Dissolved organic matter and suspended sediment mingle in the southernmost extent of James Bay.
The Cree word pahtaaunaakun seems apt for describing the distinctive brown hues of the waters that drain into Hannah Bay and Rupert Bay in Canada. Meaning the "color of singed beaver" in Southern East Cree, the word evokes the rich brown of the humic-substance-stained waters that were flowing into the two bays in late September 2026, as well as the role that beavers have long played in the mythology and history of the region.
Similar substances are what stain tea water brown.
When the OLI on Landsat 9 captured this image on September 27, 2026, the Moose, Nottaway, and Harricanaw rivers were carrying tea-colored water across the broad mudflats of Hannah and Rupert bays and mingling with the darker blue waters of James Bay.
The mudflats, the light brown areas along the shore, are a product of the shallow, sloping bathymetry in the southernmost part of James Bay. The comings and goings of tides and river currents often stir up the mud, producing the lighter brown plumes of suspended sediment that mix with the incoming river water.
European traders arrived in Rupert Bay as early as the 1660s to pursue the animals as well, leading to the establishment of several trading posts along the bay's shores and the founding of the Hudson's Bay Company to cultivate the fur trade, especially in beaver pelts.
For instance, one Cree myth about this area, recorded by the anthropologist Alanson Skinner, tells of a giant pursuing a large mythical beaver down the Nottaway River until the beaver escaped into Rupert Bay.