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28-582: Great Bay may refer to: Great Bay (New Hampshire) , a tidal estuary in southeastern New Hampshire Great Bay (New Jersey) , a tidal estuary north of Atlantic City Great Bay, Tasmania . a locality in Australia Greater Bay Area , a megalopolis in South China Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with

56-511: A distance of 12 miles (19 km). The Great Bay Estuary is a tidally-dominated system and is the drainage confluence of three major rivers, the Lamprey , Squamscott , and Winnicut . Four additional rivers flow into the system between Furber Strait and the open coast: the Cocheco , Salmon Falls , Bellamy , and Oyster rivers. The Piscataqua River is an ocean-dominated system extending from

84-417: A few of the cargoes. Salt hay harvested along the shores was used as food and bedding for horses and cattle. Sawmills located along the tidal rivers produced lumber that was exported to other U.S. ports. Core drilling shows evidence that the whole bay was once covered by several inches of sawdust from the dozens of sawmills around the bay's shores. The lumber produced also fueled the shipbuilding business along

112-804: A sawmill in what is today's Berwick, Maine , on a tributary above the head of tide of the Piscataqua. Thought to be the first over-shot water-powered site in America, it became known as the "Great Works", giving name to today's Great Works River . After the Allies' European victory in the Second World War , four surrendered German U-boats traveled upriver to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard , with their captains and crews interned as POWs at Portsmouth Naval Prison . U-805

140-658: Is a tidal estuary located in Strafford and Rockingham counties in eastern New Hampshire , United States . The bay occupies over 6,000 acres (24 km ), not including its several tidal river tributaries. Its outlet is at Hilton Point in Dover, New Hampshire , where waters from the bay flow into the Piscataqua River , thence proceeding southeast to the Atlantic Ocean near Portsmouth . The northern end of

168-559: Is one of the largest estuaries on the Atlantic Coast and at 10 miles (16 km) inland is one of the most recessed. Approximately 14,000 years ago, following the melting of the glaciers, the Great Bay estuary was formed. The glacial melt waters contributed to rising ocean waters, which flooded the land and filled the river valleys that make up Great Bay today. There are five very different water-dominated habitats that make up

196-530: The 19th and early 20th centuries. Gristmills and tanneries on the rivers of the estuary contributed significantly to the chemical pollution until the mid 20th century. When the Greek entrepreneur Aristotle Onassis proposed building the Olympic Oil Refinery in the town of Durham along the shore of Great Bay in 1973, local citizens mobilized and, by exercising their right to "home rule", defeated

224-726: The Atlantic Ocean. The drainage basin of the river is approximately 1,495 square miles (3,870 km ), including the subwatersheds of the Great Works River and the five rivers flowing into Great Bay : the Bellamy , Oyster , Lamprey , Squamscott , and Winnicut . The river runs southeastward, with New Hampshire to the south and west and Maine to the north and east, and empties into the Gulf of Maine east of Portsmouth, New Hampshire . The last 6 miles (10 km) before

252-493: The Great Bay. In order of abundance they are: eelgrass meadows, mudflats , salt marsh , channel bottom, and rocky intertidal . These habitats are home to 162 bird, fish and plant species (23 of which are threatened or endangered), countless invertebrate species and even the occasional harbor seal. Eelgrass is one of a very few underwater marine flowering plants. It has many functions in the estuarine system. The eelgrass community provides habitat for several organisms, especially

280-727: The Gulf of Maine at Portsmouth Harbor and forming the border of New Hampshire and Maine to the fork of its tributaries, the Salmon Falls and Cocheco rivers. These rivers, several small creeks and their tributaries and ocean water from the Gulf of Maine create the Great Bay estuarine hydrosystem. The tidal range is dramatic within Great Bay. Average depth of the embayment is 2.7 meters (8.9 ft) with channels extending to 17.7 m (58 ft). The water surface of Great Bay covers 8.9 square miles (23 km ) at high tide and 4.2 square miles (11 km ) at low tide, leaving greater than 50% of

308-623: The Piscataqua River until steam-powered steel vessels became cheaper to build. Brickyards also dotted the shores of Great Bay and its tributaries. Blue marine clay was harvested from along the estuary shores and made into bricks that were used to build locally and all around New England. Cotton mills were an important part of the Industrial Revolution. Wherever gundalow ports were, mills were built. The estuary continued to be heavily used for commercial purposes throughout

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336-470: The bay exposed at low tide. The Great Bay Estuary, when counting the entire tidal system including the Piscataqua River , meets the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Piscataqua, between New Castle, New Hampshire and Kittery, Maine . Tides carry salt water into the estuary twice daily from the Atlantic. Here it mingles with the fresh water influence from the various rivers that empty into Great Bay. It

364-488: The bay, near its outlet, is referred to as Little Bay . Located within the Gulf of Maine watershed, the Great Bay Estuary is a drowned river valley composed of high-energy tidal waters, deep channels and fringing mudflats. The entire estuary extends inland from the mouth of the Piscataqua River between Kittery, Maine , and New Castle, New Hampshire through Little Bay into Great Bay proper at Furber Strait,

