Burlington Bay, known more commonly as Hamilton Harbour, lies on the western tip of Lake Ontario, bounded on the northwest by the City of Burlington, on the south by the City of Hamilton, and on the east by Hamilton Beach (south of the Burlington Bay James N. Allan Skyway) and Burlington Beach (north of the channel). It is joined to Cootes Paradise by a narrow channel formerly excavated for the Desjardins Canal. Within Hamilton itself, it is referred to as Hamilton Harbour, the Harbour and the Bay, but never Burlington Bay. Naturally separated from the Lake by a sand bar.[1]
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The bay was named in 1792 by John Graves Simcoe, the first lieutenant governor of Upper Canada, for the former name of the town of Bridlington in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England.[2] Access to the bay was important for the early water transportation and industrial development of the area, including Dundas, Ontario, which had an early but ultimately unrealized lead over both Burlington (Brant's Block) and Hamilton.
Over the years, the bay was roughly treated by its littoral residents. Constant infilling, particularly in the North End of Hamilton, damaged fresh water streams and the wildlife they supported. Channel dredging tended to stir up natural and unnatural sediments, further disrupting the ecological land balance in the area. Chemical, industrial and thermal pollution, especially as a byproduct of the burgeoning steel industry after the 1890s, continued to degrade the environment.
By the 1970s, the International Joint Commission, which governs water usage in the Great Lakes Basin, and other agencies began to recognize the need for action. Greater water quality awareness, improved pollution controls, and an economic downturn all served to improve conditions in the 1980s. In the 1990s, beautification and ecological control were well underway. These measures included sealing the Lax Lands, contaminated with heavy metals and other pollutants, under a cap of clay; landscaping Bayfront Park (also known as Pier 4 Park); and keeping Asian carp from entering Cootes Paradise. The visible and measurable improvement in water quality in Burlington Bay was showcased by the very public swim of Sheila Copps, a local MP and federal cabinet minister. Access and recreational use of the bayfront has improved, but use of the water for swimming is still prohibited.[3]
Hamilton Harbour is listed as a Great Lakes Areas of Concern in The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement between the United States and Canada.[4] Part of the remediation plan is to reclaim the harbour's wetlands.[5]
Randle Reef, a site in the harbour, is considered the most dire of identified water pollution issues awaiting remediation in Canada.[6][7]
The bay is thought by some to host a North American cryptid, described by witnesses as a large snake-like creature.[8] A diver drowned in the bay during the filming of a low-budget horror film titled Marina Monster on August 21, 2005.[9]