The Peconic Bay is the parent name for two bays (Great Peconic Bay and Little Peconic Bay) between the North Fork and South Fork of Long Island in Suffolk County, New York, United States. It is separated from Gardiners Bay by Shelter Island.
Description
Peconic Bay is divided by Robins Island into the Great Peconic Bay on the west and Little Peconic Bay on the east. The west end of Great Peconic Bay is also called Flanders Bay. Great Peconic is a shallow bay, less than deep, while Little Peconic reaches depths of over . The Shinnecock Canal provides access from the Great Peconic Bay to Shinnecock Bay. The two Peconic Bays are often collectively referred to as "the Peconics".
The Peconics are a tidal estuary system fed at the western end by the Peconic River. While this movement to split Suffolk County along economic lines (the western half is more suburban in character, while the eastern half is more rural) has a long history, it has not gained significant traction in Albany since 1997, when the New York State Legislature refused to allow it to separate from Suffolk County.