Waquoit Bay is a public national estuary, which is typically used as a research reserve. It is a part of

Nantucket Sound Nantucket Sound_(geography), Sound is a roughly triangular area of the Atlantic Ocean offshore from the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It is long and wide, and is enclosed by Cape Cod on the north, Nantucket on the south, and Martha's Vineyard on ...

and is located on the southern shore of

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

, USA. This bay forms the border of the towns of Falmouth and Mashpee, Massachusetts. The name Waquoit comes from the Wompanoag word "Weeqayut" (Waquoit) meaning "Place of Light".

National Marine Research Reserve

Due to the pressures on the coastal resources of the United States, Congress enacted the

Coastal Zone Management Act The Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (CZMA; , , Chapter 33) is an Act of Congress passed in 1972 to encourage coastal states to develop and implement coastal zone management plans (CZMPs). This act was established as a United States National p ...

which gave federal aid to operate estuarine areas as natural field laboratories. Waquoit Bay is one of these natural field laboratory zones. The areas that the Coastal Management Act Encompass the Visitor Center/Headquarters Property.

Facilities

The Visitor's Center is a 28-acre (11 ha) piece of land. It is open year-round, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. The center has a path to the beach below it and hosts many activities to educate visitors about the marine wildlife in the bay.

Geography

The eastern section of the reserve is and encompasses South Cape Beach State Park, Sage Lot Pond and Flat Pond. This eastern section offers a swimming beach that is a noted fishing site during the annual

bluefish The bluefish (''Pomatomus saltatrix'') is the only extant species of the family Pomatomidae. It is a marine pelagic fish found around the world in temperate and subtropical waters, except for the northern Pacific Ocean. Bluefish are known as ta ...

and striped bass migrations. It is also a sanctuary for protected species such as piping plover and

least tern The least tern (''Sternula antillarum'') is a species of tern that breeds in North America and locally in northern South America. It is closely related to, and was formerly often considered conspecific with, the little tern of the Old World. Ot ...

. Sage Lot and Flat Ponds are salt ponds to the east of the bay. The Quashnet River Property is in size. The Quashnet River is the primary source of fresh water reaching the bay, which is mostly surrounded by upland forests. A three-mile (5 km) trail loops along the river. North Quashnet Woodlands is in size. These

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts ...

woodlands encompass an abandoned

cranberry Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus ''Oxycoccus'' of the genus '' Vaccinium''. In Britain, cranberry may refer to the native species '' Vaccinium oxycoccos'', while in North America, cranberry ...

bog.

Trout Unlimited Trout Unlimited (TU) is a US non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of freshwater streams, rivers, and associated upland habitats for trout, salmon, other aquatic species, and people. It is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. T ...

converted the cranberry bog channel into a river. Waquoit Bay is in size. Freshwater enters the Bay from four principal sources: the Quashnet/Moonakis River, Red Brook, Childs River, and groundwater overflow. The following rivers and bodies of water are salt ponds traced back to the east of the bay, reachable by kayak: the Hamblin Pond, , Jehu Pond, Abigail's Brook The following freshwater ponds drain to the bay at the northern side and offer kayaking and fishing: Bog Pond, Bourne Pond, is just over in surface area and consequently is considered a Great Pond under the laws of the Massachusetts. It is kept in trust for all citizens and is not privately owned. Caleb Pond is in size. Childs River: Abandoned cranberry bogs and pine woodlands. Washburn Island is a small nature reserve within the bay. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Washburn Island was used by the Army Amphibious Command as a landing area. This camp was home to the 594th Engineer boat and shore regiment. In the early 1960s Norwegian researcher Johannes Kr. Tornöe suggested Waquoit Bay as the location of

Leifsbudir Leifsbudir (Old Norse: Leifsbuðir) was a settlement, mentioned in the Greenland Saga, founded by Leif Eriksson in 1000 or 1001 in Vinland. Later, 160 Greenlanders, including 16 women, established themselves there under the leadership of Norseman ...

("Leif's booths or houses"), the long-sought site of the Norse colony of

Vinland Vinland, Vineland, or Winland ( non, Vínland ᚠᛁᚾᛚᛅᚾᛏ) was an area of coastal North America explored by Vikings. Leif Erikson landed there around 1000 AD, nearly five centuries before the voyages of Christopher Columbus and John ...

Prominent fish and crustaceans

Fish seen in the bay and its connecting waters include the

blueback herring The blueback herring, blueback shad, or summer shad (''Alosa aestivalis'') is an anadromous species of herring from the east coast of North America, with a range from Nova Scotia to Florida. Blueback herring form schools and are believed to mi ...

, brook trout,

golden shiner The golden shiner (''Notemigonus crysoleucas'') is a cyprinid fish native to eastern North America. It is the sole member of its genus. Much used as a bait fish, it is probably the most widely pond-cultured fish in the United States. It can be fo ...

banded killifish The banded killifish (''Fundulus diaphanus'') is a North American species of temperate freshwater killifish belonging to the genus ''Fundulus'' of the family Fundulidae. Its natural geographic range extends from Newfoundland to South Carolina, ...

, and northern pipefish. Crustaceans present include the blue crab,

hermit crab Hermit crabs are anomuran decapod crustaceans of the superfamily Paguroidea that have adapted to occupy empty scavenged mollusc shells to protect their fragile exoskeletons. There are over 800 species of hermit crab, most of which possess an as ...

and barnacles.

References

{{Coastal waterbodies of Massachusetts Estuaries of Massachusetts Falmouth, Massachusetts Mashpee, Massachusetts Norse colonization of North America Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact Estuaries of Barnstable County, Massachusetts