What is a bay?

A bay landform is a body of water that is partially surrounded by land.

Two characteristics of a bay are

1) it is part of a body of salt water,

2) a bay reaches into land.

You may think of it as a large lake opened to a bigger body of water such as an ocean. Bays can be both large and small. It is also much different than a gulf. A gulf goes inland but a bay has a much smaller opening. A gulf is also much larger than a bay and usually has to do with oceans. Overall, a bay is smaller than a gulf.

Some of the most famous bays in the world are the Bay of Biscay and the San Francisco Bay. They are both gorgeous in their own right. The San Francisco Bay gets a lot of fog that is picture worthy while the Bay of Biscay has a history for the World Wars.

Places Bays are found

San Fransisco Bay by California

Saginaw Bay by Michigan

Bay of Biscay near France.

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