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Coordinates: 37°40′N 122°16′W / 37.67°N 122.27°W / 37.67; -122.27[1]
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{{short description|Shallow estuary on the coast of California, United States}}
{{short description|Shallow estuary on the coast of California, United States}}
{{for-multi|the geographical region|San Francisco Bay Area|the California wine region|San Francisco Bay AVA}}
{{for-multi|the geographical region|San Francisco Bay Area|the California wine region|San Francisco Bay AVA}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2018}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox body of water
{{Infobox body of water
| name = San Francisco Bay
| name = San Francisco Bay
| pushpin_map = California
| pushpin_map = California
| native_name =
| native_name =
| image = Bay Area by Sentinel-2, 2019-03-11 (small version).jpg
| image = Bay Area by Sentinel-2, 2019-03-11 (small version).jpg
| coords = {{coord|37.67|-122.27|region:US-CA_type:waterbody_scale:750000_source:GNIS|format=dms|notes=<ref name="gnis">{{cite gnis|id=1654951|name=San Francisco Bay|access-date=January 2, 2017|entrydate=January 19, 1981}}</ref> | display = it}}
| coords = {{coord|37.67|-122.27|region:US-CA_type:waterbody_scale:750000_source:GNIS|format=dms|notes=<ref name="gnis">{{cite gnis|id=1654951|name=San Francisco Bay|access-date=January 2, 2017|entrydate=January 19, 1981}}</ref> | display = it}}
| type = Bay
| type = Bay
| rivers = [[Sacramento River]]<br />[[San Joaquin River]]<br />[[Petaluma River]]<br />[[Napa River]]<br />[[Guadalupe River (California)|Guadalupe River]]
| rivers = [[Sacramento River]]<br />[[San Joaquin River]]<br />[[Petaluma River]]<br />[[Napa River]]<br />[[Guadalupe River (California)|Guadalupe River]]
| oceans = Pacific Ocean
| oceans = Pacific Ocean
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| width = {{convert|19|km|abbr=on}}
| width = {{convert|19|km|abbr=on}}
| area = {{convert|400|-|1600|mi2|abbr=on}}
| area = {{convert|400|-|1600|mi2|abbr=on}}
| depth = {{convert|12|-|15|ft|abbr=on}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Anatomy of the Bay: 7 bites of San Francisco Bay history, science, and lore |date=July 6, 2016 |url=https://waterworldswim.com/anatomy-of-the-bay-7-bites-of-san-francisco-bay-history-science-lore/ |access-date=24 May 2023}}</ref>
| depth = {{convert|12|-|15|ft|abbr=on}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Anatomy of the Bay: 7 bites of San Francisco Bay history, science, and lore |date=July 6, 2016 |url=https://waterworldswim.com/anatomy-of-the-bay-7-bites-of-san-francisco-bay-history-science-lore/ |access-date=May 24, 2023 |archive-date=May 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230524233542/https://waterworldswim.com/anatomy-of-the-bay-7-bites-of-san-francisco-bay-history-science-lore/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
| max-depth = {{convert|372|ft|abbr=on}}
| max-depth = {{convert|372|ft|abbr=on}}
| cities = [[San Francisco]]<br />[[San Jose, California|San Jose]]<br />[[Oakland, California|Oakland]]
| cities = [[San Francisco]]<br />[[San Jose, California|San Jose]]<br />[[Oakland, California|Oakland]]
| references =
| references =
| embedded = {{Designation list
| embedded = {{Designation list
| embed = yes
| embed = yes
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| designation1_offname = San Francisco Bay/Estuary (SFBE)
| designation1_offname = San Francisco Bay/Estuary (SFBE)
| designation1_date = February 2, 2013
| designation1_date = February 2, 2013
| designation1_number = 2097<ref>{{cite web|title=San Francisco Bay/Estuary (SFBE)|website=[[Ramsar Convention|Ramsar]] Sites Information Service|url=https://rsis.ramsar.org/ris/2097|access-date=April 25, 2018}}</ref>}}
| designation1_number = 2097<ref>{{cite web|title=San Francisco Bay/Estuary (SFBE)|website=[[Ramsar Convention|Ramsar]] Sites Information Service|url=https://rsis.ramsar.org/ris/2097|access-date=April 25, 2018|archive-date=June 14, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614071558/https://rsis.ramsar.org/ris/2097|url-status=live}}</ref>}}
}}
}}


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==Size==
==Size==
The bay covers somewhere between {{convert|400|and(-)|1600|sqmi|sigfig=1}}, depending on which sub-bays (such as San Pablo Bay), estuaries, [[wetland]]s, and so on are included in the measurement.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist9/mcgloin.html| title = Symphonies in Steel: San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate<!-- Bot generated title -->}}</ref><ref>[http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/cpr/watershed/sanfrancisco/sfb_html/sfbenv.html San Francisco Bay Watershed Database and Mapping Project<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041030120227/http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/cpr/watershed/sanfrancisco/sfb_html/sfbenv.html |date=October 30, 2004 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=BCDC - The San Francisco Bay Estuary|url=https://bcdc.ca.gov/bay_estuary.html|access-date=2022-02-14|website=bcdc.ca.gov}}</ref> The main part of the bay measures {{convert|3|to(-)|12|mi|km|0|spell=in}} wide east-to-west and somewhere between {{convert|48|mi|km|0}}<sup>[[#References|1]]</sup> and {{convert|60|mi|km|0}}<sup>[[#References|2]]</sup> north-to-south. It is the largest Pacific estuary in the Americas.
The bay covers somewhere between {{convert|400|and(-)|1600|sqmi|sigfig=1}}, depending on which sub-bays (such as San Pablo Bay), estuaries, [[wetland]]s, and so on are included in the measurement.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist9/mcgloin.html| title = Symphonies in Steel: San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate<!-- Bot generated title -->| access-date = April 13, 2005| archive-date = May 4, 2015| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150504051900/http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist9/mcgloin.html| url-status = live}}</ref><ref>[http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/cpr/watershed/sanfrancisco/sfb_html/sfbenv.html San Francisco Bay Watershed Database and Mapping Project<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041030120227/http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/cpr/watershed/sanfrancisco/sfb_html/sfbenv.html |date=October 30, 2004 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=BCDC - The San Francisco Bay Estuary|url=https://bcdc.ca.gov/bay_estuary.html|access-date=February 14, 2022|website=bcdc.ca.gov|archive-date=February 17, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220217230941/https://www.bcdc.ca.gov/bay_estuary.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The main part of the bay measures {{convert|3|to(-)|12|mi|km|0|spell=in}} wide east-to-west and somewhere between {{convert|48|mi|km|0}}<sup>[[#References|1]]</sup> and {{convert|60|mi|km|0}}<sup>[[#References|2]]</sup> north-to-south. It is the largest Pacific estuary in the Americas.{{cn|date=April 2024}}


The bay was navigable as far south as [[San Jose, California|San Jose]] until the 1850s, when [[hydraulic mining]] released massive amounts of sediment from the rivers that settled in those parts of the bay that had little or no current. Later, wetlands and inlets were deliberately filled in, reducing the bay's size since the mid-19th century by as much as one third. Recently, large areas of wetlands have been restored, further confusing the issue of the bay's size. Despite its value as a waterway and [[harbor]], many thousands of acres of marshy wetlands at the edges of the bay were, for many years, considered wasted space. As a result, soil excavated for building projects or [[dredging|dredged]] from channels was often dumped onto the wetlands and other parts of the bay as landfill.
The bay was navigable as far south as [[San Jose, California|San Jose]] until the 1850s, when [[hydraulic mining]] released massive amounts of sediment from the rivers that settled in those parts of the bay that had little or no current. Later, wetlands and inlets were deliberately filled in, reducing the bay's size since the mid-19th century by as much as one third. Recently, large areas of wetlands have been restored, further confusing the issue of the bay's size. Despite its value as a waterway and [[harbor]], many thousands of acres of marshy wetlands at the edges of the bay were, for many years, considered wasted space. As a result, soil excavated for building projects or [[dredging|dredged]] from channels was often dumped onto the wetlands and other parts of the bay as landfill.{{cn|date=April 2024}}


From the mid-19th century through the late 20th century, more than a third of the original bay was filled and often built on. The deep, damp soil in these areas is subject to [[soil liquefaction]] during earthquakes, and most of the major damage close to the bay in the [[Loma Prieta earthquake]] of 1989 occurred to structures on these areas.
From the mid-19th century through the late 20th century, more than a third of the original bay was filled and often built on. The deep, damp soil in these areas is subject to [[soil liquefaction]] during earthquakes, and most of the major damage close to the bay in the [[Loma Prieta earthquake]] of 1989 occurred to structures on these areas.{{cn|date=April 2024}}


The [[Marina District, San Francisco|Marina District]] of San Francisco, hard hit by the 1989 earthquake, was built on fill that had been placed there for the [[Panama-Pacific International Exposition (1915)|Panama-Pacific International Exposition]], although liquefaction did not occur on a large scale. In the 1990s, [[San Francisco International Airport]] proposed filling in hundreds more acres to extend its overcrowded international [[runway]]s in exchange for purchasing other parts of the bay and converting them back to wetlands. The idea was, and remains, controversial. (''For further details, see the "[[#Bay fill and depth profile|Bay fill and depth profile]]" section.'')
The [[Marina District, San Francisco|Marina District]] of San Francisco, hard hit by the 1989 earthquake, was built on fill that had been placed there for the [[Panama-Pacific International Exposition (1915)|Panama-Pacific International Exposition]], although liquefaction did not occur on a large scale. In the 1990s, [[San Francisco International Airport]] proposed filling in hundreds more acres to extend its overcrowded international [[runway]]s in exchange for purchasing other parts of the bay and converting them back to wetlands. The idea was, and remains, controversial. (''For further details, see the "[[#Bay fill and depth profile|Bay fill and depth profile]]" section.'')


There are five large islands in San Francisco Bay. [[Alameda Island|Alameda]], the largest island, was created when a shipping lane was cut to form the [[Port of Oakland]] in 1901. It is now a suburban community. [[Angel Island, California|Angel Island]] was known as "[[Ellis Island]] West" because it served as the entry point for immigrants from East Asia. It is now a state park accessible by ferry. Mountainous [[Yerba Buena Island]] is pierced by [[Yerba Buena Tunnel|a tunnel]] linking the east and west spans of the [[San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge]]. Attached to the north is the artificial and flat [[Treasure Island, California|Treasure Island]], site of the 1939 [[Golden Gate International Exposition]]. From the Second World War until the 1990s, both islands served as military bases and are now being redeveloped. Isolated in the center of the bay is [[Alcatraz]], the site of the famous federal penitentiary. The federal prison on [[Alcatraz Island]] no longer functions, but the complex is a popular tourist site. Despite its name, [[Mare Island]] in the northern part of the bay is a peninsula rather than an island.
There are five large islands in San Francisco Bay. [[Alameda Island|Alameda]], the largest island, was created when a shipping lane was cut to form the [[Port of Oakland]] in 1901. It is now a suburban community. [[Angel Island, California|Angel Island]] was known as "[[Ellis Island]] West" because it served as the entry point for immigrants from East Asia. It is now a state park accessible by ferry. Mountainous [[Yerba Buena Island]] is pierced by [[Yerba Buena Tunnel|a tunnel]] linking the east and west spans of the [[San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge]]. Attached to the north is the artificial and flat [[Treasure Island, California|Treasure Island]], site of the 1939 [[Golden Gate International Exposition]]. From the Second World War until the 1990s, both islands served as military bases and are now being redeveloped. Isolated in the center of the bay is [[Alcatraz]], the site of the famous federal penitentiary. The federal prison on [[Alcatraz Island]] no longer functions, but the complex is a popular tourist site. Despite its name, [[Mare Island]] in the northern part of the bay is a peninsula rather than an island.{{cn|date=April 2024}}


{{wide image|GGNRA-SF-panorama.jpg|1200px|Panorama of San Francisco Bay, and the city skyline seen from Marin County in the [[Golden Gate National Recreation Area]]}}
{{wide image|GGNRA-SF-panorama.jpg|1200px|Panorama of San Francisco Bay, and the city skyline seen from Marin County in the [[Golden Gate National Recreation Area]]}}
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==Geology==
==Geology==
[[File:Urban-Rural Population and Land Area Estimates, v2, 2010 San Francisco Bay, U.S. (13874137664).jpg|thumb|Population density and low elevation coastal zones in San Francisco Bay (2010). The San Francisco Bay is especially vulnerable to [[sea level rise]].]]
[[File:Urban-Rural Population and Land Area Estimates, v2, 2010 San Francisco Bay, U.S. (13874137664).jpg|thumb|Population density and low elevation coastal zones in San Francisco Bay (2010). The San Francisco Bay is especially vulnerable to [[sea level rise]].]]
San Francisco Bay is thought to represent a down-warping of the Earth's crust between the [[San Andreas Fault]] to the west and the [[Hayward Fault]] to the east, though the precise nature of this remains under study. About 560,000 years ago, a [[Tectonics|tectonic]] shift caused the large inland [[Lake Corcoran]] to spill out the [[Central Valley (California)|central valley]] and through the [[Carquinez Strait]], carving out sediment and forming canyons in what is now the northern part of the San Francisco Bay and [[Golden Gate|Golden Gate strait]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Formation of San Francisco Bay |url=http://education.savingthebay.org/wp-content/guides/The-Formation-of-San-Francisco-Bay.pdf |publisher=KQED education |access-date=June 4, 2018}}</ref>
San Francisco Bay is thought to represent a down-warping of the Earth's crust between the [[San Andreas Fault]] to the west and the [[Hayward Fault]] to the east, though the precise nature of this remains under study. About 560,000 years ago, a [[Tectonics|tectonic]] shift caused the large inland [[Lake Corcoran]] to spill out the [[Central Valley (California)|central valley]] and through the [[Carquinez Strait]], carving out sediment and forming canyons in what is now the northern part of the San Francisco Bay and [[Golden Gate|Golden Gate strait]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Formation of San Francisco Bay |url=http://education.savingthebay.org/wp-content/guides/The-Formation-of-San-Francisco-Bay.pdf |publisher=KQED education |access-date=June 4, 2018 |archive-date=July 19, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140719092249/http://education.savingthebay.org/wp-content/guides/The-Formation-of-San-Francisco-Bay.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>


