Spit Bay is an open bight

Bight (geography)

In geography, 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....

 formed by the northeast coastline of Heard Island and Spit Point

Spit Point

Spit Point is the east tip of the 5 nautical miles long Elephant Spit, a conspicuous spit at the eastern end of Heard Island. The feature was charted by early American sealers at Heard Island in the years following initiation of sealing operations there in 1855. The descriptive name was...

, the east extremity of the island

Island

An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

. The name derives from the conspicuous Elephant Spit

Elephant Spit

Elephant Spit is a 9 km long sand spit at the eastern end of subantarctic Heard Island, in the Australian territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands, lying in the Southern Ocean on the Kerguelen Plateau about 450 km south-east of the Kerguelen Islands...

which forms the south and east shore of the bight, and may have been given by American sealers at Heard Island in the period following their initiation of sealing there in 1855. The name appears on a chart by the British utilized many names then in use by the sealers.