Cobscook Bay is located in Washington County in the state of Maine. It opens into Passamaquoddy Bay, within the Bay of Fundy. Cobscook Bay is immediately south of the island city of Eastport, the main island of which (Moose Island) straddles the two bays. In the 1930s, Cobscook Bay was part of the aborted Passamaquoddy Bay Tidal Power Project (a.k.a., Quoddy Dam Project) to generate electricity from its large tidal range.
Cobscook Bay is a large bay in Washington County, Maine that opens into Passamaquoddy Bay within the Bay of Fundy through a relatively narrow opening. It is about 10 miles (16 km) long and 10 wide and has a long, convoluted coastline with many islands. The mouth of the bay is bracketed by the island city of Eastport, which is principally on Moose Island, and by the town of Lubec. Other townships around the bay are Perry, Pembroke, Dennysville, Edmunds, and Tresscott. There are about 7,000 people living in the nine communities in the area, many of whom are fishermen or work in fish farming, shipping or tourism. There is a scallop fishery here.
The bay is both geologically and hydrologically complex. The tide has an average range of 18.4 feet (5.6 m) (and range that can exceed 26 feet) and there are strong currents as large volumes of sea water flow into and out of the bay twice a day. The bay is very shallow with the average depth being about 10 metres (33 ft) and about one third of its area is exposed at low water. The volume of freshwater entering from streams is relatively small and the nutrient rich waters support a great diversity of phytoplankton and algae. These support a biodiverse community of fish, shellfish, marine worms and other invertebrates. Many birds feed on these and the bay is an important visiting place for migrating birds and waterfowl.