In geography

Geography

Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...

, bight has two meanings. A bight can be simply a bend or curve in any geographical feature—usually a bend or curve in the line between land and water.

Alternatively, the term can refer to a large (and often only slightly receding) bay

Headlands and bays

Headlands and bays are two related features of the coastal environment.- Geology and geography :Headlands and bays are often found on the same coastline. A bay is surrounded by land on three sides, whereas a headland is surrounded by water on three sides. Headlands are characterized by high,...

. It is distinguished from a sound

Sound (geography)

In geography a sound or seaway is a large sea or ocean inlet larger than a bay, deeper than a bight and wider than a fjord; or it may be defined as a narrow sea or ocean channel between two bodies of land ....

 by being shallower. Traditionally explorers defined a bight as a bay that could be sailed out of on a single tack

Tacking (sailing)

Tacking or coming about is a sailing maneuver by which a sailing vessel turns its bow through the wind so that the direction from which the wind blows changes from one side to the other...

 in a square-rigged

Square rig

Square rig is a generic type of sail and rigging arrangement in which the primary driving sails are carried on horizontal spars which are perpendicular, or square, to the keel of the vessel and to the masts. These spars are called yards and their tips, beyond the last stay, are called the yardarms...

 sailing vessel, regardless of the direction of the wind (typically meaning the apex of the bight is less than 25 degrees from the edges).

Prominent bights

• Great Australian Bight
  Great Australian Bight
  The Great Australian Bight is a large bight, or open bay, off the central and western portions of the southern coastline of mainland Australia.-Extent:...
  
  
• Bay of Campeche
  Bay of Campeche
  The Bay of Campeche is the southern bight of the Gulf of Mexico. It is surrounded on three sides by the Mexican states of Campeche, Tabasco and Veracruz. It was named by Francisco Hernández de Córdoba and Antonio de Alaminos during their expedition in 1517...
  
  
• Bight of Benin
  Bight of Benin
  The Bight of Benin is a bight on the western African coast that extends eastward for about 400 miles from Cape St. Paul to the Nun outlet of the Niger River. To the east it is continued by the Bight of Bonny . The bight is part of the Gulf of Guinea...
  
  
• Bight of Bonny
  Bight of Bonny
  The Bight of Bonny is a bight off the West African coast, in the easternmost part of the Gulf of Guinea...
  
   or Bight of Biafra
• Georgia Bight or South Atlantic Bight
• German Bight
  German Bight
  German Bight is the southeastern bight of the North Sea bounded by the Netherlands and Germany to the south, and Denmark and Germany to the east . To the north and west it is limited by the Dogger Bank. The Bight contains the Frisian and Danish Islands. The Wadden Sea is approximately ten to...
  
   or Heligoland Bight
  Heligoland Bight
  The Heligoland Bight, also known as Helgoland Bight, is a bay which forms the southern part of the German Bight, itself a bay of the North Sea, located at the mouth of the Elbe river...
  
  
• Mecklenburg Bight (also called Mecklenburg Bay)
• Mid-Atlantic Bight
  Mid-Atlantic Bight
  The Mid-Atlantic Bight is a coastal region running from Massachusetts to North Carolina. It contains the New York Bight.-External links:*...
  
  
• New York Bight
  New York Bight
  The New York Bight is a slight indentation along the Atlantic coast of the United States, extending northeasterly from Cape May Inlet in New Jersey to Montauk Point on the eastern tip of Long Island...
  
  
• North Taranaki Bight
  North Taranaki Bight
  The North Taranaki Bight is the name given to the large bay which extends north and east from the north coast of Taranaki in New Zealand's North Island. The name is echoed by the South Taranaki Bight to the south of Cape Egmont....
  
  
• South Taranaki Bight
  South Taranaki Bight
  The South Taranaki Bight is the name given to the large bay which extends south and east from the south coast of Taranaki in New Zealand's North Island. With more symmetry than poetry or originality, it is matched by the North Taranaki Bight to the north of Cape Egmont.The size of the bight...
  
  
• Southern Bight
  Southern Bight
  Southern Bight is the southern bight of the North Sea bounded by the coasts of the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Great Britain. The Southern Bight is south west of the German Bight and the Wadden Sea...
  
  
• Southern California Bight
  Southern California Bight
  The Southern California Bight includes coastal southern California, the Channel Islands and part of the Pacific Ocean.Within the Southern California bight lie the traditional territories of the Chumash and the Gabrieliño. These two cultures are considered the epitome of hunter-gatherer complexity...
  
  
• McKenzie Bight
  McKenzie Bight
  McKenzie Bight is a feature of the Saanich Inlet in British Columbia, Canada. This bight is located in Gowlland Tod Provincial Park. McKenzie Bight is found a short hike from the southern end of Mark Lane in Willis Point. Nearby is a reef which is popular shore-dive location for scuba...
  
  
• Trinity Bight
• Robson Bight
  Robson Bight
  Robson Bight is a small Vancouver Island bay at the west end of Johnstone Strait across from West Cracroft Island in British Columbia, Canada that includes a protected killer whale habitat famous for its whale-rubbing beaches...
  
  
• Portland Bight (Jamaica)