Pleasant 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'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

of the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

just north of the "elbow" of

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

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. It is bounded on the east by a long peninsula and a

barrier island Barrier islands are a Coast#Landforms, coastal landform, a type of dune, dune system and sand island, where an area of sand has been formed by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of an ...

, and harbors of saltwater when the tide is in.

History

The first people to discover the bay were the Native American tribe the

Nauset The Nauset people, sometimes referred to as the Cape Cod Indians, were a Native American tribe who lived in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. They lived east of Bass River and lands occupied by their closely related neighbors, the Wampanoag. Although th ...

s. They referred to it as ''Monomoyik'' which translates to "Great Bay". It is also reported that in this area

Squanto Tisquantum (; 1585 (±10 years?) – November 30, 1622 Old Style, O.S.), more commonly known as Squanto (), was a member of the Patuxet tribe of Wampanoags, best known for being an early liaison between the Native American population in Southe ...

, the guide of the ''

Mayflower ''Mayflower'' was an English sailing ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, reac ...

'' Pilgrims, is buried. The area is full of artifacts and places which hold the names of these Native American tribes.

Geography

Pleasant Bay is the largest contiguous bay along the

Cape Cod National Seashore The Cape Cod National Seashore (CCNS) encompasses on Cape Cod, in Massachusetts. CCNS was created on August 7, 1961, by President John F. Kennedy, when he signed a bill enacting the legislation he first co-sponsored as a Senator a few years pr ...

. It is located along the towns of Orleans, Chatham,

Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-o ...

, and a small part of Brewster. It also includes several beaches and islands: * Nauset Beach *

Barrier Beach Barrier islands are a coastal landform, a type of dune system and sand island, where an area of sand has been formed by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from a few is ...

Monomoy Island Monomoy Island is an spit of sand extending southwest from Chatham, Massachusetts, Chatham, Cape Cod off the Massachusetts mainland. Because of shifting sands and water levels, it is often connected to the mainland, and at other times is sepa ...

* North Beach Island * Sipson Island * Little Sipson Island * Hog Island * Sampson Island * Tern Island * Pochet Island * Little Pochet Island * Strong Island

References

Bays of Massachusetts Landforms of Barnstable County, Massachusetts Orleans, Massachusetts {{BarnstableCountyMA-geo-stub