Waquoit Bay

Waquoit Bay is a public national estuary, typically used as a research reserve, that is located on the southern shore of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, USA. It is a part of Nantucket Sound. This bay forms the border of the towns of Falmouth and Mashpee. The name Waquoit comes from the Wompanoag language of the word Weeqayut (Waquoit) that means Place of Light.

Due to the pressures on the coastal resources of the United States, Congress enacted the Coastal Zone Management Act that gave federal aid to operate estuarine areas as natural field laboratories. Waquoit Bay is one of these natural field laboratory zones. The areas that the Coastal Management Act Encompass are: Visitor Center/Headquarters Property 28-acre (11 ha) The Visitor's Center is open year-round, Monday through Friday, 10 am – 4 pm.

This Center has a path to the beach below it and hosts many activities to teach children and anyone who wishes to learn about the creatures from the water in the Bay. South Cape Beach State Park, Sage Lot Pond and Flat Pond 432 acres (175 ha). This eastern section of the reserve serves as a swimming beach, which is a noted fishing site during the annual bluefish and striped bass migrations. It is also a sanctuary for protected species such as piping plover and least tern. Sage Lot and Flat Ponds are salt ponds to the east of Waquoit Bay.

The Quashnet River Property is 361 acres (approximately 146 ha). The Quashnet River is the primary source of fresh water reaching the bay, which is mostly surrounded by upland forests. There is a three-mile (5 km) trail that loops along the river. North Quashnet Woodlands is 25 acres (approximately 10 ha), these pine woodlands encompass an abandoned cranberry bog.

Trout Unlimited has converted the cranberry bog channel on company grounds back into a river. Waquoit Bay 825 acres (334 ha) Fresh water enters the Bay from four principal sources: the Quashnet/Moonakis River, Red Brook, Childs River, and ground water overflow. The following rivers and bodies of water are salt ponds traced back to the east of the Waquoit Bay, reachable by kayak: the Hamblin Pond, 141 acres (57 ha), Jehu Pond, 172 acres (70 ha) Abigail's Brook The following freshwater ponds drain to the Waquoit Bay at the northern side and offer kayaking and fishing:Bog Pond, 2.8 acres (1.1 ha) Bourne Pond, is just over 10 acres (4.0 ha) in surface area and consequently is considered a Great Pond under the laws of the Massachusetts.

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