Trinity Bay

Trinity Bay, reputedly named by Gaspar CORTE-REAL on Trinity Sunday, in 1500, is entered between Grates Pt on the N side of Newfoundland's AVALON PENINSULA and the N tip of the Bonavista Pen, 60 km NW, which forms the bay's western shore. The bay stretches S nearly 110 km to Chapel Arm and has steep headlands to the NE and NW that rise over 85 m. The bay shelters superb fishing grounds and is indented with numerous coves and harbours, the largest being at TRINITY on the NW shore. English West Country merchants began settlement at Trinity in the 1600s and settlers spread across the bay to the SE and SW to RANDOM I, a large island occupying a deep pocket in the bay's W coast. At HEART'S CONTENT, a fish-processing centre on the SE coast, the first successful transatlantic cable was landed in 1866. Clarenville-Shoal Harbour, west of Random Island, has become a major transportation and commercial centre as the importance of Trinity has declined. Communities such as Catalina and Old Perlican, near the mouth of the bay, are today principal fishing centres.