Editing Mobile Bay

{{Short description|Inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, lying within the state of Alabama in the United States}}
{{About|the bay in Alabama|the bay in Newfoundland|Mobile Bay (Newfoundland and Labrador)|the Johnny Cash song|Mobile Bay (song)}}

[[Image:Baie de Mobile.jpg|thumbnail|350px|right|[[Landsat program]] photo with Mobile Bay in the center]]

'''Mobile Bay''' ({{IPAc-en|m|oʊ|ˈ|b|iː|l}} {{Respell|moh|BEEL}}) is a shallow inlet of the [[Gulf of Mexico]], lying within the state of [[Alabama]] in the [[United States]]. Its mouth is formed by the [[Fort Morgan (Alabama)|Fort Morgan]] Peninsula on the eastern side and [[Dauphin Island]], a [[barrier island]] on the western side. The [[Mobile River]] and [[Tensaw River]] empty into the northern end of the bay, making it an [[estuary]]. Several smaller rivers also empty into the bay: [[Dog River (Alabama)|Dog River]], Deer River, and [[Fowl River]] on the western side of the bay, and [[Fish River (Alabama)|Fish River]] on the eastern side. Mobile Bay is the fourth-largest estuary in the United States with a discharge of {{convert|62000|cuft|m3}} of water per second.<ref name="dauphinsealab">{{cite web|title=Estuarium Exhibits: Mobile Bay|work=Dauphin Island Sea Lab|url=http://estuarium.disl.org/exhibits.htm|access-date=2008-02-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080222170740/http://estuarium.disl.org/exhibits.htm|archive-date=2008-02-22|url-status=dead}}</ref> Annually, and often several times during the summer months, the fish and crustaceans will swarm the shallow coastline and shore of the bay. This event, appropriately named a [[Mobile Bay jubilee|jubilee]], draws a large crowd because of the abundance of fresh, easily caught seafood.

Mobile Bay is {{convert|413|sqmi|km2}} in area. It is {{convert|31|mi|km|0}} long by a maximum width of {{convert|24|mi|km|0}}.<ref name="dauphinsealab"/> The deepest areas of the bay are located within the shipping channel, sometimes in excess of {{convert|75|ft|m|0}} deep, but the average depth of the bay is {{convert|10|ft|m|0}}.<ref name="dauphinsealab"/>

== History ==
Long occupied by cultures of indigenous peoples, this area was still under the chiefs of [[Mississippian culture]] at the time of [[Hernando de Soto]]'s exploration.

The recorded history of Mobile Bay begins about 1500, when Spanish explorers were sailing into the area. On early maps, the bay was named as ''Bahía del Espíritu Santo'' (Bay of the Holy Spirit). The area was explored in more detail in 1516 by [[Diego Miruelo]] and in 1519 by [[Alonso Álvarez de Pineda]]. In 1528, [[Pánfilo de Narváez]] travelled through what was likely the Mobile Bay area, encountering [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]]s who fled and burned their towns at the approach of the expedition. This response was a prelude to the journeys of Hernando de Soto, more than eleven years later.<ref name="conquest">Thomason, Michael. ''Mobile : The New History of Alabama's First City'', pages 7-14. Tuscaloosa : University of Alabama Press, 2001. {{ISBN|0-8173-1065-7}}</ref>

=== European exploration into the region ===
[[Image:Battle of Mobile Bay map.jpg|thumb|right|Mobile Bay during the [[American Civil War]].]]
Hernando de Soto explored the area of Mobile Bay and beyond in 1540, finding the area inhabited by indigenous [[Mississippian culture]] people. During this expedition his forces destroyed the fortified town of [[Mabila|Mauvila]], also spelled Maubila, from which the name Mobile was later derived.<ref name="maubilianind">{{cite web|title=The Old Mobile Project Newsletter|publisher=University of South Alabama Center for Archaeological Studies|url=http://www.usouthal.edu/archaeology/pdf/issue-17.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.usouthal.edu/archaeology/pdf/issue-17.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|access-date=2007-11-19}}</ref> It was a town of the paramount [[Chief Tuscaloosa]], located in inland Alabama, well to the north of the current site of Mobile. The next large expedition was that of [[Tristán de Luna y Arellano]], in his unsuccessful attempt to establish a permanent colony for Spain nearby at [[Pensacola]] in 1559.<ref name="conquest"/>

Although Spain's presence in the area had been sporadic, in 1702 [[France|French]] colonists created a deep-sea port at [[Dauphin Island]] and founded French [[Louisiana (New France)|Louisiana]]'s capital at [[Mobile, Alabama|Mobile]], a few miles north of Mobile Bay on the [[Mobile River]]. Following a series of floods, the original settlement of ''Fort Louis de la Mobile'' was relocated in 1711 to the head of Mobile Bay.<ref name=MoMfort>{{cite web
  | title=''Historic Fort Conde''
  | work=MuseumOfMobile.com
  | url=http://www.museumofmobile.com/html/other_museums.php
  | access-date=2007-05-06}}</ref>

