Cobscook Bay

[2] The volume of freshwater entering from streams is relatively small and the nutrient rich waters support a great diversity of phytoplankton and algae.

[1] The area surrounding the bay is well-timbered, but as well as forests there are streams, lakes, bogs, marshes and mudflats interspersed by a network of trails.

[3] In 1935, a proposal by FDR friend and engineer Dexter Cooper[4][5] to build a barrage to harness the power of the tides in the area was inititiated.

Construction was started and some dikes were built, but a year later, the United States Congress withdrew its support and funding and the scheme was abandoned.

[4][6][7][8][9] The generation of electricity from the bay's tidal currents was ultimately accomplished in September 2012 by Ocean Renewable Power Company.

One of these is the bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) and Cobscook Bay has more pairs of these rare birds per square mile than the rest of Maine.

In the fall, the bay is used by large numbers of birds migrating southwards from their summer breeding grounds.

[1] "Cobscook Bay" is also the title of a song by The Mountain Goats from their EP Isopanisad Radio Hour.