Until the [[Quaternary glaciation|last ice age]], the basin which is now filled by the San Francisco Bay was a large linear valley with small hills, similar to most of the valleys of the [[Coast Ranges]]. As the great ice sheets began to melt, around 11,000 years ago, the sea level started to rise. By 5000&nbsp;BC the sea level rose {{convert|300|ft|m|-1}}, filling the valley with water from the Pacific.<ref name="save bay">{{cite web |last1=Yabrove |first1=Daniel |title=How the Bay was Born |url=https://blog.savesfbay.org/2013/12/how-the-bay-was-born/ |website=Save The Bay Blog |publisher=Save The Bay |access-date=June 4, 2018 |date=December 9, 2013}}</ref> The valley became a bay, and the small hills became islands.
San Francisco Bay has been filled and emptied of sea water many times during the Pleistocene in accordance with sea level changes caused by glacial advances and retreats.<ref name="geotrip">{{Cite book |last=Konigsmark |first=Ted |url=https://archive.org/details/geologictripssan0000koni |title=Geologic Trips San Francisco and the Bay Area |publisher=GeoPress |year=1998 |isbn=0-9661316-4-9 |location=Gualala, California |chapter=Fort Funston |chapter-url=https://www.geologictrips.com/sf/sfttff.pdf}}</ref> During the [[Wisconsin glaciation|Wisconsin Glaciation]], between 15,000 and about 10,000 years ago, the basin which is now filled by the San Francisco Bay was a large river valley with small hills, channeling the [[Sacramento River]] through the [[Golden Gate Strait]] into the ocean.<ref name="geotrip" /> When the great ice sheets began to melt, around 11,000 years ago, the sea level started to rise rapidly, by about 1 inch per year.<ref name="save bay" /> Melting glaciers in the Sierra Nevada washed huge amounts of sediment down the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, which accumulated on the shores of the bay, forming huge mudflats and marshes that supported local wildlife.<ref name="save bay" /> By 5000&nbsp;BC the sea level rose {{convert|300|ft|m|-1}}, filling the valley with water from the Pacific.<ref name="save bay">{{cite web |last1=Yabrove |first1=Daniel |title=How the Bay was Born |url=https://blog.savesfbay.org/2013/12/how-the-bay-was-born/ |website=Save The Bay Blog |publisher=Save The Bay |access-date=June 4, 2018 |date=December 9, 2013 |archive-date=June 20, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620153215/https://blog.savesfbay.org/2013/12/how-the-bay-was-born/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> The [[Farallon Islands]] are what used to be hills along the old coastline,<ref name="save bay" /> and Potato Patch Shoal is an area of sand dunes now covered by the ocean.<ref name="geotrip" />


==History==
==History==
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{{see also|San Francisco Bay Discovery Site}}
{{see also|San Francisco Bay Discovery Site}}
{{see also|Timeline of the San Francisco Bay Area}}
{{see also|Timeline of the San Francisco Bay Area}}
The indigenous inhabitants of the San Francisco Bay are [[Ohlone]].<ref name="foundSF">{{cite web |last1=Olmsted |first1=Nancy J. |title=Water on the Land—The Coast People |url=http://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=Water_on_the_Land%E2%80%94The_Coast_People |website=FoundSF |access-date=June 4, 2018}}</ref> The first European to see San Francisco Bay is likely [[N. de Morena]] who was left at [[New Albion]] at [[Drakes Bay]] in [[Marin County, California]], by [[Sir Francis Drake]] in 1579 and then walked to Mexico.<ref>{{cite book | title=REPORT OF FINDINGS RELATING TO THE IDENTIFICATION OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE'S ENCAMPMENT AT POINT REYES NATIONAL SEASHORE | last=Aker | first=Raymond | year=1970 | url=http://www.winepi.com/Drake%20Book/Drake-Book-05.pdf | pages=338–340}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| journal=The Land of Sunshine, the Magazine of California and the West | title=Narrative of the Pilot Morera, who passed through the North Sea to the South Sea through the Strait | pages=184–186 | url=http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044099873853;view=1up;seq=204 | issue=February | year=1900 | editor=Charles F. Lumis}}</ref>
The indigenous inhabitants of the San Francisco Bay are [[Ohlone]].<ref name="foundSF">{{cite web |last1=Olmsted |first1=Nancy J. |title=Water on the Land—The Coast People |url=http://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=Water_on_the_Land%E2%80%94The_Coast_People |website=FoundSF |access-date=June 4, 2018 |archive-date=December 4, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191204063505/http://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=Water_on_the_Land%E2%80%94The_Coast_People |url-status=live }}</ref> The first European to see San Francisco Bay is likely [[N. de Morena]] who was left at [[New Albion]] at [[Drakes Bay]] in [[Marin County, California]], by [[Sir Francis Drake]] in 1579 and then walked to Mexico.<ref>{{cite book | title=REPORT OF FINDINGS RELATING TO THE IDENTIFICATION OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE'S ENCAMPMENT AT POINT REYES NATIONAL SEASHORE | last=Aker | first=Raymond | year=1970 | url=http://www.winepi.com/Drake%20Book/Drake-Book-05.pdf | pages=338–340 | access-date=April 19, 2016 | archive-date=April 15, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415223721/http://www.winepi.com/Drake%20Book/Drake-Book-05.pdf | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | journal=The Land of Sunshine, the Magazine of California and the West | title=Narrative of the Pilot Morera, who passed through the North Sea to the South Sea through the Strait | pages=184–186 | url=http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044099873853;view=1up;seq=204 | issue=February | year=1900 | editor=Charles F. Lumis | access-date=April 19, 2016 | archive-date=May 11, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170511130814/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044099873853;view=1up;seq=204 | url-status=live }}</ref>


The first recorded European discovery of San Francisco Bay was on November 4, 1769, when Spanish explorer [[Gaspar de Portolá]], unable to find the [[Monterey, California|Port of Monterey]], continued north close to what is now [[Pacifica, California|Pacifica]] and reached the summit of the {{convert|1200|ft|m|-1|adj=mid|-high}} [[Sweeney Ridge]], now marked as the place where he first sighted San Francisco Bay. Portolá and his party did not realize what they had discovered, thinking they had arrived at a large arm of what is now called [[Drakes Bay]].<ref>{{cite journal| url = http://www.uel.br/revistas/uel/index.php/antiteses/article/view/10706| title = The representations of San Francisco (California): a portable harbor in the fragile geography of the North Pacific.| year = 2011| doi = 10.5433/1984-3356.2011v4n8p461| last1 = Albert| first1 = Salvador Bernabeu| last2 = Redondo| first2 = Jose Maria Garcia| journal = Antíteses| volume = 4| issue = 8| pages = 461–492| s2cid = 128670900| doi-access = free}}</ref> At the time, Drakes Bay went by the name ''Bahia de San Francisco'' and thus both bodies of water became associated with the name. Eventually, the larger, more important body of water fully appropriated the name ''San Francisco Bay''.
The first recorded European discovery of San Francisco Bay was on November 4, 1769, when Spanish explorer [[Gaspar de Portolá]], unable to find the [[Monterey, California|Port of Monterey]], continued north close to what is now [[Pacifica, California|Pacifica]] and reached the summit of the {{convert|1200|ft|m|-1|adj=mid|-high}} [[Sweeney Ridge]], now marked as the place where he first sighted San Francisco Bay. Portolá and his party did not realize what they had discovered, thinking they had arrived at a large arm of what is now called [[Drakes Bay]].<ref>{{cite journal| title = The representations of San Francisco (California): a portable harbor in the fragile geography of the North Pacific.| year = 2011| doi = 10.5433/1984-3356.2011v4n8p461| last1 = Albert| first1 = Salvador Bernabeu| last2 = Redondo| first2 = Jose Maria Garcia| journal = Antíteses| volume = 4| issue = 8| pages = 461–492| s2cid = 128670900| doi-access = free}}</ref> At the time, Drakes Bay went by the name ''Bahia de San Francisco'' and thus both bodies of water became associated with the name. Eventually, the larger, more important body of water fully appropriated the name ''San Francisco Bay''.{{cn|date=April 2024}}


The first European to enter the bay is believed to have been the Spanish explorer [[Juan de Ayala]], who passed through the [[Golden Gate]] on August 5, 1775, in his ship the ''San Carlos'' and moored in a bay of [[Angel Island, California|Angel Island]] now known as Ayala Cove. Ayala continued to explore the [[San Francisco Bay Area]] and the expedition's cartographer, José de Cañizares, gathered the information necessary to produce the first map of the area. A number of place names survive (anglicized) from that first map, including [[Point Reyes]], [[Angel Island (California)|Angel Island]], [[Farallon Islands]], and [[Alcatraz Island]].
The first European to enter the bay is believed to have been the Spanish explorer [[Juan de Ayala]], who passed through the [[Golden Gate]] on August 5, 1775, in his ship the ''San Carlos'' and moored in a bay of [[Angel Island, California|Angel Island]] now known as Ayala Cove. Ayala continued to explore the [[San Francisco Bay Area]] and the expedition's cartographer, José de Cañizares, gathered the information necessary to produce the first map of the area. A number of place names survive (anglicized) from that first map, including [[Point Reyes]], [[Angel Island (California)|Angel Island]], [[Farallon Islands]], and [[Alcatraz Island]].{{cn|date=April 2024}}


The United States seized the region from Mexico during the [[Mexican–American War]] (1846–1848). On February 2, 1848, the Mexican province of [[Alta California]] was annexed to the United States with the signing of the [[Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo]]. A year and a half later, California requested to join the United States on December 3, 1849, and was accepted as the 31st State of the Union on September 9, 1850.
The United States seized the region from Mexico during the [[Mexican–American War]] (1846–1848). On February 2, 1848, the Mexican province of [[Alta California]] was annexed to the United States with the signing of the [[Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo]]. A year and a half later, California requested to join the United States on December 3, 1849, and was accepted as the 31st State of the Union on September 9, 1850.{{cn|date=April 2024}}


[[File:Shoreline markers 2012-09-15 16-52-23.jpg|thumb|left|San Francisco Bay Shoreline Tablet]]
[[File:Shoreline markers 2012-09-15 16-52-23.jpg|thumb|left|San Francisco Bay Shoreline Tablet]]
In 1921, a tablet was dedicated by a group of men including [[Lewis Francis Byington]], in downtown San Francisco, marking the site of the original shoreline. The tablet reads: "This tablet marks the shore line of San Francisco Bay at the time of the discovery of gold in California, January 24, 1848. Map reproduced above delineates old shore line. Placed by the Historic Landmarks committee, [[Native Sons of the Golden West]], 1921."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://delivery.library.ca.gov:8443/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE87889 |title= Group of men standing around original shoreline tablet|work= delivery.library.ca.gov |place=San Francisco, California|date=1921|access-date=2021-10-06}}</ref>
In 1921, a tablet was dedicated by a group of men including [[Lewis Francis Byington]], in downtown San Francisco, marking the site of the original shoreline. The tablet reads: "This tablet marks the shore line of San Francisco Bay at the time of the discovery of gold in California, January 24, 1848. Map reproduced above delineates old shore line. Placed by the Historic Landmarks committee, [[Native Sons of the Golden West]], 1921."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://delivery.library.ca.gov:8443/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE87889|title=Group of men standing around original shoreline tablet|work=delivery.library.ca.gov|place=San Francisco, California|date=1921|access-date=October 6, 2021|archive-date=October 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211006154031/https://delivery.library.ca.gov:8443/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE87889|url-status=live}}</ref>


