Antarctic Bay is a bay

Bay

A bay is an area of water mostly surrounded by land. Bays generally have calmer waters than the surrounding sea, due to the surrounding land blocking some waves and often reducing winds. Bays also exist as an inlet in a lake or pond. A large bay may be called a gulf, a sea, a sound, or a bight...

 1 miles (1.6 km) wide which recedes southwest 4 miles (6 km), entered between Antarctic Point

Antarctic Point

Antarctic Point is a headland which marks the west side of the entrance to Antarctic Bay on the north coast of South Georgia. It was charted in the period 1926–30 by Discovery Investigations personnel, who named it after nearby Antarctic Bay....

 and Morse Point

Morse Point

Morse Point is a point marking the east side of the entrance of Antarctic Bay on the north coast of South Georgia. The point appears roughly charted on maps dating back to about 1900. It was roughly surveyed by DI personnel in the period 1925-31, and resurveyed by the SGS, 1951-52...

 on the north coast of South Georgia. It was probably first sighted by a British expedition under James Cook

James Cook

Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...

 in 1775, and was explored in 1902 by members of the Swedish Antarctic Expedition

Swedish Antarctic Expedition

The Swedish Antarctic Expedition was led by Otto Nordenskjöld and Carl Anton Larsen.-Background:Otto Nordenskjöld, a Swedish geologist and geographer, organized and lead a scientific expedition of the Antarctic Peninsula...

, under Otto Nordenskiöld

Otto Nordenskiöld

Nils Otto Gustaf Nordenskjöld was a Finnish and Swedish geologist, geographer, and polar explorer.-Biography:...

, who named it for their ship, the Antarctic

Antarctic (ship)

The Antarctic was a Swedish steamship built in Drammen, Norway in 1871. She was used on several research expeditions to the Arctic region and to Antarctica through 1898-1903. In 1895 the first confirmed landing on the mainland of Antarctica was made from this ship.-The ship:Antarctic was a barque...

. An alternative (defunct) name for it was Woodward Harbour (Mount Woodward

Mount Woodward

Mount Woodward is a mountain, 770 m, standing 1.5 miles east of the mouth of Antarctic Bay on the north coast of South Georgia. Surveyed by the SGS in the period 1951-57, and named by the United Kingdom Antarctic Place-Names Committee for Roswall Woodward, of New Haven, Connecticut, who in 1790...

is nearby).