=== Role in wars ===
During the [[American Civil War]] Mobile Bay was used as a major port for [[Blockade runners of the American Civil War|blockade runners]] bringing in badly needed supplies for the Confederacy. On August 5, 1864, Admiral [[David Farragut]] led a [[United States|Union]] flotilla through [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] defenses and sealed off one of the last major Southern ports of the bay in the [[Battle of Mobile Bay]]. A number of Civil War-era shipwrecks remain in Mobile Bay, including ''[[American Diver]]'', [[CSS Gaines|CSS ''Gaines'']], [[CSS Huntsville|CSS ''Huntsville'']], [[USS Philippi (1863)|USS ''Philippi'']], [[CSS Phoenix|CSS ''Phoenix'']], [[USS Rodolph (1863)|USS ''Rodolph'']], [[USS Tecumseh (1863)|USS ''Tecumseh'']], and [[CSS Tuscaloosa (ironclad)|CSS ''Tuscaloosa'']].<ref>{{cite book |title=Encyclopedia of Civil War Shipwrecks |last=Gaines |first=W. Craig |year=2008 |publisher=LSU Press |isbn=978-0-8071-3274-6 |pages=1–8 }}</ref>

[[Mobile, Alabama|Mobile's]] role as a seaport has continued to the present day, though the commodities have changed through time. [[Cotton]] was the chief commodity in the nineteenth century. During the [[Second World War]], Mobile's shipbuilding industry expanded, and the city's population surged as both black and white migrants moved there for work. Growth has been rapid since then.

=== Natural disasters in the area ===
The city has endured several devastating hurricanes in its history, the most recent being [[Hurricane Frederic]] in 1979 and [[Hurricane Katrina]] in 2005. Areas of low elevation, including the downtown business district, have been flooded repeatedly in hurricanes. However, much of the city is at an elevation exceeding {{convert|200|ft|m}} above sea level, which is unusually high for the Gulf and Atlantic coasts.

On September 13, 1979, [[Hurricane Frederic]] entered the bay with winds reaching {{convert|145|mph}}, destroying the bridge to Dauphin Island. On August 28–29, 2005, [[Hurricane Katrina]] pushed a massive [[storm surge]] into Mobile Bay; it measured {{convert|16|ft|m|1}} high at [[Bayou La Batre]] (Alabama), with higher waves on top, and {{convert|12|ft|m|1}} high at Mobile, at the far northern end of the 31-mile-long Mobile Bay. Thousands of boats, piers, and beach houses were damaged by waves exceeding {{convert|22|ft|m|1}} high, and the [[battleship]] {{USS|Alabama|BB-60|6}} was pushed off her moorings, leaving her listing to port (tilted to the left). Downtown Mobile was flooded several feet, and the south-end towns of [[Bayou La Batre]] and [[Bon Secour, Alabama|Bon Secour]] were severely damaged. Dozens of vessels of various sizes were left stranded inland.

== Shoreline towns ==

The city of [[Mobile, Alabama|Mobile]] is situated at the head of the bay on the western shore. On the [[Eastern Shore (Alabama)|Eastern Shore]] of the bay are found several small communities, including [[Spanish Fort, Alabama|Spanish Fort]], [[Daphne, Alabama|Daphne]], [[Fairhope, Alabama|Fairhope]], [[Point Clear, Alabama|Point Clear]], and [[Bon Secour, Alabama|Bon Secour]]. The town of [[Gulf Shores, Alabama|Gulf Shores]] lies just outside the bay, on the Fort Morgan peninsula, while the town of [[Fort Morgan, Alabama|Fort Morgan]] is located directly south of the bay.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hyatt |first1=Wendy |title=Fort Morgan Historical Site Information |url=http://fort-morgan.org |access-date=30 August 2022}}</ref> The [[Middle Bay Lighthouse]] has been located in the center of the bay since 1885.

The head of the bay is crossed by two major thoroughfares, [[Interstate 10]], known as the [[Jubilee Parkway]], and [[US 90]]/[[US 98]], known as the [[Battleship Parkway]]. These two bridges serve as the primary connections between the city of Mobile and the Eastern Shore.<ref name="MobileBay">{{cite web|title=History|work=Rivers of Alabama: Mobile Bay|url=http://www.riversofalabama.org/Mobile%20Bay/M_History.htm|access-date=2008-02-05|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080312233248/http://www.riversofalabama.org/Mobile%20Bay/M_History.htm|archive-date=2008-03-12}}</ref> On warm summer nights, the residents living around Mobile Bay sometimes enjoy the fruits of a mysterious natural phenomenon called a [[Mobile Bay jubilee|Jubilee]], when fish and crabs swarm toward shore and can be easily harvested by people wading in the shallows.

==See also==
*[[Gulf Islands National Seashore]] - offshore islands, includes nearby states.
*[[Gaillard Island]]
*[[Mobile-Tensaw River Delta]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{AmCyc Poster|Mobile (river and bay)|Mobile Bay}}
*[http://www.mobilebaykeeper.org/ Mobile Baykeeper] - local [[Waterkeeper Alliance]] group
*{{Cite NSRW|short=x|wstitle=Mobile (bay)|display=Mobile, a bay on the coast of Alabama}}

{{Coord|30|26|34|N|88|00|33|W|display=title|region:US_type:landmark_source:GNIS_scale:500000}}

{{Mobile, Alabama}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Mobile Bay| ]]
[[Category:Bodies of water of Baldwin County, Alabama]]
[[Category:Bodies of water of Mobile County, Alabama]]
[[Category:Bays of Alabama]]
[[Category:Estuaries of the United States]]
[[Category:Alabama placenames of Native American origin]]