Bellingham Bay is a bay of the

Salish Sea The Salish Sea ( ) is a List of seas on Earth #Terminology, marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean located in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia and the States of the United States , U.S. state of Washingto ...

located in Washington State in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It is separated from the

Strait of Georgia The Strait of Georgia () or the Georgia Strait is an arm of the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the extreme southwestern mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada, and the extreme northwestern mainland coast of Washington, United Stat ...

on the west by the Lummi Peninsula, Portage Island, and Lummi Island. It is bordered on the east by

Bellingham, Washington Bellingham ( ) is the county seat of Whatcom County, Washington, Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It lies south of the Canada–United States border, U.S.–Canada border, between Vancouver, British Columbia, ...

, to the south-east by the Chuckanut Mountains, and to the south by Samish Bay. The

Nooksack River The Nooksack River is a river in western Whatcom County of the northwestern U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, draining Nooksack Valley, extensive valley systems within the North Cascades around Mount Shuksan, Mount Baker and the Twin ...

empties into the bay, as does Whatcom Creek. Bellingham Bay is named for Sir William Bellingham, who was controller of the storekeeper's account for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

at the time that the

Vancouver Expedition The Vancouver Expedition (1791–1795) was a four-and-a-half-year voyage of exploration and diplomacy, commanded by Captain George Vancouver of the Royal Navy. The British expedition circumnavigated the globe and made contact with five continen ...

visited the bay in June 1792. The first European entry of the bay was by the Spanish schooner '' Santa Saturnina'' under José María Narváez, during the 1791 expedition of Francisco de Eliza. Narváez named it ''Seno Gaston''.

Economy

Events

Bellingham, Washington holds a run and walk marathon along the Bellingham Bay. There are three marathon races to choose from including a full marathon, half marathon, 10k, and/or 5k. Bellingham Bay Marathon, BBM, is a Boston marathon qualifier. Furthermore, all BBM courses are USATF-certified. The Bellingham Bay marathon was founded in 2003 by the Bellingham Bay Swim Team. In addition, 100% of net proceeds benefit Whatcom County youth non-profit organizations.

Bay Clean-up

Demonstration Pilot

In 1996, federal, state, tribal, and local governments came together to form the Bellingham Bay Demonstration Pilot team. The mission of the pilot team was to develop an approach to clean up contamination, control pollution sources and restore habitat among the Bay. In addition, they put into consideration the land and water uses at state cleanup sites around Bellingham Bay. The pilot team is co-managed by the Department of Ecology and Port of Bellingham, with Ecology as the lead agency for the pilot program. The pilot team is carrying out the strategy for 12 priority sites around the bay, in the future. Furthermore, In early 2013, Ecology revised its Sediment Management Standards to establish a new framework for identification and cleanup of contaminated sediment sites.

References

Bays of Washington (state) Estuaries of Washington (state) Bodies of water of Whatcom County, Washington Salish Sea {{WhatcomCountyWA-geo-stub

Economy

Events

Bay Clean-up

Demonstration Pilot

See also

References