Right Whale 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 ...

1.5 miles (2.4 km) wide, entered between Craigie Point and Nameless Point along the north coast of South Georgia Island. The bay is named for the

southern right whale The southern right whale (''Eubalaena australis'') is a baleen whale, one of three species classified as right whales belonging to the genus ''Eubalaena''. Southern right whales inhabit oceans south of the Equator, between the latitudes of 20 ...

s found in the area. South Georgia has historically been well known for

whaling Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industry ...

. The bay is linked to

Morsa Bay Ice Fjord is a bay long and wide, entered between Weddell Point and Kade Point along the south coast and near the west end of South Georgia Island. The name is well established, dating back to about 1920. A number of features along the bay's ...

on the island's south coast by a mountain pass called

Ernesto Pass Ernesto Pass () is a mountain pass between Morsa Bay and Right Whale Bay in the northwest part of South Georgia. The name "Don Ernesto Glacier", for the catcher ''Don Ernesto'' owned by the Compañía Argentina de Pesca, was used for a glacier in t ...

Notable features

The northwest side of the bay's entrance is called Nameless Point. It was charted and probably named by Discovery Investigations (DI) personnel in 1930. Cairns Cove is a small cove on the west side of Right Whale Bay. It was charted and named Haste Cove by DI, but that name was withdrawn by the

UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee The UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee (or UK-APC) is a United Kingdom government committee, part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, responsible for recommending names of geographical locations within the British Antarctic Territory (BAT) and ...

(UK-APC) in 1959. Following hydrographic survey from HMS ''Owen'', 1960–61, the cove was named after Petty Officer Peter T. Cairns, a member of the survey group. Mount Regulator rises high and stands inland to the west of Cairns Cove. Black Point is also on the west side of the bay. Binder Beach is a

moraine A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a glacier or ice shee ...

beach at the head of Right Whale Bay. The name first appeared on a chart based upon a survey by DI personnel in 1930. Bloor Reef, located off Binder Beach, dries with the tide. It was named by the UK-APC for Leading Seaman Vincent T. Bloor, who assisted in the survey of Right Whale Bay in April 1961. Cairns Shoal is a small area of

shoal In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. It ...

lying west of Craigie Point in the east part of Right Whale Bay. Like Cairns Cove, it was named by UK-APC for Petty Officer Peter T. Cairns. Barber Cove is a small, rock-strewn cove in the bay's eastern part, bounded by Bluff Point to the west and Craigie Point to the east. It was initially named Scott Bay on a chart based upon a 1930 survey by DI personnel; the origin of this name is unknown. It was renamed Barber Cove by the UK-APC in 1963, for Leading Seaman John M. Barber of HMS ''Owen''. The name Craigie Point is an established name dating back to about 1912. The name Bluff Point first appears on a DI chart.

References

Bays of South Georgia {{SouthGeorgia-geo-stub