JAMES BAY
Jesuit Albanel was one of the first Frenchman to reach James Bay. His description of James Bay is summarized below. (JRAD, 1953)
The southern sump of James Bay is the body of water farthest south in Hudson Bay. The western side of James Bay is swampy. Although the ebb and flow of the tide occurs at the south end of James Bay, the area can be described as "land-locked" water. Rivers retain fresh water at their mouths, and fresh water extends for a long distance into the bay.
The sea water recedes a great distance at low tide. (Albanel estimated the distance to be over forty miles.) In the vast area where the water left, all that could be seen was mud and rocks with most of the surface clear of water. At low tides the rivers, flowing out over the mud and becoming lost in the mud, could not float canoes.
Comment: The open-water effect is created by different circumstances than a surging tidal flow. The climate at south James Bay is 10 to 15 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than Hudson Bay. Warm weather systems sweeping off the plains of North America pass over southern James Bay. Streams, running under the snow, add warmer water to the south tip of the bay. Wild animals, birds, and plants leave a residue of manure, feathers, leaves and shattered vegetation on the ice which catch the sun's warmth. The cumulative effect of these factors is to slow the freezing and speed the thawing of the water at the south tip of James Bay.
