Boatnerd Discussion Forum

For what its worth, here are some excerpts from NOAA's Coast Pilot 6.

69) Whitefish Bay is a large deep bay in the southeast corner of Lake Superior in the approach to the head of St. Marys River. Point Iroquois (46°29'06"N., 84°37'48"W.), marked by an abandoned lighthouse, is on the southeast side of the bay on the west side of the entrance to St. Marys River.

Gros Cap, ON (46°32'N., 84°35'W.), the northeast entrance point to the St. Marys River, has radio masts with air obstruction lights nearby.

So NOAA considers it to be Lake Superior to a line between Gros Cap and Point Iroqois, and the St. Marys River east of there.

Judging from the definition, a bay is a portion of the larger body of water. http://www.dictionary.com/browse/bay?s=t. So, Whitefish bay is a portion of Lake Superior. Just my interpretation.

I would like to add a little bit onto this thread although some may also consider my questions and thoughts to be a small bit off of the subject here and I apologize for that if I do get off track and the subject as well. Anyway, I assume then that Essar Steel and their facilities would be considered then being in Lake Superior and also a Lake Superior port since they are on the Lake Superior side of the Soo Locks if I am correct on this? Also and this is again where I may fall under jurisdiction of being off the subject here and again I apologize for it, if I do. My point and questions are though, if you then take ships such as the cruise vessel Victory 1 along with the Training ship State of Michigan. Both of these vessels will go up through the Soo Locks into Lake Superior and will then turn around sometimes and come back down through the Soo Locks. My first question on those two ships are "Where do they go to in such a short distance and timeframe to be up and back through the Soo Locks so quickly?" Second one is when they both go up and into Lake Superior, "Is this considered then considered to be going to a Lake Superior port?" I would say No because they are just going up into the Lake, turning around and heading back down for the Locks. To be considered a Lake Superior Port, I feel that a vessel must be in one of the lake's ports itself but that is just me. If you can shed some more light and information on all this here, I would greatly appreciate some knowledge on this. Thanks in advance.

I would think everything to the Falls/locks would be Lake Superior and below the falls/locks would be the start of Lake Huron. Pretty clear delineation when you have an elevation change like that.

Interesting question. Same would apply for Green Bay to Lake Michigan, Georgian Bay for Lake Huron, and Maumee Bay for Lake Erie. Probably quite a few others as well but that is what is on the top of my head.

Whitefish Bay is part of Lake Superior through and through such as Green Bay for Lake Michigan or Georgian Bay for Lake Huron. Supeior ends at the mouth of the St. Mary's.

I'd say Lake Superior. There could be an argument for being the headwaters of the river, but others might defer to Gros Cap... IMHO

Is Whitefish Bay considered part of Lake Superior or is it considered a separate body of water? I ask because I have read that Whitefish Point is at the entrance to Lake Superior while other narratives do not make that distinction.