Santa Monica Bay

Coordinates: 33°56′20″N 118°30′15″W / 33.93889°N 118.50417°W / 33.93889; -118.50417
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

33°56′20″N 118°30′15″W / 33.93889°N 118.50417°W / 33.93889; -118.50417

Santa Monica Bay
Santa Monica Bay, aerial view

Santa Monica Bay is a

Topanga Creek, and Santa Monica Creek
.

The Santa Monica Bay is home to some of the most famous beaches in the world, including Malibu Lagoon State Beach (Surfrider), Will Rogers State Beach, Santa Monica State Beach, and Dockweiler State Beach.

Several piers extend into the bay, including Malibu Pier,

Marina Del Rey
is a dredged marina. The Bay is also a very popular fishing destination year-round.

History

In the 1930s, gambling ships anchored beyond the regulated three-mile limit, then kept measured from the beach. The ships were popular, and a fleet of ever-larger ships and barges appeared until the State Attorney General recalculated the limit to exclude the bay. The largest ship held the state police off for nine days with submachine guns in what the newspapers called The Battle of Santa Monica Bay.

Once a major commercial fishery, Santa Monica Bay's water quality declined drastically in the 20th century as development of Los Angeles County resulted in large amounts of sewage and trash-rich storm runoff being dumped into its waters. Through restoration projects mandated by the Clean Water Act and advocated by groups such as Heal the Bay and the Surfrider Foundation, the bay's water quality has improved fairly dramatically from its early-1980s nadir. Hyperion sewage treatment plant's output is now far cleaner than before. However, during the region's rainy winters, the bay suffers from algal bloom and other water pollution-related maladies, periodically forcing most of the famous beaches along its shore to close.

On January 13, 1969,

United Airlines Flight 266 crashed into the bay after takeoff from the same airport, killing all 38 people on board.[1]

In 1990, actor Wallace Reid Jr. was killed when his homebuilt plane crashed in the bay amid heavy fog.[2]

In 2006, game show host Peter Tomarken and his wife Kathleen were killed in a plane crash into the bay. They were heading to San Diego to pick up a cancer patient who needed transportation to UCLA Medical Center for treatment when their airplane crashed.

Communities and settlements

See also

photo 

Los Angeles portal

References

  1. ^ Bunting, Glenn F.; Wood, Tracy (1991-02-02). "Southern California's Worst Air Crashes". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2016-03-15. Retrieved 2021-07-06.
  2. ^ Moran, Julio (February 27, 1990). "Pilot Dies in Crash of His Home-Built Plane at Sea". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 1, 2019.

External links