cove
A cove is a small bay or coastal inlet. They usually have narrow, restricted entrances, are often circular or oval, and are often situated within a larger bay. Small, narrow, sheltered bays, inlets, creek (tidal), creeks, or recesses in a coast ...
over a length of eleven
kilometres
The kilometre ( SI symbol: km; or ), spelt kilometer in American and Philippine English, is a unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), equal to one thousand metres (kilo- being the SI prefix for ). It is the preferred measur ...
on the
Saguenay River
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The Saguenay River (, ) is a major river of Quebec, Canada.
It drains Lac Saint-Jean in the Laurentian Highlands, leaving at Alma and running east; the city of Saguenay is located on the river. It drains into the Saint Lawrence River. ...
in the region of
Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean
Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean (, ) is a region in Quebec, Canada on the Labrador Peninsula. It contains the Saguenay Fjord, the estuary of the Saguenay River, stretching through much of the region. It is also known as Sagamie in French, from the fi ...
in
Quebec
Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
. At the end of this natural corridor, which was originally called in French the "Grande Anse", then the "Grande Baie", there are the Ha! Ha! River and Rivière à Mars. According to the Second Saguenay theory, this vast depression is the extension of the fault and collapse
ditch
A ditch is a small to moderate trench created to channel water. A ditch can be used for drainage, to drain water from low-lying areas, alongside roadways or fields, or to channel water from a more distant source for plant irrigation. Ditches ...
of the
Kenogami Lake
Kenogami lake is a long lake in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region of south-central Quebec, Canada. Situated at an altitude of , the lake is long and deep. "Kénogami" means "long lake" in the Montagnais dialect and was originally used to ref ...
which is located upstream less than twenty kilometers.
History
Long before the landing in 1838 of the Charlevoix settlers, founders of the Saint-Alexis-sur-l'Islet parish, this haven sheltered at the end of the bay constitutes a place of meeting and exchanges for the Amerindian populations. The two villages that have become modest urban centers in the 20th century merge before finding themselves in the center of the district of
La Baie
La Baie (, ) is one of three boroughs in the city of Saguenay, Quebec, Canada. It was created during Quebec's municipal reorganization in 2002. From 1976 to 2001, it was known as the Town of La Baie, a municipality composed of the Grande-Bai ...
within the big city of Saguenay. It is through this bay that the
bauxite
Bauxite () is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)), and diaspore (α-AlO(OH) ...
of the
aluminum smelter
Aluminium smelting is the process of extracting aluminium from its oxide, alumina, generally by the Hall-Héroult process. Alumina is extracted from the ore bauxite by means of the Bayer process at an alumina refinery.
This is an electrolytic ...
s of Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean transits to the port facilities of to be discharged subsequently carried by train to the various factories of
Rio Tinto Alcan
Rio Tinto Alcan is a Canada-based mining company. Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, it is a subsidiary of global mining conglomerate Rio Tinto. It was created on 15 November 2007 as the result of the merger between Rio Tinto's Canadian subsi ...
.
Since September 2009, the tourist potential of the bay has been exploited with the inauguration of a port of call for cruise ships. During the winter for thousands of generations, when the ice is solid there, they practice
ice fishing
Ice fishing is the practice of catching fish with lines and fish hooks or spears through an opening in the ice on a frozen body of water. Ice fishers may fish in the open or in heated enclosures, some with bunks and amenities.
Shelters
L ...
. The Saguenay flood, in July 1996 caused a significant deposit of sediment in this bay.
Toponymy
The term ''Ha! Ha!'' does not come under the trivial
onomatopoeia
Onomatopoeia (or rarely echoism) is a type of word, or the process of creating a word, that phonetics, phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Common onomatopoeias in English include animal noises such as Oin ...
, but probably from an alteration of a Montagnais toponym almost unpronounceable in French which means in Algonquin ''place where bark is exchanged''. Other linguists think of a possible derivation of the term French ''haha'' which means ''unexpected obstacle on a path''. But in this specific case, we do not perceive the obstacle in question.
In Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, certain places, moreover, correlated with the hydrographic basin leading towards the bay on the homonymous Saguenay also use this appellation:
* Ha! Ha! River;
* Lake Ha! Ha!;
* Petit lac Ha! Ha!;
Geography
The "Baie des Ha! Ha!" is a large return from the
Saguenay River
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The Saguenay River (, ) is a major river of Quebec, Canada.
It drains Lac Saint-Jean in the Laurentian Highlands, leaving at Alma and running east; the city of Saguenay is located on the river. It drains into the Saint Lawrence River. ...
in the land which seems the normal continuation of the . This bay has a length of , a maximum width of and an altitude of .
From the confluence of Baie des Ha! Ha! the current follows the course of the
Saguenay River
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The Saguenay River (, ) is a major river of Quebec, Canada.