The bay became the center of American settlement and commerce in the Far West through most of the remainder of the 19th century. During the [[California Gold Rush]] (1848–1855), San Francisco Bay suddenly became one of the world's great seaports, dominating shipping in the American West until the last years of the 19th century. The bay's regional importance increased further when the [[first transcontinental railroad]] was connected to its western terminus at [[Alameda, California|Alameda]] on September 6, 1869.<ref>Alta California, September 7, 1869</ref> The terminus was switched to the [[Oakland Long Wharf]] two months later on November 8, 1869.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://cprr.org/Museum/Southern_Pacific_Bulletin/From_Trail_to_Rail_17.html| title = Cprr.org}}</ref>
The bay became the center of American settlement and commerce in the Far West through most of the remainder of the 19th century. During the [[California Gold Rush]] (1848–1855), San Francisco Bay suddenly became one of the world's great seaports, dominating shipping in the American West until the last years of the 19th century. The bay's regional importance increased further when the [[first transcontinental railroad]] was connected to its western terminus at [[Alameda, California|Alameda]] on September 6, 1869.<ref>Alta California, September 7, 1869</ref> The terminus was switched to the [[Oakland Long Wharf]] two months later on November 8, 1869.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://cprr.org/Museum/Southern_Pacific_Bulletin/From_Trail_to_Rail_17.html| title = Cprr.org| access-date = August 10, 2007| archive-date = July 9, 2011| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110709175326/http://cprr.org/Museum/Southern_Pacific_Bulletin/From_Trail_to_Rail_17.html| url-status = live}}</ref>


[[File:Dumbarton Rail Bridge 2021 redux.JPG|thumb|alt=A rust-covered bridge crosses over calm water, with hills and mountains in the background.|The Dumbarton Rail Bridge]]
[[File:Dumbarton Rail Bridge 2021 redux.JPG|thumb|alt=A rust-covered bridge crosses over calm water, with hills and mountains in the background.|The Dumbarton Rail Bridge]]
In 1910, the [[Southern Pacific Transportation Company|Southern Pacific]] railroad company built the [[Dumbarton Rail Bridge]],<ref name=ASCE1913>{{cite journal |url=https://archive.org/stream/proceedings39amer#page/n193/mode/2up |title=Construction Problems, Dumbarton Bridge, Central California Railway |journal=Proceedings of the American Society of Civil Engineers |date=January 1913 |author1=Schneider, E. J. |pages=117–128 |volume=39 |number=1 |access-date=14 March 2016}}</ref> the first bridge crossing San Francisco Bay.<ref name=EmoryGustaitis95>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sJwh6DQqojUC&pg=PA48 |title=San Francisco Bay Shoreline Guide |chapter=Dumbarton Bridge & Piers to Moffett Field |page=48 |author=Emory, Jerry |editor=Gustaitis, Rasa |date=1995 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley, California |isbn=0-520-08878-6 |access-date=15 March 2016}}</ref> The first automobile crossing was the [[Dumbarton Bridge (California)|Dumbarton Bridge]], completed in January 1927.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2017/01/17/the-old-dumbarton-bridge-did-you-see-it-fall-into-the-bay/|title=The old Dumbarton Bridge: Did you see it fall into the bay?|date=January 17, 2017}}</ref> More crossings were later constructed – the [[Carquinez Bridge]] in May 1927,<ref>''The Barrier Broken'' – Vallejo Evening Chronicle, May 21, 1927</ref> the [[San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge]] in 1936,<ref name="Two Bay Area Bridges">{{cite web|title=Two Bay Area Bridges |publisher=U.S. Department of Transportation |date=January 18, 2005 |url=http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/2bridges.htm |access-date=June 13, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091011014705/http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/2bridges.htm |archive-date=October 11, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref> the [[Golden Gate Bridge]] in 1937,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.goldengate.org/bridge/history-research/moments-events/key-dates/|title=Key Dates - Moments & Events &#124; Golden Gate|website=www.goldengate.org}}</ref> the Richmond–San Rafael Bridge in 1956,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zCEhAAAAIBAJ&pg=2923%2C2231090 |title=Frisco Adds Another Bridge To Skyline |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=August 16, 1956 |newspaper=Sarasota Herald-Tribune |access-date=March 1, 2016}}</ref> and the [[San Mateo–Hayward Bridge]] in 1967.<ref name=CTSMHB>{{cite web |url = http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/esc/tollbridge/SM-Hay/SMfacts.html |title = San Mateo–Hayward Bridge Facts |author = <!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date = 1995 |access-date = January 14, 2015 |publisher = [[California Department of Transportation]] }}</ref>
In 1910, the [[Southern Pacific Transportation Company|Southern Pacific]] railroad company built the [[Dumbarton Rail Bridge]],<ref name=ASCE1913>{{cite journal |url=https://archive.org/stream/proceedings39amer#page/n193/mode/2up |title=Construction Problems, Dumbarton Bridge, Central California Railway |journal=Proceedings of the American Society of Civil Engineers |date=January 1913 |author1=Schneider, E. J. |pages=117–128 |volume=39 |number=1 |access-date=March 14, 2016}}</ref> the first bridge crossing San Francisco Bay.<ref name=EmoryGustaitis95>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sJwh6DQqojUC&pg=PA48 |title=San Francisco Bay Shoreline Guide |chapter=Dumbarton Bridge & Piers to Moffett Field |page=48 |author=Emory, Jerry |editor=Gustaitis, Rasa |date=1995 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley, California |isbn=0-520-08878-6 |access-date=March 15, 2016}}</ref> The first automobile crossing was the [[Dumbarton Bridge (California)|Dumbarton Bridge]], completed in January 1927.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2017/01/17/the-old-dumbarton-bridge-did-you-see-it-fall-into-the-bay/|title=The old Dumbarton Bridge: Did you see it fall into the bay?|date=January 17, 2017|access-date=July 9, 2021|archive-date=July 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709185900/https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2017/01/17/the-old-dumbarton-bridge-did-you-see-it-fall-into-the-bay/|url-status=live}}</ref> More crossings were later constructed – the [[Carquinez Bridge]] in May 1927,<ref>''The Barrier Broken'' – Vallejo Evening Chronicle, May 21, 1927</ref> the [[San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge]] in 1936,<ref name="Two Bay Area Bridges">{{cite web|title=Two Bay Area Bridges |publisher=U.S. Department of Transportation |date=January 18, 2005 |url=http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/2bridges.htm |access-date=June 13, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091011014705/http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/2bridges.htm |archive-date=October 11, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref> the [[Golden Gate Bridge]] in 1937,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.goldengate.org/bridge/history-research/moments-events/key-dates/|title=Key Dates - Moments & Events &#124; Golden Gate|website=www.goldengate.org|access-date=July 9, 2021|archive-date=June 29, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210629031546/https://www.goldengate.org/bridge/history-research/moments-events/key-dates/|url-status=live}}</ref> the Richmond–San Rafael Bridge in 1956,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zCEhAAAAIBAJ&pg=2923%2C2231090 |title=Frisco Adds Another Bridge To Skyline |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=August 16, 1956 |newspaper=Sarasota Herald-Tribune |access-date=March 1, 2016 |archive-date=July 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709190544/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zCEhAAAAIBAJ&pg=2923,2231090 |url-status=live }}</ref> and the [[San Mateo–Hayward Bridge]] in 1967.<ref name=CTSMHB>{{cite web |url = http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/esc/tollbridge/SM-Hay/SMfacts.html |title = San Mateo–Hayward Bridge Facts |author = <!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date = 1995 |access-date = January 14, 2015 |publisher = [[California Department of Transportation]] |archive-date = February 2, 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150202183433/http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/esc/tollbridge/SM-Hay/SMfacts.html |url-status = live }}</ref>


[[File:Duck Hunt Marshy Shoreline San Francisco Bay Alameda County california.jpg|thumb|Duck hunting on the Bay, 1915]]
[[File:Duck Hunt Marshy Shoreline San Francisco Bay Alameda County california.jpg|thumb|Duck hunting on the Bay, 1915]]
[[File:Dredger near the Dumbarton Bridge in California.JPG|thumb|[[Mallard II]], a clamshell dredge built in 1936 and used into the 21st century to dredge levees for Cargill's salt ponds in the bay]]
[[File:Dredger near the Dumbarton Bridge in California.JPG|thumb|[[Mallard II]], a clamshell dredge built in 1936 and used into the 21st century to dredge levees for Cargill's salt ponds in the bay]]


During the 20th century, the bay was subject to the 1940s [[Reber Plan]], which would have filled in parts of the bay in order to increase industrial activity along the waterfront. In 1959, the [[United States Army Corps of Engineers]] released a report stating that if current infill trends continued, the bay would be as big as a shipping channel by 2020. This news created the [[Save the Bay]] movement in 1960,<ref name="digicoll.lib.berkeley.edu/218492">{{cite web |title=Sylvia McLaughlin: Citizen Activist for the Environment: Saving San Francisco Bay, Promoting Shoreline Parks and Natural Values in Urban and Campus Planning |url=https://digicoll.lib.berkeley.edu/record/218492 |website=Oral History Center, [[Bancroft Library]] |publisher=[[University of California]] |access-date=28 February 2023 |date=2009}}</ref> which mobilized to stop the infill of wetlands and the bay in general, which had shrunk to two-thirds of its size in the century before 1961.<ref name=StB>{{cite web|title=History|url=http://www.savesfbay.org/dont-pave-my-bay/history|publisher=Save the Bay|access-date=July 14, 2015}}</ref>
During the 20th century, the bay was subject to the 1940s [[Reber Plan]], which would have filled in parts of the bay in order to increase industrial activity along the waterfront. In 1959, the [[United States Army Corps of Engineers]] released a report stating that if current infill trends continued, the bay would be as big as a shipping channel by 2020. This news created the [[Save the Bay]] movement in 1960,<ref name="digicoll.lib.berkeley.edu/218492">{{cite web |title=Sylvia McLaughlin: Citizen Activist for the Environment: Saving San Francisco Bay, Promoting Shoreline Parks and Natural Values in Urban and Campus Planning |url=https://digicoll.lib.berkeley.edu/record/218492 |website=Oral History Center, [[Bancroft Library]] |publisher=[[University of California]] |access-date=February 28, 2023 |date=2009 |archive-date=February 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230228050439/https://digicoll.lib.berkeley.edu/record/218492 |url-status=live }}</ref> which mobilized to stop the infill of wetlands and the bay in general, which had shrunk to two-thirds of its size in the century before 1961.<ref name=StB>{{cite web|title=History|url=http://www.savesfbay.org/dont-pave-my-bay/history|publisher=Save the Bay|access-date=July 14, 2015|archive-date=July 15, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150715102518/http://www.savesfbay.org/dont-pave-my-bay/history|url-status=dead}}</ref>


The San Francisco Bay continues to support some of the densest industrial production and urban settlement in the United States. The [[San Francisco Bay Area]] is the American West's second-largest urban area, with approximately seven million residents.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bayareacensus.ca.gov/|title=Bay Area Census|website=www.bayareacensus.ca.gov|access-date=2018-10-31}}</ref>
The San Francisco Bay continues to support some of the densest industrial production and urban settlement in the United States. The [[San Francisco Bay Area]] is the American West's second-largest urban area, with approximately seven million residents.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bayareacensus.ca.gov/|title=Bay Area Census|website=www.bayareacensus.ca.gov|access-date=October 31, 2018|archive-date=January 2, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102232702/http://www.bayareacensus.ca.gov/|url-status=live}}</ref>


==Ecology==
==Ecology==
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Despite its urban and industrial character, San Francisco Bay and the [[Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta]] remain perhaps California's most important [[habitat (ecology)|ecological habitats]]. California's [[Dungeness crab]], [[California halibut]], and [[Oncorhynchus|Pacific salmon]] [[fisheries]] rely on the bay as a nursery. The few remaining [[salt marsh]]es now represent most of California's remaining salt marsh, supporting a number of endangered [[species]] and providing key [[ecosystem services]] such as filtering pollutants and [[sediment]]s from the rivers. San Francisco Bay is recognized for protection by the [[California Bays and Estuaries Policy]], with oversight provided by the [[San Francisco Estuary Partnership]].<ref name="swrcb">State Water Resources Control Board ''Water Quality Control Policy for the Enclosed Bays and Estuaries of California'' (1974) State of California</ref>
Despite its urban and industrial character, San Francisco Bay and the [[Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta]] remain perhaps California's most important [[habitat (ecology)|ecological habitats]]. California's [[Dungeness crab]], [[California halibut]], and [[Oncorhynchus|Pacific salmon]] [[fisheries]] rely on the bay as a nursery. The few remaining [[salt marsh]]es now represent most of California's remaining salt marsh, supporting a number of endangered [[species]] and providing key [[ecosystem services]] such as filtering pollutants and [[sediment]]s from the rivers. San Francisco Bay is recognized for protection by the [[California Bays and Estuaries Policy]], with oversight provided by the [[San Francisco Estuary Partnership]].<ref name="swrcb">State Water Resources Control Board ''Water Quality Control Policy for the Enclosed Bays and Estuaries of California'' (1974) State of California</ref>


Most famously, the bay is a key link in the [[Pacific Flyway]]. Millions of [[waterfowl]] annually use the bay shallows as a refuge. Two [[endangered species]] of birds are found here: the [[California least tern]] and the [[Ridgway's Rail]]. Exposed [[bay mud]]s provide important feeding areas for [[shorebird]]s, but underlying layers of bay mud pose geological hazards for structures near many parts of the bay perimeter. San Francisco Bay provided the nation's first wildlife refuge, Oakland's artificial [[Lake Merritt]], constructed in the 1860s, and America's first urban National Wildlife Refuge, the [[Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge]] (SFBNWR) in 1972. The bay is also plagued by non-native species.
Most famously, the bay is a key link in the [[Pacific Flyway]]. Millions of [[waterfowl]] annually use the bay shallows as a refuge. Two [[endangered species]] of birds are found here: the [[California least tern]] and the [[Ridgway's Rail]]. Exposed [[bay mud]]s provide important feeding areas for [[shorebird]]s, but underlying layers of bay mud pose geological hazards for structures near many parts of the bay perimeter. San Francisco Bay provided the nation's first wildlife refuge, Oakland's artificial [[Lake Merritt]], constructed in the 1860s, and America's first urban National Wildlife Refuge, the [[Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge]] (SFBNWR) in 1972. The bay is also plagued by non-native species.{{cn|date=April 2024}}