392-581: The end of the Pacific war. The shipyard is located on Seavey's Island in Kittery, Maine near the Piscataqua's mouth. Long regarded by some as being in New Hampshire, the yard was claimed by that state into the 2000s. However, the Piscataqua River border dispute over Seavey's Island was settled by a 2001 U.S. Supreme Court decision which cited a 1977 decision affirming New Hampshire's claim that

420-470: The estuary, including salt marshes, rocky shores, bluffs, woodlands, open fields, and riverine systems and tidal waters. Piscataqua River The Piscataqua River ( Abenaki : Pskehtekwis ) is a 12-mile-long (19 km) tidal river forming the boundary of the U.S. states of New Hampshire and Maine from its origin at the confluence of the Salmon Falls River and Cochecho River to

448-404: The extensive mudflat habitat for feeding, reproduction and protection from predators. The channel bottom habitat provides a place for fish and invertebrates to move to at low tide. It is also the preferred habitat for oysters, a highly specialized animal that only lives in estuaries. Rocky intertidal habitat provides firm anchorage for seaweeds, barnacles, and ribbed mussels. Each winter, much of

476-532: The proposal by a margin of nine to one. The Gulf of Maine , of which Great Bay is a branch, is often considered by scientists and the public alike as one of the most pristine marine environments on the East Coast of the United States . As a result of its water circulation patterns and the combined productivity of its seaweed , salt marsh grasses , and phytoplankton , the Gulf of Maine is also one of

504-526: The river was Martin Pring in 1603. Captain John Smith placed a spelling similar to "Piscataqua" for the region on his map of 1614. The river was the site of the first sawmill in the colonies in 1623, the same year the contemporary spelling "Piscataqua" was first recorded. Once salmon, sturgeon, oysters, clams, scallops, lobsters, mussels, eels, seals, and many others species of marine life were common in

532-689: The river, evidenced by such tributaries as the Salmon Falls River , Sturgeon Creek and Seal Rock in Eliot, Maine , the Oyster River in Durham, New Hampshire , and the Lamprey River in Newmarket, New Hampshire . All but the salmon and sturgeon remain, with fishing for striped bass and bluefish common recreational sports. In the mid 1630s some of the region's earliest European settlers built

560-460: The sea are known as Portsmouth Harbor and have a tidal current of around 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph). The cities/towns of Portsmouth, New Castle , Newington , Kittery and Eliot have developed around the harbor. Named by the area's original Abenaki inhabitants, the word Piscataqua is believed to be a combination of peske (branch) with tegwe (a river with a strong current, possibly tidal). The first known European to explore

588-410: The seemingly endless supply of resources. They used the bay to transport their harvests. The tidal influence was the perfect way to move goods without much human or animal effort. A simple, flat-bottomed boat, the gundalow , was developed to make use of the tides and carry heavy loads in shallow waters. Gundalows transported many types of freight. Saltmarsh hay, lumber, fish, clay and textiles were just

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616-442: The standing crop of seaweeds becomes entrapped in ice. When the ice begins to break up in spring, the seaweeds are torn from the rocks and enter into the detritus cycle. Native Americans were the first to live on the shores of Great Bay. They survived on the abundant fish, shellfish, waterfowl and mammals that lived in and around the estuary. The early 17th century brought the arrival of European settlers who also took advantage of

644-578: The state borders met at the center of the river's navigable channel as described in a 1740 decree, thus placing the island in Maine. The Piscataqua River and its tributaries, including Great Bay , form a substantial estuarine environment . Two rivers, the Salmon Falls and Cochecho , join to form the Piscataqua on the eastern edge of Dover, New Hampshire , at the northwest corner of Eliot, Maine . Five rivers with tidal stretches flow into Great Bay :

672-473: The title Great Bay . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Great_Bay&oldid=1217888600 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Great Bay (New Hampshire) Great Bay

700-416: The world's most productive water bodies. Historically, it has been a source of livelihood for tens of thousands of commercial fishermen. More recently, recreation- and tourism-related employment has been recognized as a major contributor to the region's economy. The Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve occupies several portions of the bay's shoreline and protects numerous land and water areas around

728-423: The young of fish and invertebrates. Eelgrass roots help stabilize the bottom sediments. Eelgrass plants help maintain water quality and clarity by filtering the water allowing sediments to settle and then using the excess nutrients for growth. More than half of Great Bay is exposed as mudflats at low tide. Worms, soft-shelled clams, mud snails, green crabs, wading birds, horseshoe crabs and many other animals utilize

756-494: Was enough to create a media sensation, it was decades later before the U.S. government revealed that the sub also carried a top secret load of uranium oxide produced by the German atomic weapons program bound for a last-ditch Japanese effort. Instead, the extremely valuable nuclear material was diverted to the U.S.' top secret Manhattan Project , and ended up part of the bomb the U.S. Army Air Corps dropped over Hiroshima to hasten

784-575: Was the first to arrive, towed up the river to a rendezvous with U.S. officials on a tugboat off the Navy Yard on May 15, 1945. U-873 and U-1228 arrived the next day. U-234 , by far the greatest prize, arrived on May 19, seized off Nova Scotia by the U.S. destroyer escort Sutton . It had left Germany with a cargo bound for Japan of a disassembled Messerschmitt Me 262 jet plane, the most sophisticated fighter of World War II; two top Japanese scientists; and two high-ranking Nazi officers. While this

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