Bellingham Bay is a bay

Bay

A bay is an area of water mostly surrounded by land. Bays generally have calmer waters than the surrounding sea, due to the surrounding land blocking some waves and often reducing winds. Bays also exist as an inlet in a lake or pond. A large bay may be called a gulf, a sea, a sound, or a bight...

 located on the northern Pacific coast

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

 of Washington state in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is separated from the Strait of Georgia

Strait of Georgia

The Strait of Georgia or the Georgia Strait is a strait between Vancouver Island and the mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada. It is approximately long and varies in width from...

 on the west by the Lummi Peninsula

Lummi

The Lummi , governed by the Lummi Nation, are a Native American tribe of the Coast Salish ethnolinguistic group in western Washington state in the United States...

, Portage Island

Portage Island

Portage Island is an island in the western part of Bellingham Bay in Whatcom County, Washington, USA. It is separated from the Lummi Peninsula by Portage Bay and from the central part of Lummi Island by Hale Passage, in Whatcom County. Portage Island has a land area of 3.803 km² . There was no...

, and Lummi Island

Lummi Island

Lummi Island lies at the southwest corner of Whatcom County, Washington, USA, between the mainland part of the county and offshore San Juan County. The Lummi Indian Reservation is situated on a peninsula east of the island, but does not include Lummi Island. The island has a land area of...

. It is bordered on the east by Bellingham, Washington

Bellingham, Washington

Bellingham is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington. It is the twelfth-largest city in the state. Situated on Bellingham Bay, Bellingham is protected by Lummi Island, Portage Island, and the Lummi Peninsula, and opens onto the Strait of Georgia...

, to the south-east by the Chuckanut Mountains

Chuckanut Mountains

The Chuckanut Mountains , or Chuckanuts, are located on the northern Washington state coast of Puget Sound, just south of Bellingham, Washington. Being a part of the Cascade Range, they are the only place where the Cascades come west down to meet the sea...

, and to the south by Samish Bay. The Nooksack River

Nooksack River

The Nooksack River is a river in the northwest part of the U.S. state of Washington. It drains an area of the Cascade Range around Mount Baker, near the Canadian border. The lower river flows through a fertile agricultural area before emptying into Bellingham Bay and, via the Strait of Juan de Fuca...

 empties into the bay, as well as does Whatcom Creek.

Bellingham Bay is named for Sir William Bellingham

Sir William Bellingham, 1st Baronet

Sir William Bellingham, 1st Baronet was an Irish-born British politician and the "controller of the storekeepers' accounts" for the Royal Navy. Bellingham was charged with organizing and procuring provisions for the Vancouver Expedition...

, who was controller of the storekeeper's account for the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 at the time that Britons under the command of George Vancouver

George Vancouver

Captain George Vancouver RN was an English officer of the British Royal Navy, best known for his 1791-95 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of contemporary Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon...

 visited the bay in June 1792. The first European entry of the bay was by the Spanish schooner Santa Saturnina under José María Narváez

José María Narváez

José María Narváez was a Spanish naval officer, explorer, and navigator notable for his work in the Pacific Northwest of present-day Canada. In 1791, as commander of the schooner Santa Saturnina, he led the first European exploration of the Strait of Georgia, including a landing on present-day...

, during the 1791 expedition of Francisco de Eliza

Francisco de Eliza

Francisco de Eliza y Reventa was a Spanish naval officer, navigator, and explorer. He is remembered mainly for his work in the Pacific Northwest...

. Narváez named it Seno Gaston.

Parts of the bay are polluted by mercury

Mercury (element)

Mercury is a chemical element with the symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is also known as quicksilver or hydrargyrum...

 from the Georgia-Pacific

Georgia-Pacific

Georgia-Pacific LLC is an American pulp and paper company based in Atlanta, Georgia, and is one of the world's leading manufacturers and distributors of tissue, pulp, paper, packaging, building products and related chemicals. As of Fall 2010, the company employed more than 40,000 people at more...

 pulp mill that has been on the bay since 1965, but is currently undergoing plans for clean-up.