french-fried potatoes, or simply fries, are '' batonnet'' or ''allumette''-cut deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin from Belgium and France. Th ...

processing plants operated by

Cavendish Farms Cavendish Farms is a Canadian food processing company and subsidiary of the J. D. Irving group of companies. Its headquarters are in Dieppe, New Brunswick and potato processing plants in New Annan, Prince Edward Island, Lethbridge, Alberta, and ...

, discharge into the Barbara Weit River in the southeastern corner of the bay. A petition was also organized in the early 2000s to stop a proposed wind energy project along the eastern shore of the bay which was submitted to

Natural Resources Canada Natural Resources Canada (NRCan; french: Ressources naturelles Canada; french: RNCan, label=none)Natural Resources Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Natural Resources (). is the depa ...

. However, the development never took place. The recreational use of the area is a "threat to nesting and brood-rearing

Piping plover The piping plover (''Charadrius melodus'') is a small sand-colored, sparrow-sized shorebird that nests and feeds along coastal sand and gravel beaches in North America. The adult has yellow-orange-red legs, a black band across the forehead from e ...

s."

References

{{Ramsar sites in Canada Bays of Prince Edward Island Landforms of Prince County, Prince Edward Island Ramsar sites in Canada