View source for Massachusetts Bay

{{Short description|Bay on the Atlantic Ocean}}
{{Distinguish|Massachusetts Bay Colony|Province of Massachusetts Bay}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2025}}
{{More footnotes|date=June 2013}}
{{Infobox body of water
|name = Massachusetts Bay
|image =
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|image_map = Cape Cod Bay map.png
|caption_map = Bays of Massachusetts
|image_bathymetry =
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|location = [[United States]]
|coords = {{Coord|42|22|30|N|70|44|58|W|type:waterbody_scale:1000000_region:US-MA_source:GNIS|display=title}}|pushpin_map=USA
|rivers =
|oceans = [[Atlantic Ocean]]
|countries = {{Flag|United States}}
|length =
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'''Massachusetts Bay''' is a [[bay]] on the [[Gulf of Maine]] that forms part of the central coastline of [[Massachusetts]].

==Description==
The bay extends from [[Cape Ann]] on the north to [[Plymouth Harbor]] on the south, a distance of about {{convert|42|mi}}. Its northern and southern shores incline toward each other through the entrance to [[Boston Harbor]], where they are about five miles apart. The depth from the base of the triangle to Boston Harbor is about {{convert|21|mi}}. The westmost point of the bay is at the city of [[Boston]].

The northern shore of Massachusetts Bay is rocky and irregular, but the southern shore is low, marshy, and sandy. Along the shores are a number of capes and headlands, and off the coast a number of small islands, especially in the entrance to Boston Harbor. The principal inlets are: on the north coast, [[Gloucester, MA|Gloucester]] Harbor, [[Nahant, MA|Nahant]] Bay, [[Salem Harbor]], [[Marblehead Harbor]], and [[Lynn, MA|Lynn]] Harbor, and on the west, [[Boston Harbor]], [[Dorchester Bay (Boston Harbor)|Dorchester Bay]], and [[Quincy Bay]] (the two latter being part of the Outer Boston Harbor), and on the south coast, [[Hingham Bay]]. Massachusetts Bay is itself part of the [[Gulf of Maine]], which extends from [[Nova Scotia]] south to [[Cape Cod Bay]]. Cape Cod Bay is sometimes considered to be part of Massachusetts Bay. Under this interpretation, the name "Massachusetts Bay" denotes the entire rectangular area of ocean between Cape Ann and [[Cape Cod]].

In 1994 the Massachusetts Bay National Estuary Program's Shellfish Bed Restoration Program grew out of the Bluefish River restoration project in Duxbury Massachusetts. The Mass CZM'S Southshore Regional Coordinator, Robert L. Fultz brought together local, regional, state and federal partners to complete this project. The program was then expanded for the entire Mass Bays program and adopted by the Gulf of Maine National Estuary Program. The Shellfish Program's goal was to address coastal non-point source pollution by restoring high visibility nearshore shellfish beds.It's success was based on recognizing that environmental restoration required a partnership of fragmented governmental jurisdictions, expertise and resources. The program has morphed into the Coastal Pollution Remediation Program (CPR) and Mass Bay Estuary Program funding regional staff engaged in coastal environmental restoration.

==Massachusetts Bay Disposal Site==
The Massachusetts Bay Disposal Site in deep water off the coast has been used for [[ocean dumping]], to dispose of munitions, dredged material, rock and [[construction debris]] and sunken vessels.<ref name=usgs>{{cite web|title=Massachusetts Bay Disposal Site Maps, Open-File Report 98-344|url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1998/of98-344/intro.htm|publisher=U.S. Geological Survey|access-date=31 July 2015|date=1998}}</ref> [[Chemical warfare]] munitions were dumped between 1919 and 1970, and hundreds of thousands of tons of surplus artillery and munitions were dumped after World War II. The majority later washed up on shore. Most of them are inert [[unexploded ordnance]], but occasionally they are live. Fishermen have brought a torpedo into [[Provincetown, Massachusetts|Provincetown]], a depth charge into [[Gloucester, Massachusetts|Gloucester]], and mustard munitions into [[New Bedford, Massachusetts|New Bedford]].<ref name=wbgh>{{cite news|author1=Edgar B. Herwick III|title=Explosive Beach Objects-- Just Another Example Of Massachusetts' Charm|url=http://wgbhnews.org/post/explosive-beach-objects-just-another-example-massachusetts-charm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151227141631/http://wgbhnews.org/post/explosive-beach-objects-just-another-example-massachusetts-charm|archive-date=27 December 2015|access-date=31 July 2015|work=WGBH news|publisher=PBS|date=29 July 2015}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

*{{Americana|wstitle=Massachusetts Bay}}
* {{Cite NIE|wstitle=Massachusetts Bay|year=1905}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Massachusetts Bay}}
* {{Cite Collier's|wstitle=Massachusetts Bay |short=x}}

{{Gulf of Maine drainage estuaries}}
{{Coastal waterbodies of Massachusetts}}
{{Massachusetts rivers}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Bays of Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Bays of Essex County, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Bays of Plymouth County, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Bodies of water of Suffolk County, Massachusetts]]