It drains Lac Saint-Jean in the Laurentian Highlands, leaving at Alma and running east; the city of Saguenay is located on the river. It drains into the Saint Lawrence River. ...
on eastward to
Tadoussac
Tadoussac () is a village municipality in La Haute-Côte-Nord RCM (Regional County Municipality), on the north shore of the maritime section of the estuary of St. Lawrence river, in Côte-Nord region, Quebec, Canada.
Geography
Tadoussac is ...
where it merges with the
Estuary of Saint Lawrence
The St. Lawrence River Estuary is an estuary at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River. It stretches 655 km from west to east, from the outlet of Lake Saint Pierre to Pointe-des-Monts, where it becomes the Gulf of St. Lawrence, in Quebec, Canada.
...
.
Environment
Fauna
Riverine fauna
One counts among the fauna bordering the Baie Ha! Ha! species of
mammals
A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three middle e ...
common to the whole of
Saguenay Fjord
Saguenay Fjord National Park () is a provincial park located in Quebec, Canada. In the regions of Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, Charlevoix, Côte-Nord, and Bas-Saint-Laurent, the park is situated along the eastern end of the Saguenay River and adjo ...
Quebec
Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
American mink
The American mink (''Neogale vison'') is a semiaquatic species of Mustelidae, mustelid native to North America, though human introduction has expanded its range to many parts of Europe, Asia, and South America. Because of range expansion, the Am ...
long-tailed weasel
The long-tailed weasel (''Neogale frenata''), also known as the bridled weasel, masked ermine, or big stoat, is a species of weasel found in North America, North, Central America, Central, and South America. It is distinct from the Stoat, short-t ...
striped skunk
The striped skunk (''Mephitis mephitis'') is a skunk of the genus ''Mephitis (genus), Mephitis'' that occurs across much of North America, including southern Canada, the United States, and northern Mexico. It is currently listed as least concern ...
*
raccoon
The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the North American, northern or common raccoon (also spelled racoon) to distinguish it from Procyonina, other species of raccoon, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest ...
*
muskrat
The muskrat or common muskrat (''Ondatra zibethicus'') is a medium-sized semiaquatic rodent native to North America and an introduced species in parts of Europe, Asia, and South America.
The muskrat is found in wetlands over various climates ...
red fox
The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe and Asia, plus ...
Avian fauna
Marine fauna
The "Baie des Ha! Ha!", and the
Saguenay River
__NOTOC__
The Saguenay River (, ) is a major river of Quebec, Canada.
It drains Lac Saint-Jean in the Laurentian Highlands, leaving at Alma and running east; the city of Saguenay is located on the river. It drains into the Saint Lawrence River. ...
, include about 76 species of freshwater and marine fish. This phenomenon is explained by the fact that the "Baie des Ha! Ha!" consists of two overlapping layers of water. On the surface, a layer of slightly salty water which comes from the rivers which flow into the fjord, and in depth, the salty and cold water which, here in this upstream basin, is slowly renewed at a rate close to the annual after entering the Saguenay by tidal effect from the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The presence of these two layers separated by a halocline thickness promotes a rich biodiversity and makes it a very favorable environment for life. Among these species, we can count:
* the
brook trout
The brook trout (''Salvelinus fontinalis'') is a species of freshwater fish in the char genus ''Salvelinus'' of the salmon family Salmonidae native to Eastern North America in the United States and Canada. Two ecological forms of brook trout h ...
* the
rainbow smelt
The rainbow smelt (''Osmerus mordax'') is a North American species of fish of the family (biology), family Osmeridae. Walleye, trout, and other larger fish prey on these smelt. The rainbow smelt prefer juvenile cisco (fish), ciscoes, zooplankton ...
*
Atlantic cod
The Atlantic cod (: cod; ''Gadus morhua'') is a fish of the family Gadidae, widely consumed by humans. It is also commercially known as '' cod'' or ''codling''.sébaste
* the
Greenland shark
The Greenland shark (''Somniosus microcephalus''), also known as the gurry shark or grey shark, is a large shark of the family Somniosidae ("sleeper sharks"), closely related to the Pacific and southern sleeper sharks. Inhabiting the North Atl ...
*
sea trout
Sea trout is the common name usually applied to anadromous (sea-run) forms of brown trout (''Salmo trutta''), and is often referred to as ''Salmo trutta'' morpha ''trutta''. Other names for anadromous brown trout are bull trout, sewin (Wales ...
* the
lake sturgeon
The lake sturgeon (''Huso fulvescens''), also known as the rock sturgeon, is a North American temperate freshwater fish, one of 27 species of sturgeon. Like other sturgeons, this species is a bottom feeder and has a partly cartilaginous skele ...
* the
American eel
The American eel (''Anguilla rostrata'') is a facultative catadromous eel found on the eastern coast of North America. Anguillidae, Freshwater eels are fish belonging to the Elopomorpha, elopomorph superorder, a group of Phylogenetics, phylogen ...