Missisquoi Bay is a large extension in the northern part of

Lake Champlain Lake Champlain ( ; french: Lac Champlain) is a natural freshwater lake in North America. It mostly lies between the US states of New York and Vermont, but also extends north into the Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. The New York portion of t ...

, at the East of the output of the latter in

Richelieu River The Richelieu River () is a river of Quebec, Canada, and a major right-bank tributary of the St. Lawrence River. It rises at Lake Champlain, from which it flows northward through Quebec and empties into the St. Lawrence. It was formerly kn ...

. It takes the form of a violin head, with the neck extending from the head of the lake and is about in diameter. The bay is divided between

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

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

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

in the

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 territori ...

. The main town on its banks is Venise-en-Québec, a major summer resort. The river of the same name flows into the bay and the

Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge located in the eastern shore of Lake Champlain in the U.S. state of Vermont. The refuge is in Franklin County in the northwest corner of the state near the International Boundary wi ...

is located on the American side.

Toponymy

Champlain, first governor of

New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spa ...

, was the first European to visit the region. The name has an

Abenaki The Abenaki ( Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was pre ...

origin, meaning "a lot of waterfowl" but other meanings are also thought possible. It appears officially in the eighteenth century in the concession document made on April 6, 1733 to Paul-Louis de Lusignan Dazemard as the "Missiskouy Bay". The spelling has changed several times. In 1855, when changes to electoral counties of

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec an ...

into electoral districts, the Legislature finally adopts the form ''Missisquoi'' to designate the county and the region.

Geology

Glaciers grounded in the Bay years ago and then melted there forming the Champlain Sea approximately years ago. The maximum depth of the bay is about 4.75 m and its bottom is made of regional marine deposits. The bay waters drain south into the

Champlain Lake , native_name_lang = , image = Champlainmap.svg , caption = Lake Champlain-River Richelieu watershed , image_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = New York/Vermont in the United States; and Quebec in Canada , coords = , type = , ...

and the

. Until the late 2000s, the water of the bay was stagnant and the bay was dying. At the opening of the new bridge on the US side, the old road causeway was partly demolished which brought a flow of fresh water from Lake Champlain.

Environment

The bay has a great diversity of fauna and flora, including many species of birds, hence the establishment of a national refuge on the US side. Its beaches are very popular with vacationers in summer and its waters attract various activities, especially personal watercraft, boats, etc. In winter, anglers engage in ice fishing activity.

Toponymy

Geology

Environment

See also