TAMPA BAY

arm of the Gulf of Mexico, indenting western Florida, U.S., 25 mi (40 km) long, 712 mi wide, and partly sheltered on the west by the Pinellas Peninsula. Another, smaller peninsula extends southward toward the middle of the bay, forming Old Tampa Bay to the west and Hillsborough Bay to the east. The bay serves the recreational and commercial activities of St. Petersburg (west) and Tampa (northeast). The conquistador Pnfilo de Narvez recorded entering the bay, which he called Espritu Santo (Holy Spirit), in April 1528. Hernando de Soto, the Spanish explorer, began his travels through the southeastern part of the present United States when he reached Tampa Bay on May 25, 1539. Old Tampa Bay is spanned by two bridges and a causeway. Tampa Bay is spanned by the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, a single-span bridge (completed 1987) that was built to replace the old bridge damaged by a tanker in 1980.