Potagannissing Bay

Potagannissing Bay
Location	Chippewa County, Michigan^[1] Algoma District, Ontario, Canada
Coordinates	46°02′30″N 83°52′00″W / 46.04167°N 83.86667°W / 46.04167; -83.86667Coordinates: 46°02′30″N 83°52′00″W / 46.04167°N 83.86667°W / 46.04167; -83.86667
Type	Bay^[1]

Surface elevation	581 feet (177 m)^[1]

Potagannissing Bay is a shallow, island-strewn bay on Lake Huron in Algoma District, Ontario, Canada^[2]^[3] and Chippewa County, Michigan, United States.^[1] It is bounded by the land masses of St. Joseph Island, Ontario at the northwest and Drummond Island, Michigan at the southeast, and by the water bodies the Saint Marys River and the De Tour Passage at the southwest and the North Channel at the northeast. The bay is northeast of De Tour Village, Chippewa County. The bay's waters are rich in freshwater fish.^[4]

Geography

Potagannissing Bay occupies the site of the rapid melting of a glacier at the end of the Wisconsin glaciation approximately 10,000 years before the present. The melting ice dumped random piles of rock and gravel onto a section of land surface so low-lying that most of it wound up under the surface of the Great Lakes. The bay is currently studded with 53 named islands and innumerable unnamed ones. Few of the islands are permanently inhabited, but many are privately owned with summer cottages built upon them for the use of their owners.^[4]

The bay's largest island is Harbor Island, a National Wildlife Refuge since 1983.^[4]

Economy

The bay's largest industries are sport and charter fishing for trophy fish such as bass, northern pike, and salmon; commercial fishing for fish such as lake trout and walleye; and pleasure boating. The innumerable islands of the bay create opportunities for amateur exploring and sightseeing, and a sheltered coastline is rarely far away.

Natural History

The piscatorial opportunities of the bay have drawn a significant population of fish-eating birdlife, including the great blue heron, osprey, and bald eagle.

References

1 2 3 4 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Potagannissing Bay
↑ "Potagannissing Bay". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada. Retrieved 2012-10-25.
↑ "Potagannissing Bay". Atlas of Canada. Natural Resources Canada. 2010-02-04. Retrieved 2012-10-25. Shows the outline of the bay highlighted on a topographic map.
1 2 3 Michigan Atlas and Gazetteer (10th ed.). Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. 2002. p. 116. ISBN 9780899333359. OCLC 51004890.

Great Lakes of North America

Main lakes	Erie Huron Michigan Ontario Superior

Secondary lakes	Nipigon Nipissing St. Clair Simcoe Winnebago

Bays and Waterways	Detroit River Erie Canal French River Georgian Bay Great Lakes Waterway Green Bay Lake George Lake Kagawong Lake Manitou Lake Nicolet Manitou Passage Lake Mindemoya Munuscong Lake Niagara River Nipigon River North Channel Potagannissing Bay St. Clair River Saint Lawrence River Saint Lawrence Seaway St. Marys River Sault Ste. Marie Canal Soo Locks Straits of Mackinac Trent–Severn Waterway Welland Canal

Islands	Detroit River Michigan (state) (in Lake Huron, part of Isle Royale National Park) Ontario

Historic geology	Lake Agassiz Lake Chicago Lake Maumee Mackinac Falls Midcontinent Rift System Niagara Escarpment Wisconsin glaciation

Government	Conference of Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers Great Lakes Commission Great Lakes Fishery Commission International Joint Commission

Related topics	Basin Bays of the Great Lakes Great Lakes region Great Lake ships Lake-effect snow Lake Michigan–Huron Marine protected areas Megalopolis Native American tribes (US) Quebec City–Windsor Corridor Settlements Great Lakes museum and historic ships Lake freighter Tall ships Great Lakes Areas of Concern Great Lakes Treaties

Authority control	LCCN: sh2002000126

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