Cleveland 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 ...

on the north-eastern coast of

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. It is part of the

Coral Sea The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends down t ...

and, administratively, is within the

City of Townsville The City of Townsville is a local government area (LGA) located in North Queensland, Australia. It encompasses the city of Townsville, together with the surrounding rural areas. To the south are the communities of Alligator Creek, Woodstock a ...

. Entrance to the bay is marked by the

Cape Cleveland Light Cape Cleveland Light is an active heritage-listed lighthouse located on the northern tip of Cape Cleveland, a promontory projecting into the Coral Sea west of Cleveland Bay (Queensland), Cleveland Bay in the Suburbs and localities (Australia), ...

and in earlier years by the

Bay Rock Light Bay Rock Light is an inactive lighthouse which used to be located on Bay Rock, a rocky islet northwest of Magnetic Island, about north of Townsville, Queensland, Australia. First lit in 1886, it was automated in 1920 and deactivated in the 198 ...

Magnetic Island Magnetic Island ( Wulguru: ''Yunbenun'') is an island offshore from the city of Townsville, Queensland, Australia. This mountainous island in Cleveland Bay has effectively become a suburb of Townsville. The island is accessible from Townsvi ...

History

Cleveland Bay was named by Lieutenant (later Captain)

James Cook Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...

HM Bark Endeavour HMS ''Endeavour'' was a British Royal Navy research vessel that Lieutenant James Cook commanded to Tahiti, New Zealand and Australia on his first voyage of discovery from 1768 to 1771. She was launched in 1764 as the collier ''Earl of Pemb ...

on 6 June 1770, probably in honour of John Clevland, Secretary to the Admiralty 1751–1763. However, Cook may have named the bay after the

Cleveland Hills The Cleveland Hills are a range of hills on the north-west edge of the North York Moors in North Yorkshire, England, overlooking Cleveland and Teesside. They lie entirely within the boundaries of the North York Moors National Park. Part of the ...

near his birthplace of Marton in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

, England. The

Alligator Creek meatworks Alligator Creek Meatworks is an important historical business in Queensland contributing to processing of food for the growing population and processing meet while the meat and cattle industry expanded the economy of the local area and of Australia ...

was built on the Bay, employing 1500 people at its peak and was a landmark in the area until 1966. The Creek that lead into the Bay had blood rich effluent from the meatworks pumped into it, which may have changed the natural ecosystem and fish stock in the Bay.

References

{{Authority control Bays of Queensland North Queensland City of Townsville