Salt produced from San Francisco Bay is produced in [[salt evaporation pond]]s and is shipped throughout the Western United States to bakeries, canneries, fisheries, cheese makers and other food industries and used to de-ice winter highways, clean kidney dialysis machines, for animal nutrition, and in many industries. Many companies have produced salt in the bay, with the [[Leslie Salt Company]] the largest private land owner in the [[San Francisco Bay Area|Bay Area]] in the 1940s.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.stanford.edu/group/spatialhistory/cgi-bin/site/pub.php?id=49| title = Spatial History Project<!-- Bot generated title -->}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = http://arch.ced.berkeley.edu/hiddenecologies/?p=82| title = Hidden Ecologies » Blog Archive » Arden Salt Works<!-- Bot generated title -->| date = November 17, 2005}}</ref>
Salt produced from San Francisco Bay is produced in [[salt evaporation pond]]s and is shipped throughout the Western United States to bakeries, canneries, fisheries, cheese makers and other food industries and used to de-ice winter highways, clean kidney dialysis machines, for animal nutrition, and in many industries. Many companies have produced salt in the bay, with the [[Leslie Salt Company]] the largest private land owner in the [[San Francisco Bay Area|Bay Area]] in the 1940s.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.stanford.edu/group/spatialhistory/cgi-bin/site/pub.php?id=49| title = Spatial History Project<!-- Bot generated title -->| access-date = August 10, 2013| archive-date = May 21, 2013| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130521002410/http://www.stanford.edu/group/spatialhistory/cgi-bin/site/pub.php?id=49| url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = http://arch.ced.berkeley.edu/hiddenecologies/?p=82| title = Hidden Ecologies » Blog Archive » Arden Salt Works<!-- Bot generated title -->| date = November 17, 2005| access-date = August 10, 2013| archive-date = October 16, 2015| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151016033341/http://arch.ced.berkeley.edu/hiddenecologies/?p=82| url-status = live}}</ref>


Low-salinity salt ponds mirror the ecosystem of the bay, with fish and fish-eating birds in abundance. Mid-salinity ponds support dense populations of [[brine shrimp]], which provide a rich food source for millions of shorebirds. Only salt-tolerant micro-algae survive in the high salinity ponds, and impart a deep red color to these ponds from the pigment within the algae protoplasm. The [[salt marsh harvest mouse]] is an endangered species endemic to the wetlands of the San Francisco Bay with a high salt tolerance. It needs native [[Salicornia|pickleweed]], which is often displaced by invasive cordgrass, for its habitat.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.southbayrestoration.org/pdf_files/HarvestMouseHandout.pdf|title=Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse|website=South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170320233919/https://www.southbayrestoration.org/pdf_files/HarvestMouseHandout.pdf|archive-date=20 March 2017|access-date=25 September 2019}}</ref>
Low-salinity salt ponds mirror the ecosystem of the bay, with fish and fish-eating birds in abundance. Mid-salinity ponds support dense populations of [[brine shrimp]], which provide a rich food source for millions of shorebirds. Only salt-tolerant micro-algae survive in the high salinity ponds, and impart a deep red color to these ponds from the pigment within the algae protoplasm. The [[salt marsh harvest mouse]] is an endangered species endemic to the wetlands of the San Francisco Bay with a high salt tolerance. It needs native [[Salicornia|pickleweed]], which is often displaced by invasive cordgrass, for its habitat.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.southbayrestoration.org/pdf_files/HarvestMouseHandout.pdf|title=Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse|website=South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170320233919/https://www.southbayrestoration.org/pdf_files/HarvestMouseHandout.pdf|archive-date=March 20, 2017|access-date=September 25, 2019}}</ref>


The seasonal range of water temperature in the bay is from January's {{convert|53|°F|°C}} to September's {{convert|60|°F|°C}} when measured at [[Fort Point, San Francisco|Fort Point]], which is near the southern end of the [[Golden Gate Bridge]] and at the entrance to San Francisco Bay.<ref>{{cite web | last = Osborn| first = Liz | url = http://www.currentresults.com/Oceans/Temperature/san-francisco-average-water-temperature.php | title = Average Ocean Water Temperatures at San Francisco| work=Current Results Nexus | access-date =October 19, 2013 }}</ref>
The seasonal range of water temperature in the bay is from January's {{convert|53|°F|°C}} to September's {{convert|60|°F|°C}} when measured at [[Fort Point, San Francisco|Fort Point]], which is near the southern end of the [[Golden Gate Bridge]] and at the entrance to San Francisco Bay.<ref>{{cite web| last = Osborn| first = Liz| url = http://www.currentresults.com/Oceans/Temperature/san-francisco-average-water-temperature.php| title = Average Ocean Water Temperatures at San Francisco| work = Current Results Nexus| access-date = October 19, 2013| archive-date = October 19, 2013| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131019134753/http://www.currentresults.com/Oceans/Temperature/san-francisco-average-water-temperature.php| url-status = live}}</ref>


For the first time in 65 years, [[Harbor porpoise|Pacific Harbor Porpoise]] (''Phocoena phocoena'') returned to the bay in 2009.<ref>{{cite news |title=Porpoises return to SF Bay – scientists study why |author=David Perlman |newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle |date=November 8, 2010 |url=http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-11-08/news/24820859_1_harbor-porpoises-biologists-boston-whaler |access-date=July 25, 2011 }}</ref> Golden Gate Cetacean Research, a non-profit organization focused on research on [[cetacean]]s, has developed a photo-identification database enabling the scientists to identify specific porpoise individuals and is trying to ascertain whether a healthier bay has brought their return.<ref>{{cite web |title=Harbor Porpoise Project |publisher=Golden Gate Cetacean Research |url=http://www.ggcetacean.org/Harbor_Porpoise.html |access-date=July 25, 2011 }}</ref> Pacific harbor porpoise range from [[Point Conception]], California, to Alaska and across to the [[Kamchatka Peninsula]] and Japan. Recent genetic studies show that there is a local stock from San Francisco to the Russian River and that eastern Pacific coastal populations rarely migrate far, unlike western Atlantic Harbor porpoise.<ref>{{cite report |title=Harbor Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena): San Francisco-Russian River Stock |publisher=[[National Marine Fisheries Service]] |date=October 15, 2009 |url=http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/pdfs/sars/po2009poha-rr.pdf |access-date=July 25, 2011 }}</ref>
For the first time in 65 years, [[Harbor porpoise|Pacific Harbor Porpoise]] (''Phocoena phocoena'') returned to the bay in 2009.<ref>{{cite news |title=Porpoises return to SF Bay – scientists study why |author=David Perlman |newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle |date=November 8, 2010 |url=http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-11-08/news/24820859_1_harbor-porpoises-biologists-boston-whaler |access-date=July 25, 2011 |archive-date=November 5, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111105013821/http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-11-08/news/24820859_1_harbor-porpoises-biologists-boston-whaler |url-status=live }}</ref> Golden Gate Cetacean Research, a non-profit organization focused on research on [[cetacean]]s, has developed a photo-identification database enabling the scientists to identify specific porpoise individuals and is trying to ascertain whether a healthier bay has brought their return.<ref>{{cite web |title=Harbor Porpoise Project |publisher=Golden Gate Cetacean Research |url=http://www.ggcetacean.org/Harbor_Porpoise.html |access-date=July 25, 2011 |archive-date=May 11, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511203115/http://ggcetacean.org/Harbor_Porpoise.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Pacific harbor porpoise range from [[Point Conception]], California, to Alaska and across to the [[Kamchatka Peninsula]] and Japan. Recent genetic studies show that there is a local stock from San Francisco to the Russian River and that eastern Pacific coastal populations rarely migrate far, unlike western Atlantic Harbor porpoise.<ref>{{cite report |title=Harbor Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena): San Francisco-Russian River Stock |publisher=[[National Marine Fisheries Service]] |date=October 15, 2009 |url=http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/pdfs/sars/po2009poha-rr.pdf |access-date=July 25, 2011 |archive-date=September 18, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120918024442/http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/pdfs/sars/po2009poha-rr.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>


The [[common bottlenose dolphin]] (''Tursiops truncatus'') has been extending its current range northwards from the [[Southern California Bight]]. The first coastal bottlenose dolphin in the Bay Area in recent times was spotted in 1983 off the [[San Mateo County, California|San Mateo County]] coast in 1983. In 2001, bottlenose dolphins were first spotted east of the Golden Gate Bridge and confirmed by photographic evidence in 2007. Zooarcheological remains of bottlenose dolphins indicated that bottlenose dolphins inhabited San Francisco Bay in prehistoric times until at least 700 years before present, and dolphin skulls dredged from the bay suggest occasional visitors in historic times.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Northern Range Expansion of California Coastal Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) |author=William Keener |author2=Marc A. Webber |author3=Tim M. Markowitz |author4=Mark P. Cotter |author5=Daniela Maldini |author6=R. H. Defran |author7=Megan Rice |author8=Amanda J. Debich |author9=Aimée R. Lang |author10=Dennis L. Kelly |author11=Alex G. Kesaris |author12=Maddalena Bearzi |author13=Kayla Causey |author14=David Anderson |author15=Laurie Shuster |author16=David W. Weller |journal=Aquatic Mammals |year=2023 |volume=49 |issue=1 |pages=29–43 |doi=10.1578/AM.49.1.2023.29 |s2cid=255918023 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
The [[common bottlenose dolphin]] (''Tursiops truncatus'') has been extending its current range northwards from the [[Southern California Bight]]. The first coastal bottlenose dolphin in the Bay Area in recent times was spotted in 1983 off the [[San Mateo County, California|San Mateo County]] coast in 1983. In 2001, bottlenose dolphins were first spotted east of the Golden Gate Bridge and confirmed by photographic evidence in 2007. Zooarcheological remains of bottlenose dolphins indicated that bottlenose dolphins inhabited San Francisco Bay in prehistoric times until at least 700 years before present, and dolphin skulls dredged from the bay suggest occasional visitors in historic times.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Northern Range Expansion of California Coastal Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) |author=William Keener |author2=Marc A. Webber |author3=Tim M. Markowitz |author4=Mark P. Cotter |author5=Daniela Maldini |author6=R. H. Defran |author7=Megan Rice |author8=Amanda J. Debich |author9=Aimée R. Lang |author10=Dennis L. Kelly |author11=Alex G. Kesaris |author12=Maddalena Bearzi |author13=Kayla Causey |author14=David Anderson |author15=Laurie Shuster |author16=David W. Weller |journal=Aquatic Mammals |year=2023 |volume=49 |issue=1 |pages=29–43 |doi=10.1578/AM.49.1.2023.29 |s2cid=255918023 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
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Industrial, mining, and other uses of [[Mercury (element)|mercury]] have resulted in a widespread distribution in the bay, with uptake in the bay's [[phytoplankton]] and contamination of its sportfish.<ref>{{cite book|doi=10.1007/978-0-387-74816-0_2 |journal=Rev Environ Contam Toxicol |year=2008 |volume=194 |pages=29–54 |last1=Conaway |first1=CH |last2=Black |first2=FJ |last3=Grieb |first3=TM |last4=Roy |first4=S |last5=Flegal |first5=AR |title=Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology |chapter=Mercury in the San Francisco Estuary |pmid=18069645 |isbn=978-0-387-74815-3}}</ref> In January 1971, two [[Standard Oil]] tankers collided in the bay, creating an {{convert|800000|USgal|L|abbr=off|sp=us|adj=on}} [[1971 San Francisco Bay oil spill|oil spill disaster]], which spurred environmental protection of the bay. In November 2007, a ship named ''[[MSC Venezia|COSCO Busan]]'' collided with the [[San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge]] and spilled over {{convert|58000|USgal|L|abbr=off|sp=us}} of [[fuel oil#Bunker fuel|bunker fuel]], creating the largest [[oil spill]] in the region since 1996.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-nov-09-me-bay9-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |first=Eric |last=Bailey |title=Oil oozes in S.F. Bay after ship hits bridge |date=November 9, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322094319/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-nov-09-me-bay9-story.html |archive-date=March 22, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>
Industrial, mining, and other uses of [[Mercury (element)|mercury]] have resulted in a widespread distribution in the bay, with uptake in the bay's [[phytoplankton]] and contamination of its sportfish.<ref>{{cite book|doi=10.1007/978-0-387-74816-0_2 |journal=Rev Environ Contam Toxicol |year=2008 |volume=194 |pages=29–54 |last1=Conaway |first1=CH |last2=Black |first2=FJ |last3=Grieb |first3=TM |last4=Roy |first4=S |last5=Flegal |first5=AR |title=Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology |chapter=Mercury in the San Francisco Estuary |pmid=18069645 |isbn=978-0-387-74815-3}}</ref> In January 1971, two [[Standard Oil]] tankers collided in the bay, creating an {{convert|800000|USgal|L|abbr=off|sp=us|adj=on}} [[1971 San Francisco Bay oil spill|oil spill disaster]], which spurred environmental protection of the bay. In November 2007, a ship named ''[[MSC Venezia|COSCO Busan]]'' collided with the [[San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge]] and spilled over {{convert|58000|USgal|L|abbr=off|sp=us}} of [[fuel oil#Bunker fuel|bunker fuel]], creating the largest [[oil spill]] in the region since 1996.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-nov-09-me-bay9-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |first=Eric |last=Bailey |title=Oil oozes in S.F. Bay after ship hits bridge |date=November 9, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322094319/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-nov-09-me-bay9-story.html |archive-date=March 22, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>


