Monterey Bay, California.
is a
bay of the
Pacific Ocean, along the central coast of
California. The bay is south of
San Francisco, between the cities of
Santa Cruz and
Monterey.
The
Monterey Bay Area, or sometimes
The Central Coast, are local colloquialisms sometimes used to describe the whole of the coastal communities of
Santa Cruz and
Monterey Counties.
Toponymy
The first
European to discover Monterey Bay was
Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo on November 16, 1542 while sailing northward along the coast on a Spanish naval expedition. He originally named the bay
Bahia de los Pinos,
probably because of the forest of
pine trees first encountered while rounding the
peninsula at the southern end of the bay.
On December 10, 1595,
Sebastián Rodríguez Cermeño crossed the bay and bestowed the name
San Pedro in honor of
Saint Peter Martyr.
The present name for the bay was documented in 1602 by
Sebastián Vizcaíno, who had been tasked by the Spanish government to complete a detailed chart of the coast. He anchored in what is now the Monterey Harbor on December 16, and named it
Puerto de Monterey, in honor of the
Conde de Monterrey, then viceroy of
New Spain.
Monterrey is an alternate spelling of
Monterrei, a municipality in the
Galicia region of
Spain from which the viceroy and his father (the Fourth Count of Monterrei) were from.
All other place names in the vicinity containing
Monterey were so named because of their proximity to the bay. This includes the
Presidio of Monterey,
City of Monterey,
County of Monterey and
Monterey Canyon.
Geology
The
Monterey Canyon, one of the largest underwater canyons in the world, begins off the coast of
Moss Landing, exactly in the center of Monterey Bay.
Flora and fauna
Monterey Bay is home to many species of
marine mammals, including
sea otters,
harbor seals, and
bottlenose dolphins; as well as being on the migratory path of
Gray and
Humpback Whales and a breeding site for
elephant seals. Many species of fish, sharks,
mollusks such as
abalone and
squid, birds, and sea turtles also live in the bay. Several varieties of
kelp grow in the bay, some becoming as tall as trees, forming what is known as a
kelp forest.
Communities around Monterey Bay
Clockwise around the bay, generally from north to south. Inland communities are indented:
Gallery
See also
