Perdido Bay is a bay at the mouth of and draining the
Perdido River
Perdido River, historically Rio Perdido (1763), is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 15, 2011 river in the U.S. states of Alabama and Florida; the Perdido, a desig ...
, a designated
Outstanding Florida Waters
Outstanding Florida Waters are rivers, lakes and other water features designated by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) under authority of Section 403.061 (27), Florida Statutes as "worthy of special protection because of thei ...
river, in
Baldwin County, Alabama
Baldwin County is a county located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Alabama, on the Gulf coast. It is one of only two counties in Alabama that border the Gulf of Mexico, along with Mobile County. As of the 2020 census, the populat ...
and
Escambia County, Florida
Escambia County is the westernmost and oldest county in the U.S. state of Florida. It is in the state's northwestern corner. At the 2020 census, the population was 321,905. Its county seat and largest city is Pensacola. Escambia County is incl ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. It is essentially a coastal
lagoon
A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') a ...
enclosed by
barrier island
Barrier islands are coastal landforms and a type of Dune, dune system that are exceptionally flat or lumpy areas of sand that form by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything fro ...
s, with an
inlet
An inlet is a (usually long and narrow) indentation of a shoreline, such as a small arm, bay, sound, fjord, lagoon or marsh, that leads to an enclosed larger body of water such as a lake, estuary, gulf or marginal sea.
Overview
In marine geogra ...
,
Perdido Pass.
Geography
Perdido Bay lies east of the
Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...
communities of
Orange Beach and
Lillian. It lies west of the
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
communities of
Pensacola
Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ci ...
and
Perdido Key
Perdido is a Spanish and Portuguese word for ‘lost’. It may refer to:
* "Perdido" (song), jazz standard composed by Juan Tizol
*"Perdido", song from WarCry's album '' ¿Dónde Está La Luz?''
* HMS ''Trouncer'' (D85), ship also known as USS ' ...
.
Ono Island and the mouth of the bay are within Alabama territory. The Florida border crosses Florida Point and the barrier islands just east of Alabama Point and
Perdido Pass, where the bay empties into the
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...
. Perdido Pass also provides maritime access from Perdido Bay to the
Intracoastal Waterway
The Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) is a inland waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the United States, running from Massachusetts southward along the Atlantic Seaboard and around the southern tip of Florida, then following th ...
and the Gulf.
2010 Gulf oil spill
Following the
Deepwater Horizon oil spill
The ''Deepwater Horizon'' oil spill (also referred to as the "BP oil spill") was an industrial disaster that began on 20 April 2010 off of the coast of the United States in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect, considered ...
(called the "Gulf oil spill"), the entrance to
Perdido Pass was closed, with a barrier system in June 2010, to control tidal flow of oil entering from the Gulf of Mexico. The daily
high tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another.
Tide tables can ...
was causing oil-contaminated water to enter Perdido Bay. The barrier system is designed to allow boats to travel through Perdido Pass, during the outflowing tide, but to close during the incoming tide and collect oil deposits in a retention area on the eastern edge of the pass.
DH-27 "Unified Command for the BP Oil Spill , Pensacola Pass to Close" (Perdido Pass also)
See also
*Gulf State Park
Gulf State Park is a public recreation area on the Gulf of Mexico in the city of Gulf Shores in southern Baldwin County, Alabama. The state park's mostly encompass the land behind the Gulf Shores beach community, between Highway 59 and SH 161 ...
References
Bodies of water of Baldwin County, Alabama
Bodies of water of Escambia County, Florida
Bays of Florida on the Gulf of Mexico
Bays of Alabama
{{EscambiaCountyFL-geo-stub