Welcome to Maine's Cobscook Bay & Bold Coast Region

There's much to see here. So, take your time, to explore, and learn all about our unquie region.      

Cobscook Bay is a marine ecosystem rich with life and beauty. Cold, nutrient-laden waters and tides rising and falling an average of 20 feet twice daily combine with a highly-convoluted shoreline to create a thriving environment for an amazing diversity of marine species. The bay is rich with waterborne plankton that support species higher up the marine food chain. At the bottom of the bay are clams, scallops, and lobsters. Birds include a cornucopia of fish-eating species (including a large nesting population of Bald Eagles), resident and migratory waterfowl (including a notable portion of Maine’s wintering Black Duck population), incredible numbers of North American shorebirds on their annual migrations, and large numbers of marine mammals such as harbor seals, porpoises and, nearby, many species of whales. Today, as in the past, Cobscook Bay plays a central role in the economies of the nine communities that ring its shores. These communities are working to combine traditional marine harvests, deep-water shipping, modern aquaculture, and nature- and heritage-based tourism to maintain their quality of life and the environment that sustains them. 

The “Bold Coast” derives its name from a 40-mile stretch of coastline from West Quoddy Head in Lubec to the Town of Cutler. Dramatic cliffs rise as high as 150 feet from the water’s edge and feature blow holes, caves and arches at their base. Raised coastal peatlands host a variety of specialized plants including many found in alpine or sub-arctic habitats. In our peatland ecosystems, vegetative growth exceeds decomposition, due to cool, acidic, waterlogged, and oxygen-poor soils. Sphagnum bogs are repositories of the past, providing clues to past vegetative and climatic patterns. Bold Coast trails featured on this map cover miles of shoreline and look out across the Grand Manan Channel to the Bay of Fundy. The deep waters of this bay provide critical feeding and rearing areas for the Minke, as well as the federally endangered Fin, Humpback, and Atlantic Right Whales.