The bay also has some of the highest levels of dissolved inorganic nitrogen known from any coastal water body, mostly originating from treated wastewater from [[Publicly owned treatment works]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Nutrient Status of San Francisco Bay and Its Management Implications|url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-020-00737-w|journal=Estuaries and Coasts|year=2020|volume=43|pages=1299-1317}}</ref> In other bays, such nutrient levels would likely lead to [[eutrophication]], but historically, the bay has had less [[harmful algal blooms]] than other water bodies with similar nutrient concentrations. Potential explanations have included the presence of intensive "top-down control" from grazing clams like ''[[Potamocorbula]]'', high sediment supply limiting light availability for the algae, and intensive tidal mixing. The occurrence of an unprecedented harmful algal bloom of ''[[Heterosigma akashiwo]]'' in 2022, resulting in mass fish deaths and anoxia,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://abc7news.com/sf-bay-toxic-algae-turning-water-brown-heterosigma-akashiwo-area-waters/12135158/|title=Harmful algae bloom spreading across San Francisco Bay, turning water brown|author=Liz Kreutz|publisher=ABC7 News}}</ref> suggests that the mechanisms of control on algal growth may be eroding.
The bay also has some of the highest levels of dissolved inorganic nitrogen known from any coastal water body, mostly originating from treated wastewater from [[Publicly owned treatment works]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Nutrient Status of San Francisco Bay and Its Management Implications|url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-020-00737-w|journal=Estuaries and Coasts|year=2020|volume=43|pages=1299–1317|doi=10.1007/s12237-020-00737-w |last1=Cloern |first1=James E. |last2=Schraga |first2=Tara S. |last3=Nejad |first3=Erica |last4=Martin |first4=Charles |issue=6 |doi-access=free }}</ref> In other bays, such nutrient levels would likely lead to [[eutrophication]], but historically, the bay has had less [[harmful algal blooms]] than other water bodies with similar nutrient concentrations. Potential explanations have included the presence of intensive "top-down control" from grazing clams like ''[[Potamocorbula]]'', high sediment supply limiting light availability for the algae, and intensive tidal mixing. The occurrence of an unprecedented harmful algal bloom of ''[[Heterosigma akashiwo]]'' in 2022, resulting in mass fish deaths and anoxia,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://abc7news.com/sf-bay-toxic-algae-turning-water-brown-heterosigma-akashiwo-area-waters/12135158/|title=Harmful algae bloom spreading across San Francisco Bay, turning water brown|author=Liz Kreutz|publisher=ABC7 News|access-date=February 28, 2024|archive-date=February 28, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240228190932/https://abc7news.com/sf-bay-toxic-algae-turning-water-brown-heterosigma-akashiwo-area-waters/12135158/|url-status=live}}</ref> suggests that the mechanisms of control on algal growth may be eroding.


The bay was once considered a hotspot for polybrominated diphenyl ether ([[PBDE]]) flame retardants used to make upholstered furniture and infant care items less flammable. PBDEs have been largely phased out and replaced with alternative phosphate flame retardants. A 2019 [[San Francisco Estuary Institute]] (SFEI) study assayed a wide range of these newer flame retardant chemicals in Bay waters, bivalve [[California mussel]]s (''Mytilus californianus''), and [[harbor seal]]s (''Phoca vitulina'') which haul out in Corkscrew Slough<ref>{{cite gnis|233719|Corkscrew Slough}}</ref> on [[Bair Island]] in [[San Mateo County]], with phosphate flame retardant contaminants such as [[tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl)phosphate]] (TDCPP) and [[triphenyl phosphate]] (TPhP) found at levels comparable to thresholds for aquatic toxicity.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Characterization of brominated, chlorinated, and phosphate flame retardants in San Francisco Bay, an urban estuary |first1=Rebecca |last1=Sutton |first2=Da |last2=Chen |first3=Jennifer |last3=Sun |first4=Denise J. |last4=Greig |first5=Yan |last5=Wu |journal=Science of the Total Environment |volume=652 |year=2019 |pages=212–223 |url=https://www.sfei.org/news/rmp-journal-article-characterization-brominated-chlorinated-and-phosphate-flame-retardants-san#sthash.nPaHsoyk.dpbs |access-date=March 16, 2019 |doi=10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.10.096|pmid=30366322 |bibcode=2019ScTEn.652..212S |doi-access=free }}</ref>
The bay was once considered a hotspot for polybrominated diphenyl ether ([[PBDE]]) flame retardants used to make upholstered furniture and infant care items less flammable. PBDEs have been largely phased out and replaced with alternative phosphate flame retardants. A 2019 [[San Francisco Estuary Institute]] (SFEI) study assayed a wide range of these newer flame retardant chemicals in Bay waters, bivalve [[California mussel]]s (''Mytilus californianus''), and [[harbor seal]]s (''Phoca vitulina'') which haul out in Corkscrew Slough<ref>{{cite gnis|233719|Corkscrew Slough}}</ref> on [[Bair Island]] in [[San Mateo County]], with phosphate flame retardant contaminants such as [[tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl)phosphate]] (TDCPP) and [[triphenyl phosphate]] (TPhP) found at levels comparable to thresholds for aquatic toxicity.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Characterization of brominated, chlorinated, and phosphate flame retardants in San Francisco Bay, an urban estuary |first1=Rebecca |last1=Sutton |first2=Da |last2=Chen |first3=Jennifer |last3=Sun |first4=Denise J. |last4=Greig |first5=Yan |last5=Wu |journal=Science of the Total Environment |volume=652 |year=2019 |pages=212–223 |url=https://www.sfei.org/news/rmp-journal-article-characterization-brominated-chlorinated-and-phosphate-flame-retardants-san#sthash.nPaHsoyk.dpbs |access-date=March 16, 2019 |doi=10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.10.096 |pmid=30366322 |bibcode=2019ScTEn.652..212S |doi-access=free |archive-date=April 3, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403133425/https://www.sfei.org/news/rmp-journal-article-characterization-brominated-chlorinated-and-phosphate-flame-retardants-san#sthash.nPaHsoyk.dpbs |url-status=live }}</ref>


{{wide image|San_Francisco_with_two_bridges_and_the_low_fog.jpg|1200px|City skyline through the fog, from the [[Golden Gate National Recreation Area]]}}
{{wide image|San_Francisco_with_two_bridges_and_the_low_fog.jpg|1200px|City skyline through the fog, from the [[Golden Gate National Recreation Area]]}}
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[[File:San Francisco Bay aerial view.jpg|thumb|San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge, looking southeast towards the City and East Bay. [[Alcatraz]] is the small islet in the upper-middle left.]]
[[File:San Francisco Bay aerial view.jpg|thumb|San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge, looking southeast towards the City and East Bay. [[Alcatraz]] is the small islet in the upper-middle left.]]


San Francisco Bay's profile changed dramatically in the late 19th century and again with the initiation of dredging by the [[US Army Corps of Engineers]] in the 20th century. Before about 1860, most bay shores (with the exception of rocky shores, such as those in Carquinez Strait; along Marin shoreline; Point Richmond; Golden Gate area) contained extensive wetlands that graded nearly invisibly from freshwater wetlands to salt marsh and then tidal mudflat. A deep channel ran through the center of the bay, following the ancient drowned river valley.
San Francisco Bay's profile changed dramatically in the late 19th century and again with the initiation of dredging by the [[US Army Corps of Engineers]] in the 20th century. Before about 1860, most bay shores (with the exception of rocky shores, such as those in Carquinez Strait; along Marin shoreline; Point Richmond; Golden Gate area) contained extensive wetlands that graded nearly invisibly from freshwater wetlands to salt marsh and then tidal mudflat. A deep channel ran through the center of the bay, following the ancient drowned river valley.{{cn|date=April 2024}}


In the 1860s and continuing into the early 20th century, miners dumped staggering quantities of mud and gravel from [[hydraulic mining]] operations into the upper Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. GK Gilbert's estimates of debris total more than eight times the amount of rock and dirt moved during construction of the Panama Canal. This material flowed down the rivers, progressively eroding into finer and finer sediment, until it reached the bay system. Here some of it settled, eventually filling in Suisun Bay, San Pablo Bay, and San Francisco Bay, in decreasing order of severity.
In the 1860s and continuing into the early 20th century, miners dumped staggering quantities of mud and gravel from [[hydraulic mining]] operations into the upper Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. GK Gilbert's estimates of debris total more than eight times the amount of rock and dirt moved during construction of the Panama Canal. This material flowed down the rivers, progressively eroding into finer and finer sediment, until it reached the bay system. Here some of it settled, eventually filling in Suisun Bay, San Pablo Bay, and San Francisco Bay, in decreasing order of severity.{{cn|date=April 2024}}


By the end of the 19th century, these "[[Tailings|slickens]]" had filled in much of the shallow bay flats, raising the entire bay profile. New marshes were created in some areas.
By the end of the 19th century, these "[[Tailings|slickens]]" had filled in much of the shallow bay flats, raising the entire bay profile. New marshes were created in some areas.{{cn|date=April 2024}}


[[File:Boats in San Francisco bay.jpg|thumb|left|Cargo ships in San Francisco bay in 2012]]
[[File:Boats in San Francisco bay.jpg|thumb|left|Cargo ships in San Francisco Bay in 2012]]


In the decades surrounding 1900, at the behest of local political officials and following Congressional orders, the U.S. Army Corps began dredging the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers and the deep channels of San Francisco Bay. This work has continued without interruption ever since. Some of the dredge spoils were initially dumped in the bay shallows (including helping to create [[Treasure Island, California|Treasure Island]] on the former [[shoal]]s to the north of [[Yerba Buena Island]]) and used to raise islands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The net effect of dredging has been to maintain a narrow deep channel—deeper perhaps than the original bay channel—through a much shallower bay. At the same time, most of the marsh areas have been filled or blocked off from the bay by [[Levee|dikes]].
In the decades surrounding 1900, at the behest of local political officials and following Congressional orders, the U.S. Army Corps began dredging the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers and the deep channels of San Francisco Bay. This work has continued without interruption ever since. Some of the dredge spoils were initially dumped in the bay shallows (including helping to create [[Treasure Island, California|Treasure Island]] on the former [[shoal]]s to the north of [[Yerba Buena Island]]) and used to raise islands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The net effect of dredging has been to maintain a narrow deep channel—deeper perhaps than the original bay channel—through a much shallower bay. At the same time, most of the marsh areas have been filled or blocked off from the bay by [[Levee|dikes]].


Large ships transiting the bay must follow deep underwater channels that are maintained by frequent dredging as the average depth of the bay is only as deep as a swimming pool—approximately {{convert|12|to(-)|15|ft|m|0|abbr=on}}. Between [[Hayward, California|Hayward]] and [[San Mateo, California|San Mateo]] to [[San Jose, California|San Jose]] it is {{convert|12|to(-)|36|in|cm|-1|abbr=on}}. The deepest part of the bay is under and out of the Golden Gate Bridge, at {{convert|372|ft|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Barnard, P. L.|author2=Hanes, D. M.|author3=Rubin, D. M.|author4=Kvitek, R. G.|title=Giant Sand Waves at the Mouth of San Francisco Bay|journal=Eos|date=July 18, 2006|volume=87|issue=29|pages=285, 289|url=http://seafloor.otterlabs.org/publications/Barnard_etal_EOSJuly2006.pdf|access-date=January 2, 2017|bibcode=2006EOSTr..87..285B|doi=10.1029/2006EO290003}}</ref>
Large ships transiting the bay must follow deep underwater channels that are maintained by frequent dredging as the average depth of the bay is only as deep as a swimming pool—approximately {{convert|12|to(-)|15|ft|m|0|abbr=on}}. Between [[Hayward, California|Hayward]] and [[San Mateo, California|San Mateo]] to [[San Jose, California|San Jose]] it is {{convert|12|to(-)|36|in|cm|-1|abbr=on}}. The deepest part of the bay is under and out of the Golden Gate Bridge, at {{convert|372|ft|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Barnard, P. L.|author2=Hanes, D. M.|author3=Rubin, D. M.|author4=Kvitek, R. G.|title=Giant Sand Waves at the Mouth of San Francisco Bay|journal=Eos|date=July 18, 2006|volume=87|issue=29|pages=285, 289|url=http://seafloor.otterlabs.org/publications/Barnard_etal_EOSJuly2006.pdf|access-date=January 2, 2017|bibcode=2006EOSTr..87..285B|doi=10.1029/2006EO290003|archive-date=August 19, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819121101/http://seafloor.otterlabs.org/publications/Barnard_etal_EOSJuly2006.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>


