shows the classic conditions for a gut: a large body of water, subject to tides, drained through a small channel, resulting in heavy flow and strong currents Many guts are straits but some are at a river mouths where tidal currents are strong. The comparatively large quantities of water that flow quite quickly through a gut can cause heavy erosion that results in a channel deeper than the rest of the surrounding seabed, and the currents may present a hazard to ships and boats at times. The term "gut" is primarily (though not exclusively) applied to channels of the coastal waters of the Atlantic coast of North America. A similar term of related but not identical meaning, "
gat", is applied to some narrow waterways of the
North Sea and
Baltic Sea coasts of Europe. from the mainland Some bodies of water named "Gut" are: •
Digby Gut in Nova Scotia • Mira Gut, at the confluence of the
Mira River with the Atlantic Ocean at the settlement of
Mira Gut, Nova Scotia •
Gut of Canso in Nova Scotia • Big Gut at
Pictou Landing, Nova Scotia • Shippagan Gut, separating
Lamèque Island from the mainland in New Brunswick • The Gut, separating Rutherford Island from the mainland at
South Bristol, Maine • Townsend Gut, separating Southport Island from the mainland at
Southport, Maine • The Gut at
Biddeford Pool in Maine • The Gut between
Cape Neddick in
York, Maine and
Nubble Light • Jaquish Gut between
Bailey Island and Jaquish Island in Maine • Spruce Island Gut between the Great Spruce Island and Little Spruce Island in Maine • Malaga Gut between the
Isle of Shoals in Maine •
Hull Gut in Massachusetts • The Gut in the Little River in
Newbury, Massachusetts •
Shirley Gut in Massachusetts (now filled) • Sally's Gut, in
Lake Winnipesaukee between Stonedam Island and the mainland • Plum Gut (site of the
Plum Gut Lighthouse), separating Plum Island from Long Island in New York •
Turtle Gut, site of the
Battle of Turtle Gut Inlet in New Jersey (now filled) • The Wooly Gut, separating
West Point Island from
West Falkland in the
Falkland Islands • The
Gut of Gibraltar, an alternate and mostly archaic name for the Strait of Gibraltar Many other channels in Canada are named "Gut". Applied to proper names, "gut" is sometimes used more broadly. For instance South Gut and North Gut at the settlement of
South Gut St. Anns, Nova Scotia are just inlets, while
Brewery Gut in England and
The Gut in Ontario are fast-flowing stretches of river,
Jigsaw Rock Gut in Antarctica is a
gully, and
Gardner's Gut in New Zealand is a cave system. Conversely, some guts are not so named, such as
The Rip, a gut in Australia, where the term "gut" is not used. == Creeks ==