Porpoise Bay is an ice-filled

embayment 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, circular bay with a narr ...

about wide indenting the coast of

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

between

Cape Goodenough Cape Goodenough () is an ice-covered cape marking the west side of the entrance to Porpoise Bay and forming the northernmost projection of Norths Highland in Antarctica. It was discovered by the British Australian New Zealand Antarctic Research Ex ...

and Cape Morse. The

United States Exploring Expedition The United States Exploring Expedition of 1838–1842 was an exploring and surveying expedition of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding lands conducted by the United States. The original appointed commanding officer was Commodore Thomas ap Catesby ...

(1838–42) under

Charles Wilkes Charles Wilkes (April 3, 1798 – February 8, 1877) was an American naval officer, ship's captain, and explorer. He led the United States Exploring Expedition (1838–1842). During the American Civil War (1861–1865), he commanded ' during the ...

applied the name "Porpoise Bay", after the USEE brig "Porpoise", to a large bay at about 66°S, 130°E.

US-ACAN The Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (ACAN or US-ACAN) is an advisory committee of the United States Board on Geographic Names responsible for recommending commemorative names for features in Antarctica. History The committee was established ...

's identification of Porpoise Bay is based on the correlation of Wilkes' chart (1840) with G.D. Blodgett's reconnaissance map (1955) compiled from air photos taken by USN

Operation Highjump Operation HIGHJUMP, officially titled The United States Navy Antarctic Developments Program, 1946–1947, (also called Task Force 68), was a United States Navy (USN) operation to establish the Antarctic research base Little America IV. The opera ...

(1946–47). The name has been applied to the large embayment lying close southwest in keeping with Wilkes' original naming. Porpoise Basin () is an undersea basin, located close to Porpoise Bay. Porpoise Canyon () is an undersea canyon located about from Porpoise Bay; it is one of the largest canyons in the

Wilkes Land Wilkes Land is a large district of land in eastern Antarctica, formally claimed by Australia as part of the Australian Antarctic Territory, though the validity of this claim has been placed for the period of the operation of the Antarctic Treaty, ...

continental margin A continental margin is the outer edge of continental crust abutting oceanic crust under coastal waters. It is one of the three major zones of the ocean floor, the other two being deep-ocean basins and mid-ocean ridges. The continental margin ...

References

Bays of Wilkes Land {{WilkesLand-geo-stub