| Georgian Bay | |
|---|---|
 Taken on March 20, 2022 withResourcesat-2 | |
  Georgian Bay | |
| Coordinates | 45°30′N81°00′W / 45.5°N 81.0°W /45.5; -81.0 |
| Basin countries | Canada |
| Max. length | 190 km (120 mi)[citation needed] |
| Max. width | 80 km (50 mi)[citation needed] |
| Surface area | 15,000 km2 (5,800 sq mi)[citation needed] |
| Average depth | 150 feet (46 m) near the shoreline of Cabot Head |
| Islands | 31,000+ |
| Settlements | Collingwood Owen Sound Meaford Parry Sound Wiarton Lion's Head Midland Penetanguishene Wasaga Beach Killarney |
TheGeorgian Bay (French:Baie Georgienne) is a largebay ofLake Huron, in theLaurentia bioregion. It is located entirely within the borders ofOntario, Canada. The main body of the bay lies east of theBruce Peninsula andManitoulin Island. To its northwest is theNorth Channel.
The Georgian Bay is surrounded by (listedclockwise) the districts ofManitoulin,Sudbury,Parry Sound andMuskoka, as well as the more populous counties ofSimcoe,Grey andBruce. The Main Channel separates the Bruce Peninsula from Manitoulin Island and connects the Georgian Bay to the rest of Lake Huron. The North Channel, located between Manitoulin Island and the Sudbury District, west ofKillarney, was once a popular route forsteamships and is now used by a variety ofpleasure craft to travel to and from the Georgian Bay.
The shores and waterways of the Georgian Bay are the traditional domain of theAnishinaabegFirst Nations peoples to the north andHuron-Petun (Wyandot) to the south. The bay was thus a majorAlgonquian-Iroquoian trade route.
The Georgian Bay has been known by several names. To theOjibwe, it is known as "Spirit Lake". To theHuron-Wendat, it is known as Lake Attigouatan.Samuel de Champlain, the first European to explore and map the area in 1615–1616, called it "La Mer douce" (the sweet/calm/fresh sea), which was a reference to the bay'sfreshwater.[1] It was named "Lake Manitoulin" byRoyal Navy Captain William Fitzwilliam Owen.[2] In 1822, after Great Britain had taken over the territory, LieutenantHenry Wolsey Bayfield of a Royal Navy expedition named it the "Georgian Bay" (afterKing George IV).[2]
The Georgian Bay is about 190 kilometres (120 mi) long by 80 kilometres (50 mi) wide.[3] It covers approximately 15,000 square kilometres (5,800 sq mi), making it nearly 80% the size ofLake Ontario.[4][5]
The eastern Georgian Bay is part of the southern edge of theCanadian Shield, granite bedrock exposed by the glaciers at the end of the lastice age, about 11,000 years ago. The granite rock formations and windswepteastern white pine are characteristic of the islands and much of the shoreline of the bay. The rugged beauty of the area inspired landscapes by artists of theGroup of Seven. The western part of the bay, fromCollingwood north, and includingManitoulin,Drummond,Cockburn andSt. Joseph islands, borders theNiagara Escarpment. Because of its size and narrowness of the straits joining it with the rest of Lake Huron, which is analogous to if not as pronounced as the separation of Lake Huron and Lake Michigan,[6] Georgian Bay is sometimes called the "sixth Great Lake".[7]
If the Georgian Bay were considered a lake in its own right, it would be the fourth largest lake located entirely within Canada (afterGreat Bear Lake,Great Slave Lake andLake Winnipeg). Considered together with the Georgian Bay, Lake Huron is the second largest of the Great Lakes[clarification needed] - if the Georgian Bay were excluded, Lake Huron would be the third largest (afterLake Superior andLake Michigan, but still ahead ofLake Erie andLake Ontario).
There are tens of thousands of islands in the Georgian Bay. Most of these islands are along the east side of the bay and are collectively known as the "Thirty Thousand Islands", including the largerParry Island. Manitoulin Island, lying along the northern side of the bay, is the world's largest island in a freshwater lake. TheTrent–Severn Waterway connects the Georgian Bay to Lake Ontario, running fromPort Severn in the southeastern corner of the Georgian Bay throughLake Simcoe into Lake Ontario nearTrenton. Further north,Lake Nipissing drains into the Georgian Bay through theFrench River. In October 2004, theGeorgian Bay Littoral was declared aBiosphere Reserve byUNESCO.
Archaeological records reveal anAboriginal presence in the southern regions of the Canadian Shield dating from 11,000 years ago. Evidence of laterPaleo-Indian settlements have been found on Manitoulin Island and nearKillarney.
During the period ofdeglaciation, a succession of prehistoric lakes in the Huron basin caused shoreline advance and retreat. The former shoreline of pro-glacialLake Algonquin left behind high ridges which were attractive sites for human occupation. As shorelines retreated, the highly mobile Paleo-Indian groups of the period were able to migrate northward into this new land.[8]: 56 Declining water levels created two distinct lakes in the Huron basin:Lake Stanley andLake Hough, the latter of which corresponds to the modern Georgian Bay. Lake Stanley drained into Lake Hough through a spillway. While it is sometimes unclear whether some sites were contemporaneous with shorelines or were located a distance inland,[8]: 56–57 sites are geographically temporally stratified in correspondence with water levels.
