Bodega Bay
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Bodega Bay is a shallow, rocky inlet of the Pacific Ocean on the coast of northern California in the United States. It is approximately 5 mi (8 km) across and is located approximately 40 mi (60 km) northwest of San Francisco and 20 mi (32 km) west of Santa Rosa. The bay straddles the boundary between Sonoma County to the north and Marin County to the south.
Bodega Bay is protected on its north end from the Pacific Ocean by Bodega Head, which shelters the small Bodega Harbor and is separated from the main bay by a jetty. The San Andreas Fault runs parallel to the coastline and bisects Bodega Head, which lies on the Pacific Plate; whereas the town is on the North American Plate. The village of Bodega Bay sits on the east side of Bodega Harbor. The bay connects on its south end to the mouth of Tomales Bay.
Streams flowing into Bodega Bay include the Estero de San Antonio and the Estero Americano.
Accessible beaches on Bodega Bay include Doran Regional Park (on the jetty) and Pinnacle Gulch.[1]
Apart from the harbor, all of Bodega Bay lies within the boundaries of the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary.
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[edit] History
Coast Miwok lived on the shores of Bodega Bay. Documented village names include: Helapattai, Hime-takala, Ho-takala, and Tokau.[2]
There is speculation that Bodega Bay may have been Sir Francis Drake's Nova Albion landing location on the California coast.
Bodega Bay was discovered in 1775 by the Spanish explorer Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra, after whom it is named. He planned to return, but never did. In 1812, the Russian-American Company established Fort Ross about 15 mi (24 km) up the coast and began growing grain and shipping it to Alaska from Bodega Bay. The Bay remained an active harbor for shipping lumber until the 1870s, when the North Pacific Coast Railroad was built, bypassing the coast in favor of a more inland route.[3]
Bodega Bay was the setting of the 1963 Alfred Hitchcock film, The Birds.[4]
Bodega Head was selected by PG&E for, and construction actually started on, a nuclear power reactor in the 1960s. A large hole was dug, but construction was halted when it was discovered that the site is on a geologic fault.[5] Opponents to the plant called it Hole in the Head, which it is still called today. PG&E sold the land to the state of California for one dollar. The hole is now a freshwater pond that provides habitat for birds.[citation needed]
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