Beautiful Bays Trivia Quiz

Answer: James Bay

Considered to be the southernmost boundary of the Arctic Ocean, James Bay, an arm of Hudson Bay, was named for Thomas James, a Welsh sea captain. He surveyed the area in 1631, when it was already an important center of the fur trade. While the waters of the bay border Ontario and Quebec, many of the islands contained within are administered by Nunavut.

With an area of 68,000 square kilometers (26,255 square miles), the bay is important for the production of hydroelectric power, as it contains many rivers within its watershed that produce approximately 83 billion kilowatt hours per year. It also borders on part of the Polar Bear Provincial Park, an polar bear sanctuary, that is only reachable by air and requires special permission to visit.

Answer: Vietnam

Considered to be the largest bay in the world, the Bay of Bengal is part of the Indian Ocean and occupies an area of 2.2 million square kilometers (839,000 square miles). Many rivers flow into the bay, including the Ganges, Irrawaddy, and the Brahmaputra. It is the site of the area's important seaports, such as Chennai (India), Jaffna (Sri Lanka), and Akyaband (Myanmar), and is home to a valuable fishing industry.

Since it is the largest bay in the world, it touches many countries, including Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and India, along with the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which are union territories of India.

Answer: Botany Bay

People have been living in the area of Botany Bay for centuries; the first European landing was orchestrated by Captain James Cook on April 29, 1770. Originally named Stingrays Harbour due to the discovery of so many stingrays living there, Captain Cook decided to change the name because Sir Joseph Banks, the ship's naturalist, found many new plants in the region. Today tourists may visit the Kamay Botany Bay National Park, where Banks found many of his plants and where Captain Cook first set foot in Australia.

An inlet of the Tasman Sea, the bay has an area of 55 square kilometers (21 square miles), and receives water from the George and Cooks Rivers. Although the bay is a shallow 11.4 m (37 feet) in comparison to other bays, it continues to serve as the main seaport of Sydney.

Answer: Guanabara Bay

With an area of 412 square kilometers (159 square miles), Guanabara Bay, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean, contains more than 130 islands. Sugar Loaf Mountain is found at the bay's western tip.

Originally named Rio de Janeiro Bay, Guanabara Bay serves as the main port of call for the city. Travelers are able to island hop using ferries or crossing the Rio-Niteroi Bridge, which is 13.29 kilometers (8.26 miles) long.

Unfortunately the once pristine bay has suffered environmental problems in recent years. An estimated 70% of the raw sewage from the city flows into Guanabara Bay. In addition, there have been oil spills in the area that have damaged the area's ecosystems.

Answer: Bay of Islands

The Bay of Islands, which covers 260 square kilometers (100 square miles), contains more than 140 islands, and is an arm of the Pacific Ocean. It is estimated that the Māori arrived in the area and settled there about 700 years ago; it was first discovered by Europeans under the leadership of Captain Cook in 1769.

When the government of New Zealand invited Zane Grey, already an accomplished writer, to the area, the hope was that he would help to promote the fishing and tourism industries. He fell in love with the Bay of Islands, and returned there on many fishing expeditions. Urupukapuka, the largest island in the bay, was used as his base camp, and he eventually built a lodge there.

Answer: Table Bay

After its European discovery by Bartolomeu Dias, Table Bay, part of the Atlantic Ocean, became an important stop for ships traveling to the Indies. Even though the area did not have the best harbor, there was fresh water nearby. The Dutch established the first permanent European settlement, which became known as Cape Town, there in 1652.

With an area of 13 square kilometers (5 square miles), Table Bay extends to the Cape of Good Hope. It was named Table Bay because the scenic views of the area are dominated by Table Mountain.

Answer: Emperor penguins

Also known as Atka Iceport, Atka Bay covers approximately 256 square kilometers (100 square miles) in front of the Estrom Ice Shelf in the eastern Weddell Sea, an arm of the Southern Ocean in Antarctica. Mapped by Norwegians during the Norwegian-British-Swedish Antarctic Expedition from 1949-1952, it was eventually named after the USS Atka, which was based in the region in 1955 while looking for possible research sites.

The Important Bird Area, one of over 13,000 recognized sites around the world, is the habitat of approximately 12,000 emperor penguins. In 2022 it was reported that a robot had been placed among the penguins for the purpose of monitoring some of them, especially as they are being threatened by the prospect of global warming.

Answer: Maine

The Bay of Fundy, part of the Atlantic Ocean, covers approximately 9300 square kilometers (3,600 square miles). The eastern most city in the United States, appropriately named Eastport, is its main port on the Bay of Fundy. Located on Moose Island, Eastport overlooks the Old Sow Whirlpool, which is the largest tidal whirlpool in the Western Hemisphere. Fishing, lumbering, and aquaculture are important industries there.

Answer: Corregidor

Manila Bay, which has an area of almost 2,000 square kilometers (770 square miles), is divided into two channels by the islands of Caballo and Corregidor. Because of their location, which guards the harbor of Manila, the largest city and capital of the Philipines, Corregidor and Caballo have long been an important part of the area's defense system.

Corregidor, known as The Rock because of its landscape, was the site of two sieges during WWII between the Japanese and United States. The first siege, in 1942, resulted in the loss of the island to Japanese force; in 1945 the island was recovered by American and Filipino troops.

Answer: Bay of Naples

Part of the Mediterranean Sea, the Bay of Naples is approximately 870 square kilometers (336 square miles) in size. Located in the southwestern part of Italy, the Bay of Naples contains three islands - Ischia, Procida, and Capri, which are beautiful tourist destinations.

The primary port of the area is Naples, but the historic locations of Pompeii and Herculaneum are nearby. Mt. Vesuvius is still an active volcano, which had its last major eruption in 1944. Local people claim that the tomatoes in the area are so tasty because they are grown in volcanic soil!

While in Naples, don't forget to have some pizza and visit the amazing Naples National Archaeological Museum! And don't forget to visit the beautiful town of Sorrento, which is located on the Sorrento Peninsula at the southern end of the Bay of Naples.