Shepody Bay

Shepody Bay
Map
Coordinates45°48′N 64°33′W / 45.800°N 64.550°W / 45.800; -64.550
Area122 km2 (47 sq mi)
Designated27 May 1987
Reference no.363[1]

Shepody Bay (French: Baie de Chipoudy) is a tidal embayment, an extension of the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick, Canada, which consists of 77 square kilometres (30 sq mi) of open water and 40 km2 (15 sq mi) of mudflats, with 4 km2 (1.5 sq mi) of saline marsh on the west, and eroding sand and gravel beaches covering an area of approximately 1 km2 (0.39 sq mi) on the eastern shore.[2] The intertidal mudflats "support internationally important numbers of the crustacean Corophium volutator, the principal food source for millions of fall migrating shorebirds".[2]

The surrounding area of 122 km2 (47 sq mi) of coastal wetland was designated a Ramsar wetland of international importance on May 27, 1987,[2] is a globally significant Important Bird Area,[3] and is part of the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network.[2]

It is located about 50 kilometres (31 mi) south of Moncton. The nearest population centre is Riverside-Albert with a population of about 320. The Trans Canada Trail passes across part of Shepody Marsh.

Major streams feeding into the bay are the Shepody River, Petitcodiac River and Memramcook River. These three rivers gave the area its name under Acadian occupation in the seventeenth and eighteenth century, Trois Rivieres.

  1. ^ "Shepody Bay". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Archived from the original on 13 June 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d "The Annotated Ramsar List: Canada". The Annotated Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance. Ramsar Convention Bureau. 10 January 2000. Archived from the original on 29 January 2008. Retrieved 30 January 2008.
  3. ^ "Shepody Bay West". IBA Canada. Archived from the original on 12 June 2011. Retrieved 30 January 2008.