Saco Bay
Saco Bay ( in the United States.
Saco Bay is approximately 10 mi (16 km) wide, running from the Fletcher Neck (the
Ecosystem
Construction of a railroad causeway in the 19th century led to the closure of the Little River Inlet. This tidal re-entrant had formed the county line between York and Cumberland counties and the town line between Scarborough and Old Orchard Beach. Prior to its closure, the Pine Point region of Scarborough was a barrier island, the only one in Maine.[2] Behind Pine Point is the state run wildlife management area for Scarborough Marsh. The marsh is 15% of the state's total tidal marsh area and the largest contiguous marsh in Maine. The state owns and manages a 3,100-acre (13 km2) reserve, of which 2,700 acres (11 km2) is salt marsh, about 200 acres (0.81 km2) is upland habitats, with the remainder being other types of wetlands. The marsh is an excellent site for birding as 72% of the water dependent birds that can be found in Maine can be found at the marsh. The marsh is located within 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of two nationally significant seabird nesting islands. The marsh has been designated essential habitat for endangered piping plovers and least terns.[3] The Maine Audubon Society maintains a center at the marsh from which visitors can do hikes or rent a canoe and paddle through the marsh.[4]
The U.S.
Sand movement and erosion
The
Much of the inner shore of the bay is within the town of Old Orchard Beach, Maine's largest resort beach community.[7] The geology of the larger Gulf of Maine means that warm waters coming up the Atlantic Coast are kept far offshore, while the inshore waters are flowing from the north to the south, fed by the Labrador Current that originates from the glaciers of Greenland, making most Maine coastal waters very cold, especially to the east. The combination of Saco Bay's western location, the inland waters of the Saco river, and the bay's local flow from the south to the north make it the warmest water for swimming in Maine, although summer water temperatures regularly dip into the 50s (Fahrenheit).[8]
History
The bay was mapped in 1605 by the French explorer Samuel de Champlain, who named it the Baie de Chouacouët, also spelled Chouacoit[9] or Chouacoet (as recorded in The Jesuit Relations),[10] which de Champlain said was the name used by the indigenous Abenaki people of the area.[11] His chart of the bay and the mouth of the river has been described as one of his best charts.[12]
In 1616,
Winslow Homer painting
Saco Bay or Sunset, Saco Bay is a painting by Winslow Homer, showing a view of the bay from Checkley Point on the southwestern side of Prouts Neck. According to Winslow he worked on it for about 10 years, finishing only 3 days before shipping it for exhibition. It was first exhibited in 1897 at the Society of American Artists in New York City. The painting is now at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute.[14]
References
- ^ Slovinsky, Peter A. & Dickson, Stephen M. (2005). "Variation of Beach Morphology along the Saco Bay Littoral Cell: an Analysis of Recent Trends and Management Alternatives". Maine Geological Survey. Department of Conservation, State of Maine. Retrieved July 1, 2006.
- ^ Roger, Allen; Reardon, Janine; White, Tracy; Toomey, Mr. and Mrs. Dennis (January 2001). "East Grand Beach". State of Maine Beach Profiling Project. University of Maine Department of Earth Sciences. Retrieved July 1, 2006.
- ^ "Scarborough Marsh – A Resource to Treasure!". Friends of Scarborough Marsh. Retrieved July 1, 2006.
- ^ "Scarborough Marsh Audubon Center". Maine Audubon. Archived from the original on June 30, 2006. Retrieved July 1, 2006.
- ^ Garrity, Paul (July 31, 2005). "Least Terns Nest on Stratton Island". Mainebirding.net. Archived from the original on January 5, 2006. Retrieved July 1, 2006.
- ISSN 1064-2587. Retrieved July 2, 2006.
- ^ U.S. EPA Office of Policy, Planning, and Evaluation (September 1995). "Vulnerability of Maine Sites to Accelerated Sea-Level Rise" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on May 19, 2006. Retrieved July 1, 2006.
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has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Baldwin, Letitia (June 25, 2006). "C'mon in! The water's f-f-fine". The Boston Globe. Retrieved July 1, 2006.
- ^ "Champlain's map of Saco Bay and the Saco River, 1605". Maine Memory Network. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
- ^ "The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents Vol. I, by Reuben Gold Thwaites". www.gutenberg.org. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
- ^ Trudel, Marcel (1979) [1966]. "Champlain, Samuel de". In Brown, George Williams (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. I (1000–1700) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press. Retrieved July 2, 2006.
- ^ "400th Anniversaries of Champlain's Voyages". June 14, 2002. Retrieved July 2, 2006., which cites Morison, Samuel Eliot (1972). Samuel de Champlain: Father of New France. Little Brown and Company.
- ISBN 9780598776983. Retrieved July 2, 2006.
- ^ Maurer, Susannah. "Saco Bay". Winslow Homer: Making Art, Making History. Archived from the original on January 5, 2006. Retrieved July 1, 2006.