Geographical Misnomers - When Is a Bay a Lagoon, a Channel a Strait, a Pond a Lake?

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Russell_F_Moran]Russell F Moran
While entertaining a visiting friend from France, I took him on the obligatory trip to Fire Island, the barrier beach south of Long Island, New York. As we drove over the Robert Moses Causeway he pointed to the bay and said: "Ees a lagoon, no?" My French was as good as his English, but I tried to explain to him that, no, it is the Great South Bay, and I suggested that maybe bay means lagoon in French. But Louique, a retired naval officer, was a sharp guy and he knew a few things about matters nautical. Despite our language differences, we had a great time discussing our mutual naval experiences, he in submarines, me in anti-submarine warfare. He insisted that the bay was a lagoon, and struggled in vain to explain why. I decided to research the matter, and discovered that my friend was correct. Score one for the French!
Not only is the Great South Bay a lagoon, it's not even close to being a bay. Moriches Bay, Patchogue Bay and Shinnecock Bay to the east are also lagoons, all of which, including the Great South Bay, are part of the backbarrier lagoon system of the Long Island's South Shore. A lagoon is shallow and is near or connected with a larger body of water. The Great South Bay is certainly shallow, with an average depth of 4.2 feet at low tide. I once fell off a sailboat into the bay while changing a sail. My immediate thought was how long I would have to tread water. No problem. I stood there in chest deep water as my wife turned the boat around to pick me up.
A bay, on the other hand, is a concave body of water that is formed by the action of a sea or lake, and typically has a wide opening to the larger body of water. When we look out to the Hamptons, we see some real bays. Peconic Bay to the east is a typical bay. Gardiner's Bay, Little Peconic Bay, Great Peconic Bay - they are all one bay, just with local names. Picture a waterway shaped like a "u" or a "v."
We Long Islanders are not the only people who call a lagoon something different. Albemarle Sound and Pamlico Sound in North Carolina are lagoons, as is the Isle of Wight Bay off Ocean City, Maryland. And for those with too much time on their hands, ponder these nautical conundrums. How wide does a strait have to be before it's called a sound? How large is a pond before it becomes a lake? What is the difference between: a channel and a strait; a bay and a gulf; a fjord and an inlet? How about the all-time favorite: when does a boat become a ship? Relax. There are often no specific answers to these questions, so just live with the way things are named historically - with limits - If someone calls Lake Placid the Sea of Placid, I put my foot down.
Although we may visualize a lagoon as a small tropical waterway with a coral reef, palm trees and parrots, there are lagoons all over the world, and some are quite large such asLong Island's Great South Bay with 151 square miles of water.
But so what. I am not advocating changing the name of this beautiful bay. Let's face it, the "Great South Lagoon" just doesn't cut it. I always have, still do and always will call it the Great South Bay, and so should you. But you need to be armed with the knowledge that it really is a lagoon, and when a visiting friend asks, "Ees a lagoon, no?" you can respond with calculated smugness, "Of course it is. We Long Islanders just prefer to call it a bay."
Russ Moran is a lawyer and writer from Islip, New York. He is former Chairman of the Long Island Maritime Museum. Russ's blog, The Moran Report, may be seen at [http://www.morancom.com]http://www.morancom.com. His new book, Justice in America: How it Works - How it Fails, has just been published, and can be ordered on morancom.com. His next book: The APT Principal: The Business Plan You Keep in Your Head, will be published in September. Russ has been a boater on the Great South Bay for many years. He does not call it a lagoon.
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Geographical-Misnomers---When-Is-a-Bay-a-Lagoon,-a-Channel-a-Strait,-a-Pond-a-Lake?&id=6444053] Geographical Misnomers - When Is a Bay a Lagoon, a Channel a Strait, a Pond a Lake?