Editing Wellfleet, Massachusetts (section)

==Geography==
According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the town has a total area of {{convert|91.7|km2|order=flip}}, of which {{convert|51.3|km2|order=flip}} is land and {{convert|40.5|km2|order=flip}}, or 44.11%, is water.<ref name="Census 2010">{{Cite web| url=http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/G001/0600000US2500174385| archive-url=https://archive.today/20200212153657/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/G001/0600000US2500174385| url-status=dead| archive-date=February 12, 2020| title=Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Wellfleet town, Barnstable County, Massachusetts| publisher=U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder| access-date=December 6, 2013}}</ref> Wellfleet is bordered by [[Truro, Massachusetts|Truro]] to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, [[Eastham, Massachusetts|Eastham]] to the south, and [[Cape Cod Bay]] to the west. Wellfleet is approximately {{convert|14|mi}} south of [[Provincetown, Massachusetts|Provincetown]], {{convert|33|mi}} (by road) northeast of [[Barnstable, Massachusetts|Barnstable]], {{convert|48|mi}} from the [[Sagamore Bridge]], and {{convert|100|mi}} (by road) southeast of [[Boston]].

The lands of Wellfleet wrap around Wellfleet Harbor, extending from the main portion of the Cape around the harbor to Jeremy Point. At one time, Wellfleet Harbor included an island known as [[Billingsgate Island]], which sat at the harbor's mouth, to the south of the point. Once a flourishing small community with a [[lighthouse]], the island was destroyed by [[coastal erosion]] and now exists as a shoal that is exposed at low tide. The Billingsgate shoals are split between Wellfleet and neighboring Eastham. Several other inlets extend inland from the harbor, at the mouth of the Herring River (also called "The Gut"), Duck Creek, Blackfish Creek and Fresh Brook (commonly known as "The Run") which leads to several brooks.

In addition to the Seashore, Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, run by Massachusetts Audubon, surrounds much of The Run, including part of Small Island (between The Run and Blackfish Creek). Between the sanctuary, seashore and other small parks and beaches, seventy percent of the town's area is protected.

A small whaling community was founded on the land that is now Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, and was originally known as Silver Spring, after Silver Spring Brook. What remains of it is a marsh that was once its harbor, known as the Silver Spring Brook Marshes. This land is now protected by the [[Massachusetts Audubon Society]] in its Wellfleet Bay Sanctuary.