Tomales Bay
Tomales Bay | |
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Official name | Tomales Bay |
Designated | October 21, 2002 |
Reference no. | 1215[1] |
Tomales Bay is a long, narrow
Oyster farming is a major industry on the bay. The two largest producers are Hog Island Oyster Company and Tomales Bay Oyster Company, both of which retail oysters to the public and have picnic grounds on the east shore. Hillsides east of Tomales Bay are grazed by cows belonging to local dairies. There is also grazing land west of the bay, on farms and ranches leased from Point Reyes National Seashore.
The bay sees significant amounts of water sports including sailing, kayaking, fishing and motor boating. Watercraft may be launched on Tomales Bay from the public boat ramp at Nick's Cove, north of Marshall. The
The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has developed a safe eating advisory for fish caught here, based on levels of mercury or PCBs found in local species.[3]
Towns bordering Tomales Bay include
History
The area was once the territory of the Coast Miwok tribe. Documented villages in the area included Echa-kolum (south of Marshall), Sakloki (opposite Tomales Point), Shotommo-wi (near the mouth of the Estero de San Antonio), and Utumia (near Tomales).[4]
Francis Drake is thought to have landed in nearby Drakes Estero in 1579.[5] Members of the Vizcaíno Expedition found the Bay in 1603, and thinking it a river, named it Rio Grande de San Sebastian.[6]
Early 19th-century settlements constituted the southernmost Russian colony in North America and were spread over an area stretching from Point Arena to Tomales Bay.[7]
The
Tomales Bay State Park was formed to preserve some of the bay shore; it opened to the public in 1952. Popular units of the park include Heart's Desire Beach and Millerton Point.[5]
The
The Giacomini Wetland Restoration Project, completed in 2008, returned to wetland several hundred acres at the south end of the bay that had been drained for grazing during the 1940s.
Marconi Conference Center
The
Gallery
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View of Tomales Bay towards the north
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Entrance to Tomales Bay as viewed from Tomales Point, looking south
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The former grade of thenarrow gauge North Pacific Coast Railroadfollows the east shore of the bay.
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Marconi Conference Center
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Satellite picture of Tomales Bay
See also
- Hog Island (Tomales Bay)
- Drakes Bay — adjacent to the south
- Nova Albion
- Pacific herring
References
- ^ "Tomales Bay". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
- ^ State Water Resources Control Board Water Quality Control Policy for the Enclosed Bays and Estuaries of California (1974) State of California
- ^ Admin, OEHHA (December 30, 2014). "Tomales Bay". OEHHA. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
- ^ "Miwok Indian Tribe". Access Genealogy. Retrieved January 7, 2008.
- ^ a b "Tomales Bay State Park". Retrieved January 7, 2008.
- ISBN 1-884995-35-7.
- ^ Historical Atlas of California
- ISBN 0-87046-010-2
External links
Tomales Bay.