Malpeque Bay is a

estuarine An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

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 shore of

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island is an island Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. While it is the smallest province by land area and population, it is the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Description

Malpeque Bay is the second largest bay in terms of surface area in Prince Edward Island, following Hillsborough Bay. It is also notable for almost dividing the province; an

isthmus An isthmus (; : isthmuses or isthmi) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea count ...

occupied by the city of Summerside and the unincorporated communities of North St. Eleanors,

Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( , ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François River, Saint-François and Magog River, Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territ ...

and Travellers Rest separates Malpeque Bay from Bedeque Bay on the island's south shore.

Islands

Malpeque Bay has several islands located along its northern border as well as entirely within the bay itself: * Mary Fraser Island * Courtin Island * Little Courtin Island * Little Rock * Ram Island * Bird Island * Lennox Island * Hog Island, a barrier island forming the northern boundary of Malpeque Bay * Fish Island, a section of Hog Island that occasionally separates/joins due to erosion and accretion

Inlets

Malpeque Bay has several inlets: * Hardys Channel, separating Hog Island and the Conway Sand Hills connects the northwestern part of Malpeque Bay to the open Gulf of St. Lawrence * Conway Narrows, connects the northwestern part of Malpeque Bay to Cascumpec Bay * Ship Channel / Malpeque Harbour, separating Hog Island/Fish Island from Royalty Point in Prince Royalty, connecting the northeastern part of Malpque Bay to the open Gulf of St. Lawrence

Communities

The city of Summerside is the largest population centre directly fronting the bay. The following communities are located along the bay's shoreline from west to east: * East Bideford *

Lennox Island First Nation Lennox Island is a Mi'kmaq First Nations band government in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island. Its only currently inhabited reserve is Lennox Island 1, on Lennox Island, purchased by the Aborigines' Protection Society on behalf of th ...

* Port Hill *

Birch Hill Birch Hill is a southern suburb of Bracknell, originally part of the now-defunct civil parish of Easthampstead, in the English county of Berkshire. Although Birch Hill is a separate ward in Bracknell Town Council it is combined with Hanworth to ...

* Bayside * Grand River *

Wellington Centre Wellington Centre was a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 1904. It was located in the provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. It was created by t ...

* Southwest Lot 16 * Central Lot 16 * Belmont Lot 16 * North St. Eleanors *

Slemon Park Canadian Forces Base Summerside (CFB Summerside) was an air force base located in St. Eleanors, Prince Edward Island, Canada, now part of the city of Summerside. RCAF Station Summerside World War II The airfield was constructed by the Royal Ca ...

* Summerside *

* Travellers Rest * New Annan * Clermont * Indian River *

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...

* Malpeque *

Darnley Darnley is an area in south-west Glasgow, Scotland, on the A727 just west of Arden (the areas are separated by the M77 motorway although a footbridge connects them). Other nearby neighbourhoods are Priesthill to the north, Southpark Village ...

Ramsar site

Malpeque Bay was classified as a wetland of international importance via the

Ramsar Convention The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar site, Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on We ...

on April 28, 1988. It consists of marine and coastal wetlands ranging in altitude from sea level to 8 m. It is protected from the Gulf of St. Lawrence by a sandspit and dune formation that stretches 25 km. Small rivers and creeks are the source of freshwater for the lagoon. It is "important for supporting large nesting colonies" of

heron Herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 75 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genus ''Botaurus'' are referred to as bi ...

s and

cormorant Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the International Ornithologists' Union (IOU) ado ...

s, and is a meaningful nursery area for fin and shell fishes. Malpeque

oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but no ...

s are prized by connoisseurs. Calta, Marialisa
'I brake for oysters.'
''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', 6 September 2003. The bay supports several recreational areas, primarily at Cabot Beach Provincial Park and Green Park Provincial Park. There is some concern regarding development of the area and its surroundings. There has been extensive cottage development on the eastern and southern shores of the bay since the 1950s. Prince Edward Island's largest industrial operation, two

french fry French fries, or simply fries, also known as chips, and finger chips (Indian English), are '' batonnet'' or '' julienne''-cut deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin. They are prepared by cutting potatoes into even strips, drying them, and f ...

processing plants operated by

Cavendish Farms Cavendish Farms is a Canadian food processing company and subsidiary of the J. D. Irving group of companies. Its headquarters are in Dieppe, New Brunswick and potato processing plants in New Annan, Prince Edward Island, Lethbridge, Alberta, and ...

, discharge into the Barbara Weit River in the southeastern corner of the bay. A petition was also organized in the early 2000s to stop a proposed wind energy project along the eastern shore of the bay which was submitted to

Natural Resources Canada Natural Resources Canada (NRCan; ; )Natural Resources Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Natural Resources (). is the department of the Government of Canada responsible for natural r ...

. However, the development never took place. The recreational use of the area is a "threat to nesting and brood-rearing

Piping plover The piping plover (''Charadrius melodus'') is a small sand-colored, Passerellidae, sparrow-sized wader, shorebird that nests and feeds along coastal sand and gravel beaches in North America. The adult has yellow-orange-red legs, a black band acro ...

s."

References

{{Ramsar sites in Canada Bays of Prince Edward Island Landforms of Prince County, Prince Edward Island Ramsar sites in Canada