Skagit Bay is a bay and strait located in the U.S. state of Washington. It is part of the Whidbey Island Basin of

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ; ) is a complex estuary, estuarine system of interconnected Marine habitat, marine waterways and basins located on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As a part of the Salish Sea, the sound ...

. The Skagit River empties into Skagit Bay. To the south, Skagit Bay connects with the rest of Puget Sound via Saratoga Passage and Possession Sound. The boundary between Saratoga Passage and Skagit Bay is between Polnell Point on Whidbey Island and Rocky Point on Camano Island. To the northwest, Skagit Bay connects to the

Strait of Juan de Fuca The Strait of Juan de Fuca (officially named Juan de Fuca Strait in Canada) is a body of water about long that is the Salish Sea's main outlet to the Pacific Ocean. The Canada–United States border, international boundary between Canada and the ...

via the narrow strait of Deception Pass. A third waterway, the Swinomish Channel, connects Skagit Bay with

Padilla Bay Padilla Bay is a bay located in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, between the San Juan Islands and the mainland. Fidalgo Island and Guemes Island lie to the west of Padilla Bay. Guemes Channel, between the islands, connects Padil ...

to the north. Skagit Bay is bounded by Whidbey Island to the west, Fidalgo Island to the north, Camano Island to the south, and the mainland to the east. The mainland coast consists almost entirely of the Skagit River delta, including Fir Island, between the North Fork and South Fork distributaries of the Skagit River. The northern end of Skagit Bay is called Similk Bay. Two islands at the northern end,

Hope Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one's own life, or the world at large. As a verb, Merriam-Webster defines ''hope'' as "to expect with confid ...

and Skagit islands, have been designated as marine state parks. The Swinomish Indian Reservation is located on Fidalgo Island at the north end of Skagit Bay, between Similk Bay and the Swinomish Channel. Skagit Bay 6310

History

The bay is in an area occupied for thousands of years by various cultures of

indigenous peoples There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

. They made use of the bay to gather fish and shellfish, integral to their diets. Members of the 1792 Vancouver Expedition were the first non-indigenous people recorded as having come upon and explored Skagit Bay. On May 30, 1792,

Joseph Whidbey Joseph Whidbey Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (1757 – 9 October 1833) was a member of the Royal Navy who served on the Vancouver Expedition 1791–95, and later achieved renown as a naval engineer. He is notable for having been the first Eu ...

led a boat survey team up Saratoga Passage and into Skagit Bay. They spent a day surveying but did not see Deception Pass, and concluded that Skagit Bay was closed. The next day

George Vancouver Captain (Royal Navy), Captain George Vancouver (; 22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a Royal Navy officer and explorer best known for leading the Vancouver Expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern West Coast of the Uni ...

noted the swampy waterway connecting Port Susan to Skagit Bay at the north end of Camano Island. Later, on June 7, Vancouver's ships passed by Deception Pass from the west. Peter Puget and Joseph Whidbey took boats to investigate the opening and found it connected to Skagit Bay, thus they realized the land (to be known as Whidbey Island) comprised an island rather than a peninsula.

References

* * Bays of Washington (state) Bays of Island County, Washington Bodies of water of Skagit County, Washington Bodies of water of Snohomish County, Washington Straits of Washington (state) Landforms of Puget Sound Estuaries of Washington (state) Washington (state) placenames of Native American origin {{SnohomishCountyWA-geo-stub