The Bay of Exploits is a large bay in the northeast of
Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...
. It extends from the mouth of the
Exploits River and opens on to
Notre Dame Bay to the north. It is approximately 1,000 square kilometers (386 sq. miles) in size and contains over 30 islands of which
New World Island is the largest.
Description
The bay probably got its name from early successful encounters with the
Beothuk Indians. The main towns are
Lewisporte,
Twillingate (on the
Twillingate Islands in the bay) and
Botwood. Salmon fishing and the fur trade were the main early industries.
The last of the Beothuk
The shores of the Bay of Exploits, the
Exploits River and
Beothuk Lake at its head, were among the last known haunts of the
Beothuk people who generally are thought to have become extinct with the death of
Shanawdithit in June 1829, though
oral histories
Oral history is the collection and study of historical information from
people, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people who pa ...
contend that a few may have survived for a while longer.
[Marshall (1996), pp. 224-228.]
Footnotes
References
* Anspach, Lewis Amadeus. (1819). ''A history of the island of Newfoundland: containing a description of the Island of Newfoundland: ....'' London.
* Marshall, Ingeborg (1996). ''A History and Ethnography of the Beothuk''. McGill-Queen's University Press. .
External links
Paddling in the Bay of Exploits
Bays of Newfoundland and Labrador
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