In the late 1990s, a 12-year harbor-deepening project for the [[Port of Oakland]] began; it was largely completed by September 2009. Previously, the bay waters and harbor facilities only allowed for ships with a draft of {{convert|46|ft|m|abbr=on}}, but [[dredging]] activities undertaken by the United States Army Corps of Engineers in partnership with the Port of Oakland succeeded in providing access for vessels with a {{convert|50|ft|m|adj=on}} draft. Four dredging companies were employed in the US$432&nbsp;million project, with $244&nbsp;million paid for with federal funds and $188&nbsp;million supplied by the Port of Oakland. Some {{convert|6|e6yd3|e6ft3 e6m3|abbr=off|spell=in}} of mud from the dredging was deposited at the western edge of [[Middle Harbor Shoreline Park]] to become a {{convert|188|acre|mi2 km2|adj=on}} shallow-water [[wetland]]s habitat for marine and shore life.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Sandifur|first1=Marilyn|title=50 Feet Delivered!|url=http://www.portofoakland.com/press-releases/press-release-183/|publisher=[[Port of Oakland]]|access-date=January 3, 2017|date=September 18, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=United States. Army. Corps of Engineers. San Francisco District, Port of Oakland |title=Oakland harbor navigation improvement (−50-foot) project: draft environmental impact statement/environmental impact report: executive summary |year=1998 |publisher=U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, San Francisco District}}</ref> Further dredging followed in 2011, to maintain the navigation channel.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dredgingtoday.com/2011/06/01/usa-port-of-oakland-secures-usd-18-million-in-federal-funding-for-dredging-project/ |title=USA: Port of Oakland Secures USD 18 Million in Federal Funding for Dredging Project |date=June 1, 2011 |work=Dredging Today |access-date=March 22, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dredgingtoday.com/2011/10/19/usa-congresswoman-helps-oakland-port-reach-major-funding-milestone-for-deepening-project/ |title=USA: Congresswoman Helps Oakland Port Reach Major Funding Milestone for Deepening Project |date=March 21, 2012 |work=Dredging Today |access-date=March 22, 2012}}</ref> This dredging enabled the arrival of the largest [[container ship]] ever to enter the San Francisco Bay, the ''[[MSC Fabiola]]''. Bay [[Maritime pilot|pilots]] trained for the visit on a simulator at the [[California Maritime Academy]] for over a year. The ship arrived drawing less than its full draft of {{convert|50|ft|10|in|1}} because it held only three-quarters of a load after its stop in Long Beach.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/east_bay&id=8590497 |title=Huge container ship cruises into Port of Oakland |last=Matthews |first=Mark |date=March 22, 2012 |work=ABC7 |publisher=KGO-TV/DT |access-date=March 23, 2012 |location=San Francisco}}</ref>{{Clear|left}}
In the late 1990s, a 12-year harbor-deepening project for the [[Port of Oakland]] began; it was largely completed by September 2009. Previously, the bay waters and harbor facilities only allowed for ships with a draft of {{convert|46|ft|m|abbr=on}}, but [[dredging]] activities undertaken by the United States Army Corps of Engineers in partnership with the Port of Oakland succeeded in providing access for vessels with a {{convert|50|ft|m|adj=on}} draft. Four dredging companies were employed in the US$432&nbsp;million project, with $244&nbsp;million paid for with federal funds and $188&nbsp;million supplied by the Port of Oakland. Some {{convert|6|e6yd3|e6ft3 e6m3|abbr=off|spell=in}} of mud from the dredging was deposited at the western edge of [[Middle Harbor Shoreline Park]] to become a {{convert|188|acre|mi2 km2|adj=on}} shallow-water [[wetland]]s habitat for marine and shore life.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Sandifur|first1=Marilyn|title=50 Feet Delivered!|url=http://www.portofoakland.com/press-releases/press-release-183/|publisher=[[Port of Oakland]]|access-date=January 3, 2017|date=September 18, 2009|archive-date=February 19, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170219012750/http://www.portofoakland.com/press-releases/press-release-183/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=United States. Army. Corps of Engineers. San Francisco District, Port of Oakland |title=Oakland harbor navigation improvement (−50-foot) project: draft environmental impact statement/environmental impact report: executive summary |year=1998 |publisher=U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, San Francisco District}}</ref> Further dredging followed in 2011, to maintain the navigation channel.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dredgingtoday.com/2011/06/01/usa-port-of-oakland-secures-usd-18-million-in-federal-funding-for-dredging-project/ |title=USA: Port of Oakland Secures USD 18 Million in Federal Funding for Dredging Project |date=June 1, 2011 |work=Dredging Today |access-date=March 22, 2012 |archive-date=June 20, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120620180026/http://www.dredgingtoday.com/2011/06/01/usa-port-of-oakland-secures-usd-18-million-in-federal-funding-for-dredging-project/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dredgingtoday.com/2011/10/19/usa-congresswoman-helps-oakland-port-reach-major-funding-milestone-for-deepening-project/ |title=USA: Congresswoman Helps Oakland Port Reach Major Funding Milestone for Deepening Project |date=March 21, 2012 |work=Dredging Today |access-date=March 22, 2012 |archive-date=June 20, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120620174730/http://www.dredgingtoday.com/2011/10/19/usa-congresswoman-helps-oakland-port-reach-major-funding-milestone-for-deepening-project/ |url-status=live }}</ref> This dredging enabled the arrival of the largest [[container ship]] ever to enter the San Francisco Bay, the ''[[MSC Fabiola]]''. Bay [[Maritime pilot|pilots]] trained for the visit on a simulator at the [[California Maritime Academy]] for over a year. The ship arrived drawing less than its full draft of {{convert|50|ft|10|in|1}} because it held only three-quarters of a load after its stop in Long Beach.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/east_bay&id=8590497 |title=Huge container ship cruises into Port of Oakland |last=Matthews |first=Mark |date=March 22, 2012 |work=ABC7 |publisher=KGO-TV/DT |access-date=March 23, 2012 |location=San Francisco |archive-date=February 3, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203015829/http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news%2Flocal%2Feast_bay&id=8590497 |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{Clear|left}}


==Transportation==
==Transportation==
{{Main|Transportation in the San Francisco Bay Area}}

[[File:San Francisco Bay bridges.svg|thumb|
[[File:San Francisco Bay bridges.svg|thumb|
{| style="line-height:0.8;"
{| style="line-height:0.8;"
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|[[Antioch Bridge]]
|[[Antioch Bridge]]
|}]]
|}]]
{{Main|Transportation in the San Francisco Bay Area}}
San Francisco Bay was traversed by watercraft before the arrival of Europeans. Indigenous peoples used canoes to fish and clam along the shoreline. Sailing ships enabled transportation between the bay and other parts of the world—and served as ferries and freighters within the bay and between the bay and inland ports, such as Sacramento and Stockton. These were gradually replaced by steam-powered vessels starting in the late 19th century. Several shipyards were established around the bay, augmented during wartime. (e.g., the [[Kaiser Shipyards]], [[Richmond Shipyards]]) near [[Richmond, California|Richmond]] in 1940 for [[World War II]] for construction of mass-produced, assembly line [[Liberty ship|Liberty]] and [[Victory ship|Victory cargo ships]].


San Francisco Bay was traversed by watercraft before the arrival of Europeans. Indigenous peoples used canoes to fish and clam along the shoreline. Sailing ships enabled transportation between the bay and other parts of the world—and served as ferries and freighters within the bay and between the bay and inland ports, such as Sacramento and Stockton. These were gradually replaced by steam-powered vessels starting in the late 19th century. Several shipyards were established around the bay, augmented during wartime (e.g., the [[Kaiser Shipyards]], [[Richmond Shipyards]]) near [[Richmond, California|Richmond]] in 1940 for [[World War II]] for construction of mass-produced, assembly line [[Liberty ship|Liberty]] and [[Victory ship|Victory cargo ships]].{{cn|date=April 2024}}
San Francisco Bay is spanned by nine bridges, eight of which carry [[car]]s.

San Francisco Bay is spanned by nine bridges, eight of which carry [[car]]s.{{cn|date=April 2024}}
* The [[Richmond–San Rafael Bridge]] on [[Interstate 580 (California)|Interstate 580]] (I-580) connects Marin and Contra Costa counties.
* The [[Richmond–San Rafael Bridge]] on [[Interstate 580 (California)|Interstate 580]] (I-580) connects Marin and Contra Costa counties.
* The [[Golden Gate Bridge]] on [[U.S. Route 101 in California|U.S. Route&nbsp;101]]/[[California State Route 1|State Route&nbsp;1]] (US&nbsp;101/SR&nbsp;1) was the largest single span [[suspension bridge]] ever built at the time of its 1937 construction. It spans the [[Golden Gate]], the strait between San Francisco and Marin County, and is the only bridge in the area not owned by the State of California.
* The [[Golden Gate Bridge]] on [[U.S. Route 101 in California|U.S. Route&nbsp;101]]/[[California State Route 1|State Route&nbsp;1]] (US&nbsp;101/SR&nbsp;1) was the largest single span [[suspension bridge]] ever built at the time of its 1937 construction. It spans the [[Golden Gate]], the strait between San Francisco and Marin County, and is the only bridge in the area not owned by the State of California.
Line 167: Line 167:
* The [[Antioch Bridge]] on [[California State Route 160|SR&nbsp;160]] connects Contra Costa and Sacramento counties.
* The [[Antioch Bridge]] on [[California State Route 160|SR&nbsp;160]] connects Contra Costa and Sacramento counties.
* The [[Dumbarton Rail Bridge]] is an abandoned bridge that used to carry rail traffic.
* The [[Dumbarton Rail Bridge]] is an abandoned bridge that used to carry rail traffic.
The [[Transbay Tube]], an underwater rail tunnel, carries [[Bay Area Rapid Transit|BART]] services between Oakland and San Francisco.
The [[Transbay Tube]], an underwater rail tunnel, carries [[Bay Area Rapid Transit|BART]] services between Oakland and San Francisco.{{cn|date=April 2024}}

Prior to the bridges and, later, the Transbay Tube, transbay transportation was dominated by fleets of [[Ferries of San Francisco Bay|ferryboats]] operated by the [[Southern Pacific Railroad]] and the [[Key System]] transit company. However, in recent decades, ferries have returned, primarily serving commuters from Marin County, relieving the traffic bottleneck of the Golden Gate Bridge (see [[Ferries of San Francisco Bay]]).{{cn|date=April 2024}}


[[File:Port Of Oakland California.png|thumb|Port of Oakland California|300px]]
Prior to the bridges and, later, the Transbay Tube, transbay transportation was dominated by fleets of [[Ferries of San Francisco Bay|ferryboats]] operated by the [[Southern Pacific Railroad]] and the [[Key System]] transit company. However, in recent decades, ferries have returned, primarily serving commuters from Marin County, relieving the traffic bottleneck of the Golden Gate Bridge. (See article [[Ferries of San Francisco Bay]]). [[File:Port Of Oakland California.png|thumb|Port of Oakland California|300px]]


The bay also continues to serve as a major [[Port|seaport]]. The [[Port of Oakland]] is one of the largest cargo ports in the United States, while the [[Port of Richmond (California)|Port of Richmond]] and the [[Port of San Francisco]] provide smaller services.
The bay also continues to serve as a major [[Port|seaport]]. The [[Port of Oakland]] is one of the largest cargo ports in the United States, while the [[Port of Richmond (California)|Port of Richmond]] and the [[Port of San Francisco]] provide smaller services.{{cn|date=April 2024}}


An [[Southern Crossing (California)|additional crossing south of the Bay Bridge]] has long been proposed.
An [[Southern Crossing (California)|additional crossing south of the Bay Bridge]] has long been proposed.
Line 178: Line 180:
San Francisco Bay is a mecca for sailors (boats, as well as [[windsurfing]] and [[kitesurfing]]), due to consistent strong westerly/northwesterly thermally-generated winds – [[beaufort scale|Beaufort force]] 6 ({{convert|15|-|25|knot|mph m/s|0|disp=semicolon}}) is common on summer afternoons – and protection from large open ocean swells. [[Yachting]] and [[yacht racing]] are popular pastimes and the [[San Francisco Bay Area]] is home to many of the world's top sailors. A shoreline bicycle and pedestrian trail known as the [[San Francisco Bay Trail]] encircles the edge of the bay. The [[San Francisco Bay Area Water Trail]], a growing network of launching and landing sites around the bay for non-motorized small boat users (such as kayakers) is being developed. Parks and protected areas around the bay include [[Eden Landing Ecological Reserve]], [[Hayward Regional Shoreline]], [[Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge]], [[Hayward Shoreline Interpretive Center]], [[Crown Memorial State Beach]], [[Eastshore State Park]], [[Point Isabel Regional Shoreline]], [[Brooks Island Regional Preserve]], and [[César Chávez Park]].
San Francisco Bay is a mecca for sailors (boats, as well as [[windsurfing]] and [[kitesurfing]]), due to consistent strong westerly/northwesterly thermally-generated winds – [[beaufort scale|Beaufort force]] 6 ({{convert|15|-|25|knot|mph m/s|0|disp=semicolon}}) is common on summer afternoons – and protection from large open ocean swells. [[Yachting]] and [[yacht racing]] are popular pastimes and the [[San Francisco Bay Area]] is home to many of the world's top sailors. A shoreline bicycle and pedestrian trail known as the [[San Francisco Bay Trail]] encircles the edge of the bay. The [[San Francisco Bay Area Water Trail]], a growing network of launching and landing sites around the bay for non-motorized small boat users (such as kayakers) is being developed. Parks and protected areas around the bay include [[Eden Landing Ecological Reserve]], [[Hayward Regional Shoreline]], [[Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge]], [[Hayward Shoreline Interpretive Center]], [[Crown Memorial State Beach]], [[Eastshore State Park]], [[Point Isabel Regional Shoreline]], [[Brooks Island Regional Preserve]], and [[César Chávez Park]].


