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Chaleur Bay

arm of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence located between Quebec and New Brunswick, Canada

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 28, 2026
Entity authorityQ1059646
Source-derived summary

Chaleur Bay, also Chaleurs Bay, Bay of Chaleur (in French: Baie des Chaleurs, pronounced [bɛ de ʃalœʁ]), in Mi'gmaq it is called Mawipoqtapei, is an arm of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence located between Quebec and New Brunswick, Canada.

The name of the bay is attributed to explorer Jacques Cartier (Baie des Chaleurs). It translates into English as "bay of warmth" or "bay of torrid weather".

Chaleur Bay is the 31st member of the Most Beautiful Bays of the World Club.

Chaleur Bay is host to an unusual visual phenomenon, the Fireship of Chaleur Bay, an apparition of sorts resembling a ship on fire which has reportedly appeared at several locations in the bay. It is possibly linked to similar sightings several hundred kilometres to the south where the Fireship of Northumberland Strait has been seen in the Northumberland Strait. This may have given rise to a phantom ship legend, which dates back more than two centuries. The story (and witnesses) claim that a sailing ship burned in the waters north of the city of Campbellton, New Brunswick on the Restigouche River, possibly from the Battle of the Restigouche, and is visible in certain weather and light conditions. A drawing of a ghost wielding an anchor and menacing two sailors can be seen on the city's welcome sign.

Geography

Chaleur Bay opens to the east with its southern shore formed by the north shore of New Brunswick.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Chaleur Bay” is arm of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence located between Quebec and New Brunswick, Canada. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Chaleur, Gulf and Saint, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current 237-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Chaleur, Gulf and Saint is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “arm of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence located between Quebec and New Brunswick, Canada” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 28, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1059646. VIAF identifies the subject as 315144366. Authority coordinates are 47.833, -65.500. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
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The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Chaleur Bay”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Chaleur Bay primary sources, Chaleur Bay archive and Chaleur research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Chaleur Bay”?
  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Chaleur Bay” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.