Gulf of Maine Watershed
The watershed of the gulf encompasses an area of 69,115 miles² (179,008 km²), including all of Maine, 70% of New Hampshire, 56% of New Brunswick, 41% of Massachusetts, and 36% of Nova Scotia. The watershed also includes a small southern portion (less than 1%) of the Canadian province of Quebec. Significant rivers that drain into the Gulf include, from east to west, the Annapolis, Shubenacadie, Salmon, Petitcodiac, St. John, Magaguadavic, St. Croix, Penobscot, Kennebec, Saco, Piscataqua, Merrimack and Charles rivers; the St. John and Penobscot having the greatest discharge.
The cold waters of the gulf make it one of the most productive marine environments in the North Atlantic, and it furnishes habitat for many diverse species including most notably the Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) and the American lobster (Homarus americanus), which grows to famously large sizes in the gulf. The waters of the Gulf of Maine system, particularly at the boundary with the Bay of Fundy are also home to the summering grounds for many different whale species, most notably the highly endangered North Atlantic Right Whale.
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—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
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—Hugh O’Neill (20th century)
“The surface of the ground in the Maine woods is everywhere spongy and saturated with moisture.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)