For example, at two sites along Batteaux Creek near modern-dayCollingwood adjacent to the south shore of the Georgian Bay, the transitional Late Paleo-Indian–Early Archaic[8]: 55 McKean site corresponds to the relatively low water ebb of Lake Hough, while the Middle Archaic Rentner site (likely a true shoreline site) reflects the high water levels of the later Nipissing transgression.[8]: 57
At the time of Europeancontact, theOjibwe andOttawa First Nations, both of whom call themselvesAnishinaabe (plural:Anishinaabeg), lived along the northern, eastern and western shores of the Georgian Bay. TheHuron (or Wendat) andPetun inhabited the lands along the southern coast, having migrated from the northern shores of Lake Ontario. Names of islands such as "Manitoulin" (fromGitchi Manitou, the Great Spirit who left the bay as a source of life for the first people) and "Giant's Tomb" are indicative of the richness of the cultural history of the area. Aboriginal communities continue to live on their territories and practise their cultural traditions.
The firstEuropean to visit this area was likelyÉtienne Brûlé, who at an age of less than 20, in 1610 was sent to live as aninterpreter trainee with theOnontchataronon, anAlgonquian people of theOttawa River. He travelled every winter to live with theArendarhonon people of theHuron-Wendat Nation at the southern end of the Georgian Bay, in the area now calledHuronia. Brulé returned to the Arendarhonon the following year. At the same time another young interpreter trainee, a youth remembered only as Thomas, who was employed by the Frenchsurgeon andtrader Daniel Boyer, also likely made it to Huronia, in the company of the Onontchataronon, another member of the confederacy.
In 1615, Brulé's employer, the French explorerSamuel de Champlain, made his own visit to the Georgian Bay and overwintered inHuronia. He was preceded that summer by aRécolletmissionary,Joseph Le Caron, who would live among the Huron in 1615–1616 and 1623–1624. Another Récollet missionary,Gabriel Sagard, lived there from 1623 to 1634. The FrenchJesuitJean de Brébeuf began a mission in Huronia in 1626. In 1639 he oversaw the building of the mission fort of Sainte-Marie, Ontario's first European settlement, at what is now the town ofMidland. The reconstructed Jesuit mission,Sainte-Marie among the Hurons, is now a historic park operated by Huronia Historical Parks, an agency of theOntario Ministry of Tourism and Culture. Also nearby is theMartyrs' Shrine, a Catholic church dedicated to theCanadian Martyrs, Jesuits who were killed duringIroquois warfare against the Huron around the Georgian Bay in the 17th century. The Bay appears on maps of the time as "Toronto Bay".
Penetanguishene, the location of an Ojibwe village located at the southern tip of the bay near present-day Midland, was developed as anaval base in 1793 byJohn Graves Simcoe, firstLieutenant Governor of Upper Canada. In 1814, during theWar of 1812 between Great Britain and the United States, one of the battles was fought in the southern Georgian Bay. On August 17, at the mouth of theNottawasaga River near Wasaga Beach, the BritishschoonerHMSNancy was sunk by three American vessels. Several weeks later,Nancy was avenged when British boarding parties in theDe Tour Passage surprised and captured two of the three American vessels.
The first nautical charts of the Georgian Bay were made in 1815 by CaptainWilliam Fitzwilliam Owen, who called it Lake Manitoulin. CaptainHenry Bayfield, who made more detailed charts of the bay, renamed it in 1822 after King George IV. His charts are the basis for those in use today.
TheCanadian Hydrographic Service traces its history back to 1883, when it was originally established as the Georgian Bay Survey, tasked with charting and improving knowledge of the bay after a steamship wrecked there the previous year, killing 150 of its passengers.
Over the years, 32 lighthouses were built on the Georgian Bay. Six of them were designed with limestone towers; these were built in the 1850s and are known collectively as the Imperial Towers. Some of the 32 can be toured by the public, some cannot, and some are accessible only by tour boats or private boat.[9]
Wyandot legend tells of a god called Kitchikewana, who was large enough to guard the whole of the Georgian Bay. Kitchikewana was known for his great temper, and his tribe decided the best way to calm him was with a wife. They held a grand celebration, and many women came. Kitchikewana met a woman named Wanakita here. He decided that this was the woman he wanted to marry, and started planning the wedding immediately after she left. But when she was invited back, she told Kitchikewana that she was already engaged. Enraged, Kitchikewana destroyed all the decorations, running to one end ofBeausoleil Island and grabbing a large ball of earth. Running to the other end, he tossed it into the Great Lakes. Thus, the 30,000 Islands were created. The indentations left behind by his fingers form the five bays of the Georgian Bay: Midland, Penetang, Hog, Sturgeon, andMatchedash.[10] He then lay down to sleep and sleeps there still asGiant's Tomb Island.
The town ofPenetanguishene now has a large statue of Kitchikewana on its main street, and there is a YMCA summer camp for youth located onBeausoleil Island named after Kitchikewana.[11]
Wasaga Beach has now passedCollingwood as the largest town on the bay, not long after Collingwood had surpassedOwen Sound.[12] Owen Sound served for a long time as a shipping and rail depot for theUpper Great Lakes. The towns ofMidland andPenetanguishene and villages ofPort Severn andHoney Harbour are at the southeastern end of the bay and are popular sites for summer cottages, as are the many bays and islands on the eastern coast. Collingwood,Meaford, and Wasaga Beach are located at the southern end of the bay, aroundNottawasaga Bay. Owen Sound,Wiarton, andLion's Head are located on theBruce Peninsula along the southern and southwestern shores of the bay, whileTobermory is located at the northern tip of the Bruce Peninsula on the Main Channel. The passenger ferryMS Chi-Cheemaun travels from Tobermory across the Main Channel toSouth Baymouth on Manitoulin Island.Parry Sound, the world's deepest freshwater port, is located on the eastern shore of the bay.[13]
There are communities of summer cottages on the north and east shore and on the adjacent 30,000 Islands. These include areas such as Cognashene, Wah Wah Taysee,Sans Souci,Pointe au Baril andByng Inlet. Most of these cottages are accessible only by water.
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