The [[California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment]] (OEHHA) has developed a safe eating advisory for fish caught in the San Francisco Bay based on levels of mercury or [[Polychlorinated biphenyl|PCBs]] found in local species.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://oehha.ca.gov/advisories/san-francisco-bay|title=San Francisco Bay|last=Admin|first=OEHHA|date=December 30, 2014|work=OEHHA|access-date=13 June 2018}}</ref>
The [[California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment]] (OEHHA) has developed a safe eating advisory for fish caught in the San Francisco Bay based on levels of mercury or [[Polychlorinated biphenyl|PCBs]] found in local species.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://oehha.ca.gov/advisories/san-francisco-bay|title=San Francisco Bay|last=Admin|first=OEHHA|date=December 30, 2014|work=OEHHA|access-date=June 13, 2018|archive-date=June 14, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614000624/https://oehha.ca.gov/advisories/san-francisco-bay|url-status=live}}</ref>


The San Francisco Bay Area Water Trail is a planned system of designated trailheads designed to improve non-motorized small boat access to the bay. The California Coastal Conservancy approved funding in March 2011 to begin implementation of the water trail.
The San Francisco Bay Area Water Trail is a planned system of designated trailheads designed to improve non-motorized small boat access to the bay. The California Coastal Conservancy approved funding in March 2011 to begin implementation of the water trail.
Line 229: Line 231:
{{Commons|San Francisco Bay}}
{{Commons|San Francisco Bay}}
{{AmCyc Poster|San Francisco Bay}}
{{AmCyc Poster|San Francisco Bay}}
*[http://www.sanfranciscobaybook.com/ ''San Francisco Bay: Portrait of an Estuary'', David Sanger and John Hart, University of California Press]
* [http://www.sanfranciscobaybook.com/ ''San Francisco Bay: Portrait of an Estuary'', David Sanger and John Hart, University of California Press]
*[http://www.baycrossings.com/Archives/2001/07_August/barging_in.htm Barging In – A Short History of Liveaboards on the Bay] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819120721/http://www.baycrossings.com/Archives/2001/07_August/barging_in.htm |date=August 19, 2018 }}
* [http://www.baycrossings.com/Archives/2001/07_August/barging_in.htm Barging In – A Short History of Liveaboards on the Bay] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819120721/http://www.baycrossings.com/Archives/2001/07_August/barging_in.htm |date=August 19, 2018 }}
*[http://www.islandsofsfbay.com/ ''The Islands of San Francisco Bay'', James A. Martin | Michael T. Lee, Down Window Press]
* [http://www.islandsofsfbay.com/ ''The Islands of San Francisco Bay'', James A. Martin | Michael T. Lee, Down Window Press]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050813082232/http://www.spn.usace.army.mil/bmvc/ Army Corps of Engineers Bay Model: Working scale model of the Bay]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050813082232/http://www.spn.usace.army.mil/bmvc/ Army Corps of Engineers Bay Model: Working scale model of the Bay]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110226043751/http://gotoes.org/put-ins/ SF Bay Kayak, Canoe, and Boat Launch Ramp guide. A collaboratively edited guide to the SF bay.]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110226043751/http://gotoes.org/put-ins/ SF Bay Kayak, Canoe, and Boat Launch Ramp guide. A collaboratively edited guide to the SF bay.]
*[http://www.boatingsf.com/ BoatingSF.com: Photos of SF Bay and its boats, plus online cruising guide]
* [http://www.boatingsf.com/ BoatingSF.com: Photos of SF Bay and its boats, plus online cruising guide]
*[http://savesfbay.org/ Save San Francisco Bay: Protect and Restore San Francisco Bay]
* [http://savesfbay.org/ Save San Francisco Bay: Protect and Restore San Francisco Bay]
*[http://www.sfbaywildlife.info/ sfbaywildlife.info] Guide to San Francisco Bay wildlife
* [http://www.sfbaywildlife.info/ sfbaywildlife.info] Guide to San Francisco Bay wildlife
*[http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/ca/ Early History of the California Coast, a National Park Service ''Discover Our Shared Heritage'' Travel Itinerary]
* [http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/ca/ Early History of the California Coast, a National Park Service ''Discover Our Shared Heritage'' Travel Itinerary]
*[http://www.uel.br/revistas/uel/index.php/antiteses/article/view/10706 Cartography & History ''The representations of San Francisco Bay: a portable harbor in the fragile geography of the North Pacific'']
* [http://www.uel.br/revistas/uel/index.php/antiteses/article/view/10706 Cartography & History ''The representations of San Francisco Bay: a portable harbor in the fragile geography of the North Pacific'']
*''[[San Francisco Estuary and Watershed Science]]'': a peer-reviewed online science journal
* ''[[San Francisco Estuary and Watershed Science]]'': a peer-reviewed online science journal


{{SF Bay Area}}
{{SF Bay Area}}

Revision as of 16:10, 26 June 2024

San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is located in California
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
Coordinates37°40′N 122°16′W / 37.67°N 122.27°W / 37.67; -122.27[1]
TypeBay
River sourcesSacramento River
San Joaquin River
Petaluma River
Napa River
Guadalupe River
Ocean/sea sourcesPacific Ocean
Basin countriesUnited States
Max. length97 km (60 mi)
Max. width19 km (12 mi)
Surface area400–1,600 sq mi (1,000–4,100 km2)
Average depth12–15 ft (3.7–4.6 m)[2]
Max. depth372 ft (113 m)
SettlementsSan Francisco
San Jose
Oakland
Official nameSan Francisco Bay/Estuary (SFBE)
DesignatedFebruary 2, 2013
Reference no.2097[3]
Aerial panorama of the northern Bay, the Bay Bridge, Golden Gate, and Marin Headlands on a clear morning. November 2014 photo by Doc Searls.

San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland.

San Francisco Bay drains water from approximately 40 percent of California. Water from the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, and from the Sierra Nevada mountains, flow into Suisun Bay, which then travels through the Carquinez Strait to meet with the Napa River at the entrance to San Pablo Bay, which connects at its south end to San Francisco Bay. It then connects to the Pacific Ocean via the Golden Gate strait. However, this entire group of interconnected bays is often called the San Francisco Bay. The bay was designated a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance on February 2, 2013, and the Port of Oakland on the bay is one of the busiest cargo ports on the west coast.

Size

The bay covers somewhere between 400 and 1,600 square miles (1,000–4,000 km2), depending on which sub-bays (such as San Pablo Bay), estuaries, wetlands, and so on are included in the measurement.[4][5][6] The main part of the bay measures three to twelve miles (5–19 km) wide east-to-west and somewhere between 48 miles (77 km)1 and 60 miles (97 km)2 north-to-south. It is the largest Pacific estuary in the Americas.[citation needed]

The bay was navigable as far south as San Jose until the 1850s, when hydraulic mining released massive amounts of sediment from the rivers that settled in those parts of the bay that had little or no current. Later, wetlands and inlets were deliberately filled in, reducing the bay's size since the mid-19th century by as much as one third. Recently, large areas of wetlands have been restored, further confusing the issue of the bay's size. Despite its value as a waterway and harbor, many thousands of acres of marshy wetlands at the edges of the bay were, for many years, considered wasted space. As a result, soil excavated for building projects or dredged from channels was often dumped onto the wetlands and other parts of the bay as landfill.[citation needed]

From the mid-19th century through the late 20th century, more than a third of the original bay was filled and often built on. The deep, damp soil in these areas is subject to soil liquefaction during earthquakes, and most of the major damage close to the bay in the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989 occurred to structures on these areas.[citation needed]

The Marina District of San Francisco, hard hit by the 1989 earthquake, was built on fill that had been placed there for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, although liquefaction did not occur on a large scale. In the 1990s, San Francisco International Airport proposed filling in hundreds more acres to extend its overcrowded international runways in exchange for purchasing other parts of the bay and converting them back to wetlands. The idea was, and remains, controversial. (For further details, see the "Bay fill and depth profile" section.)

There are five large islands in San Francisco Bay. Alameda, the largest island, was created when a shipping lane was cut to form the Port of Oakland in 1901. It is now a suburban community. Angel Island was known as "Ellis Island West" because it served as the entry point for immigrants from East Asia. It is now a state park accessible by ferry. Mountainous Yerba Buena Island is pierced by a tunnel linking the east and west spans of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge. Attached to the north is the artificial and flat Treasure Island, site of the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition. From the Second World War until the 1990s, both islands served as military bases and are now being redeveloped. Isolated in the center of the bay is Alcatraz, the site of the famous federal penitentiary. The federal prison on Alcatraz Island no longer functions, but the complex is a popular tourist site. Despite its name, Mare Island in the northern part of the bay is a peninsula rather than an island.[citation needed]

Panorama of San Francisco Bay, and the city skyline seen from Marin County in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area

Geology

Population density and low elevation coastal zones in San Francisco Bay (2010). The San Francisco Bay is especially vulnerable to sea level rise.

San Francisco Bay is thought to represent a down-warping of the Earth's crust between the San Andreas Fault to the west and the Hayward Fault to the east, though the precise nature of this remains under study. About 560,000 years ago, a tectonic shift caused the large inland Lake Corcoran to spill out the central valley and through the Carquinez Strait, carving out sediment and forming canyons in what is now the northern part of the San Francisco Bay and Golden Gate strait.[7]

San Francisco Bay has been filled and emptied of sea water many times during the Pleistocene in accordance with sea level changes caused by glacial advances and retreats.[8] During the Wisconsin Glaciation, between 15,000 and about 10,000 years ago, the basin which is now filled by the San Francisco Bay was a large river valley with small hills, channeling the Sacramento River through the Golden Gate Strait into the ocean.[8] When the great ice sheets began to melt, around 11,000 years ago, the sea level started to rise rapidly, by about 1 inch per year.[9] Melting glaciers in the Sierra Nevada washed huge amounts of sediment down the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, which accumulated on the shores of the bay, forming huge mudflats and marshes that supported local wildlife.[9] By 5000 BC the sea level rose 300 feet (90 m), filling the valley with water from the Pacific.[9] The Farallon Islands are what used to be hills along the old coastline,[9] and Potato Patch Shoal is an area of sand dunes now covered by the ocean.[8]

History

Cañizares Map of San Francisco Bay

The indigenous inhabitants of the San Francisco Bay are Ohlone.[10] The first European to see San Francisco Bay is likely N. de Morena who was left at New Albion at Drakes Bay in Marin County, California, by Sir Francis Drake in 1579 and then walked to Mexico.[11][12]

The first recorded European discovery of San Francisco Bay was on November 4, 1769, when Spanish explorer Gaspar de Portolá, unable to find the Port of Monterey, continued north close to what is now Pacifica and reached the summit of the 1,200-foot-high (370 m) Sweeney Ridge, now marked as the place where he first sighted San Francisco Bay. Portolá and his party did not realize what they had discovered, thinking they had arrived at a large arm of what is now called Drakes Bay.[13] At the time, Drakes Bay went by the name Bahia de San Francisco and thus both bodies of water became associated with the name. Eventually, the larger, more important body of water fully appropriated the name San Francisco Bay.[citation needed]

The first European to enter the bay is believed to have been the Spanish explorer Juan de Ayala, who passed through the Golden Gate on August 5, 1775, in his ship the San Carlos and moored in a bay of Angel Island now known as Ayala Cove. Ayala continued to explore the San Francisco Bay Area and the expedition's cartographer, José de Cañizares, gathered the information necessary to produce the first map of the area. A number of place names survive (anglicized) from that first map, including Point Reyes, Angel Island, Farallon Islands, and Alcatraz Island.[citation needed]

The United States seized the region from Mexico during the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). On February 2, 1848, the Mexican province of Alta California was annexed to the United States with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. A year and a half later, California requested to join the United States on December 3, 1849, and was accepted as the 31st State of the Union on September 9, 1850.[citation needed]

San Francisco Bay Shoreline Tablet

In 1921, a tablet was dedicated by a group of men including Lewis Francis Byington, in downtown San Francisco, marking the site of the original shoreline. The tablet reads: "This tablet marks the shore line of San Francisco Bay at the time of the discovery of gold in California, January 24, 1848. Map reproduced above delineates old shore line. Placed by the Historic Landmarks committee, Native Sons of the Golden West, 1921."[14]

