| Humboldt Bay | |
|---|---|
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and the City of Eureka |
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| Location | Humboldt County, California North Coast |
| River sources | Elk River; Jacoby, Freshwater, and Salmon Creeks. |
| Ocean/sea sources | Pacific |
| Countries | United States |
| Max. length | 14 miles (23 km) |
| Max. width | 4.5 miles (7 km) |
| Surface area | 13 square miles (34 km2) – 25.5 square miles (66 km2) (17,000 acres) |
| Max. depth | 40 feet |
| Islands | Indian Island, Woodley Island, Daby Island |
| Settlements | Eureka and Arcata |
Humboldt Bay is a natural bay[1] and a multi-basin, bar-built coastal lagoon[2] located on the rugged North Coast of California, United States entirely within Humboldt County. The regional center and county seat of Eureka and the college town of Arcata adjoin the bay, which is the second largest enclosed bay in California.[3] In addition to being a seasonal or permanent home to more than 200 bird species and 100 species of fish, the second largest estuary in California is the site of the largest commercial oyster production operation in the state.[4] Harbor facilities include large industrial docks at Samoa and Fields Landing and several marinas located in Eureka which are capable of serving hundreds of small to mid-size boats and pleasure craft. Since the 1850s port facilities were used to export forest and lumber products as part of the historic West coast lumber trade, with infrequent shipping occurring to this day.
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Humboldt Bay Harbor Recreation & Conservation District manages day to day operations and concerns related to the bay. Pilots trained and employed by the District are the only persons authorized to bring vessels beyond a certain size into the bay unless the ship's pilot has proper certification. The addition of dolosse in the 1980s strengthened the jetties, reducing the need for constant maintenance by the US Army Corps of Engineers. However, the Corps still dredges shipping channels to depths of 35–40 feet, and the harbor entrance remains challenging.
In 1849, an expedition of seven men led by Josiah Gregg attempted to find an overland route to the Pacific ocean. They left from the gold town of Weaverville for the 150 mile trek to the sea. Because of the density of the redwood forests and because Gregg stopped frequently to measure latitude and the size of the trees the expedition averaged only two miles a day. The party was near starvation when they emerged on the coast where they discovered what is now known as Humboldt Bay. After stocking up on food the party walked to San Francisco to report their discovery of the bay. In March 1850 two ships, the General Morgan and the Laura Virginia, were sent to the bay from San Francisco. After considerable initial difficulty due to waves breaking heavily over shifting sands of the bar crossing,[5] the ships entered the bay. The sailors from the Laura Virginia named the bay after Alexander von Humboldt, a famous German naturalist.
Humboldt Bay is the only deep water bay between the San Francisco Bay and Coos Bay, Oregon and the Port of Humboldt Bay is the only protected deep water port for large ocean-going vessels for the large region. Despite being the only protected harbor along the approximately six hundred miles of coastline, the bay's location was undiscovered or at least unreliably charted for centuries after the first arrival of European explorers to the Pacific Coast. This is partially because it is extremely difficult to see from the ocean. The harbor opens to the sea through a narrow and historically treacherous passage, which was blocked from direct view due to sandbars now managed by jetties. Contributing to its isolation was the coastal mountain range which extends from the ocean approximately one hundred and fifty miles inland.
In the central, most narrow portion of the bay (due north of Eureka), there are three islands: Indian Island, Woodley Island, and Daby Island.
Indian Island previously known as Gunther's Island is the site of National Historic Landmark #67. This is an archaeological dig and one of the sites of the 1860 Wiyot Massacre.
Previous to settlement, and perhaps for years after, the bay was a stable tidal lagoon (in its natural state) despite significant tectonic activity, primarily due to its location in proximity to the Cascadia subduction zone.[6] Features that were lagoonal in nature, including possible occasional seasonal closure of the entrance Bar crossing, already interrupted by European settlers, began experiencing direct management and change. By 1881 the Army Corps of Engineers began dredging bay channels and, subsequently, in 1889 altering and dredging the harbor entrance.[7]
Humboldt Bay and its tidal sloughs are open to fishing year-round, and the bay is home to a national wildlife refuge complex for the protection of wetlands and bay habitats for migratory birds. In the winter it is not unusual for the bay to serve as a feeding and resting site for more than one hundred thousand birds. Humboldt Bay is recognized for protection by the California Bays and Estuaries Policy.[8] The Humboldt Botanical Garden is now under construction near the Bay, with the intent of preserving its native plants.
The bay is a source of subsistence and sport fishing for a variety of salt-water fish, crustaceans, and mollusks. Dungeness Crab are fished commercially, and oysters are commercially farmed in the bay.
The bay itself has been invaded by the European Green Crab, a voracious predator that is known to prey on the young of native crab species, as well as native mussels, oysters, and clams. European Green Crab were first documented in Humboldt Bay in 1995, and have been blamed for a decline in clam harvesting.
About 80,000 people reside on the shore of the bay, the largest Pacific coastal population center north of San Francisco in the contiguous United States (as neither Portland nor Seattle are located oceanside on the Pacific Coast). There are at least 20 named settlements on the coastal plain around the bay estuary; most of these are unincorporated suburbs of the City of Eureka.
Settlements located on or near the bay, listed clockwise from the north side of the bay entrance:
Streams and sloughs that enter into Humboldt Bay are listed north to south (in a clockwise fashion) with tributaries entering nearest the bay listed first. The primary streams of major watershed areas east of the bay (draining 250 square miles) are in bold.[9][10][11]