The bay became the center of American settlement and commerce in the Far West through most of the remainder of the 19th century. During the California Gold Rush (1848–1855), San Francisco Bay suddenly became one of the world's great seaports, dominating shipping in the American West until the last years of the 19th century. The bay's regional importance increased further when the first transcontinental railroad was connected to its western terminus at Alameda on September 6, 1869.[15] The terminus was switched to the Oakland Long Wharf two months later on November 8, 1869.[16]

A rust-covered bridge crosses over calm water, with hills and mountains in the background.
The Dumbarton Rail Bridge

In 1910, the Southern Pacific railroad company built the Dumbarton Rail Bridge,[17] the first bridge crossing San Francisco Bay.[18] The first automobile crossing was the Dumbarton Bridge, completed in January 1927.[19] More crossings were later constructed – the Carquinez Bridge in May 1927,[20] the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge in 1936,[21] the Golden Gate Bridge in 1937,[22] the Richmond–San Rafael Bridge in 1956,[23] and the San Mateo–Hayward Bridge in 1967.[24]

Duck hunting on the Bay, 1915
Mallard II, a clamshell dredge built in 1936 and used into the 21st century to dredge levees for Cargill's salt ponds in the bay

During the 20th century, the bay was subject to the 1940s Reber Plan, which would have filled in parts of the bay in order to increase industrial activity along the waterfront. In 1959, the United States Army Corps of Engineers released a report stating that if current infill trends continued, the bay would be as big as a shipping channel by 2020. This news created the Save the Bay movement in 1960,[25] which mobilized to stop the infill of wetlands and the bay in general, which had shrunk to two-thirds of its size in the century before 1961.[26]

The San Francisco Bay continues to support some of the densest industrial production and urban settlement in the United States. The San Francisco Bay Area is the American West's second-largest urban area, with approximately seven million residents.[27]

Ecology

San Francisco Bay c. 1770–1820
South Bay salt ponds and wildlife refuges, aerial view from the southeast

Despite its urban and industrial character, San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta remain perhaps California's most important ecological habitats. California's Dungeness crab, California halibut, and Pacific salmon fisheries rely on the bay as a nursery. The few remaining salt marshes now represent most of California's remaining salt marsh, supporting a number of endangered species and providing key ecosystem services such as filtering pollutants and sediments from the rivers. San Francisco Bay is recognized for protection by the California Bays and Estuaries Policy, with oversight provided by the San Francisco Estuary Partnership.[28]

Most famously, the bay is a key link in the Pacific Flyway. Millions of waterfowl annually use the bay shallows as a refuge. Two endangered species of birds are found here: the California least tern and the Ridgway's Rail. Exposed bay muds provide important feeding areas for shorebirds, but underlying layers of bay mud pose geological hazards for structures near many parts of the bay perimeter. San Francisco Bay provided the nation's first wildlife refuge, Oakland's artificial Lake Merritt, constructed in the 1860s, and America's first urban National Wildlife Refuge, the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge (SFBNWR) in 1972. The bay is also plagued by non-native species.[citation needed]

Salt produced from San Francisco Bay is produced in salt evaporation ponds and is shipped throughout the Western United States to bakeries, canneries, fisheries, cheese makers and other food industries and used to de-ice winter highways, clean kidney dialysis machines, for animal nutrition, and in many industries. Many companies have produced salt in the bay, with the Leslie Salt Company the largest private land owner in the Bay Area in the 1940s.[29][30]

Low-salinity salt ponds mirror the ecosystem of the bay, with fish and fish-eating birds in abundance. Mid-salinity ponds support dense populations of brine shrimp, which provide a rich food source for millions of shorebirds. Only salt-tolerant micro-algae survive in the high salinity ponds, and impart a deep red color to these ponds from the pigment within the algae protoplasm. The salt marsh harvest mouse is an endangered species endemic to the wetlands of the San Francisco Bay with a high salt tolerance. It needs native pickleweed, which is often displaced by invasive cordgrass, for its habitat.[31]

The seasonal range of water temperature in the bay is from January's 53 °F (12 °C) to September's 60 °F (16 °C) when measured at Fort Point, which is near the southern end of the Golden Gate Bridge and at the entrance to San Francisco Bay.[32]

For the first time in 65 years, Pacific Harbor Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) returned to the bay in 2009.[33] Golden Gate Cetacean Research, a non-profit organization focused on research on cetaceans, has developed a photo-identification database enabling the scientists to identify specific porpoise individuals and is trying to ascertain whether a healthier bay has brought their return.[34] Pacific harbor porpoise range from Point Conception, California, to Alaska and across to the Kamchatka Peninsula and Japan. Recent genetic studies show that there is a local stock from San Francisco to the Russian River and that eastern Pacific coastal populations rarely migrate far, unlike western Atlantic Harbor porpoise.[35]

The common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) has been extending its current range northwards from the Southern California Bight. The first coastal bottlenose dolphin in the Bay Area in recent times was spotted in 1983 off the San Mateo County coast in 1983. In 2001, bottlenose dolphins were first spotted east of the Golden Gate Bridge and confirmed by photographic evidence in 2007. Zooarcheological remains of bottlenose dolphins indicated that bottlenose dolphins inhabited San Francisco Bay in prehistoric times until at least 700 years before present, and dolphin skulls dredged from the bay suggest occasional visitors in historic times.[36]

Pollution

Industrial, mining, and other uses of mercury have resulted in a widespread distribution in the bay, with uptake in the bay's phytoplankton and contamination of its sportfish.[37] In January 1971, two Standard Oil tankers collided in the bay, creating an 800,000-U.S.-gallon (3,000,000-liter) oil spill disaster, which spurred environmental protection of the bay. In November 2007, a ship named COSCO Busan collided with the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge and spilled over 58,000 U.S. gallons (220,000 liters) of bunker fuel, creating the largest oil spill in the region since 1996.[38]

The bay also has some of the highest levels of dissolved inorganic nitrogen known from any coastal water body, mostly originating from treated wastewater from Publicly owned treatment works.[39] In other bays, such nutrient levels would likely lead to eutrophication, but historically, the bay has had less harmful algal blooms than other water bodies with similar nutrient concentrations. Potential explanations have included the presence of intensive "top-down control" from grazing clams like Potamocorbula, high sediment supply limiting light availability for the algae, and intensive tidal mixing. The occurrence of an unprecedented harmful algal bloom of Heterosigma akashiwo in 2022, resulting in mass fish deaths and anoxia,[40] suggests that the mechanisms of control on algal growth may be eroding.

The bay was once considered a hotspot for polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants used to make upholstered furniture and infant care items less flammable. PBDEs have been largely phased out and replaced with alternative phosphate flame retardants. A 2019 San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) study assayed a wide range of these newer flame retardant chemicals in Bay waters, bivalve California mussels (Mytilus californianus), and harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) which haul out in Corkscrew Slough[41] on Bair Island in San Mateo County, with phosphate flame retardant contaminants such as tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl)phosphate (TDCPP) and triphenyl phosphate (TPhP) found at levels comparable to thresholds for aquatic toxicity.[42]

City skyline through the fog, from the Golden Gate National Recreation Area

Bay fill and depth profile

San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge, looking southeast towards the City and East Bay. Alcatraz is the small islet in the upper-middle left.

San Francisco Bay's profile changed dramatically in the late 19th century and again with the initiation of dredging by the US Army Corps of Engineers in the 20th century. Before about 1860, most bay shores (with the exception of rocky shores, such as those in Carquinez Strait; along Marin shoreline; Point Richmond; Golden Gate area) contained extensive wetlands that graded nearly invisibly from freshwater wetlands to salt marsh and then tidal mudflat. A deep channel ran through the center of the bay, following the ancient drowned river valley.[citation needed]

In the 1860s and continuing into the early 20th century, miners dumped staggering quantities of mud and gravel from hydraulic mining operations into the upper Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. GK Gilbert's estimates of debris total more than eight times the amount of rock and dirt moved during construction of the Panama Canal. This material flowed down the rivers, progressively eroding into finer and finer sediment, until it reached the bay system. Here some of it settled, eventually filling in Suisun Bay, San Pablo Bay, and San Francisco Bay, in decreasing order of severity.[citation needed]

By the end of the 19th century, these "slickens" had filled in much of the shallow bay flats, raising the entire bay profile. New marshes were created in some areas.[citation needed]

Cargo ships in San Francisco Bay in 2012

In the decades surrounding 1900, at the behest of local political officials and following Congressional orders, the U.S. Army Corps began dredging the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers and the deep channels of San Francisco Bay. This work has continued without interruption ever since. Some of the dredge spoils were initially dumped in the bay shallows (including helping to create Treasure Island on the former shoals to the north of Yerba Buena Island) and used to raise islands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The net effect of dredging has been to maintain a narrow deep channel—deeper perhaps than the original bay channel—through a much shallower bay. At the same time, most of the marsh areas have been filled or blocked off from the bay by dikes.

Large ships transiting the bay must follow deep underwater channels that are maintained by frequent dredging as the average depth of the bay is only as deep as a swimming pool—approximately 12 to 15 ft (4–5 m). Between Hayward and San Mateo to San Jose it is 12 to 36 in (30–90 cm). The deepest part of the bay is under and out of the Golden Gate Bridge, at 372 ft (113 m).[43]

In the late 1990s, a 12-year harbor-deepening project for the Port of Oakland began; it was largely completed by September 2009. Previously, the bay waters and harbor facilities only allowed for ships with a draft of 46 ft (14 m), but dredging activities undertaken by the United States Army Corps of Engineers in partnership with the Port of Oakland succeeded in providing access for vessels with a 50-foot (15 m) draft. Four dredging companies were employed in the US$432 million project, with $244 million paid for with federal funds and $188 million supplied by the Port of Oakland. Some six million cubic yards (160 million cubic feet; 4.6 million cubic metres) of mud from the dredging was deposited at the western edge of Middle Harbor Shoreline Park to become a 188-acre (0.294 sq mi; 0.76 km2) shallow-water wetlands habitat for marine and shore life.[44][45] Further dredging followed in 2011, to maintain the navigation channel.[46][47] This dredging enabled the arrival of the largest container ship ever to enter the San Francisco Bay, the MSC Fabiola. Bay pilots trained for the visit on a simulator at the California Maritime Academy for over a year. The ship arrived drawing less than its full draft of 50 feet 10 inches (15.5 m) because it held only three-quarters of a load after its stop in Long Beach.[48]

Transportation

1. Richmond-San Rafael Bridge
2. Golden Gate Bridge
3. San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge
4. San Mateo-Hayward Bridge
5. Dumbarton Bridge
6. Carquinez Bridge
7. Benicia-Martinez Bridge
8. Antioch Bridge

San Francisco Bay was traversed by watercraft before the arrival of Europeans. Indigenous peoples used canoes to fish and clam along the shoreline. Sailing ships enabled transportation between the bay and other parts of the world—and served as ferries and freighters within the bay and between the bay and inland ports, such as Sacramento and Stockton. These were gradually replaced by steam-powered vessels starting in the late 19th century. Several shipyards were established around the bay, augmented during wartime (e.g., the Kaiser Shipyards, Richmond Shipyards) near Richmond in 1940 for World War II for construction of mass-produced, assembly line Liberty and Victory cargo ships.[citation needed]

San Francisco Bay is spanned by nine bridges, eight of which carry cars.[citation needed]

The Transbay Tube, an underwater rail tunnel, carries BART services between Oakland and San Francisco.[citation needed]

Prior to the bridges and, later, the Transbay Tube, transbay transportation was dominated by fleets of ferryboats operated by the Southern Pacific Railroad and the Key System transit company. However, in recent decades, ferries have returned, primarily serving commuters from Marin County, relieving the traffic bottleneck of the Golden Gate Bridge (see Ferries of San Francisco Bay).[citation needed]

Port of Oakland California

The bay also continues to serve as a major seaport. The Port of Oakland is one of the largest cargo ports in the United States, while the Port of Richmond and the Port of San Francisco provide smaller services.[citation needed]

An additional crossing south of the Bay Bridge has long been proposed.

Recreation

San Francisco Bay is a mecca for sailors (boats, as well as windsurfing and kitesurfing), due to consistent strong westerly/northwesterly thermally-generated winds – Beaufort force 6 (15–25 knots; 17–29 mph; 8–13 m/s) is common on summer afternoons – and protection from large open ocean swells. Yachting and yacht racing are popular pastimes and the San Francisco Bay Area is home to many of the world's top sailors. A shoreline bicycle and pedestrian trail known as the San Francisco Bay Trail encircles the edge of the bay. The San Francisco Bay Area Water Trail, a growing network of launching and landing sites around the bay for non-motorized small boat users (such as kayakers) is being developed. Parks and protected areas around the bay include Eden Landing Ecological Reserve, Hayward Regional Shoreline, Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Hayward Shoreline Interpretive Center, Crown Memorial State Beach, Eastshore State Park, Point Isabel Regional Shoreline, Brooks Island Regional Preserve, and César Chávez Park.

The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has developed a safe eating advisory for fish caught in the San Francisco Bay based on levels of mercury or PCBs found in local species.[49]

The San Francisco Bay Area Water Trail is a planned system of designated trailheads designed to improve non-motorized small boat access to the bay. The California Coastal Conservancy approved funding in March 2011 to begin implementation of the water trail.

San Francisco Bay panorama with a view of sailboats, kite boarders, and the Crissy Field Beach

See also

References

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Literature