Pensacola Bay is a bay located in the northwestern part of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, known as the

Florida Panhandle The Florida Panhandle (also West Florida and Northwest Florida) is the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Florida; it is a Salient (geography), salient roughly long and wide, lying between Alabama on the north and the west, Georgia (U. ...

. The bay, an inlet of the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

, is located in Escambia County and

Santa Rosa County Santa Rosa County is a county located in the northwestern portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2020, the population is 188,000. The county seat is Milton, which lies in the geographic center of the county. Other major communities within ...

, adjacent to the city of

Pensacola, Florida Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ...

, and is about 13 miles (21 km) long and 2.5 miles (4 km) wide. The Pensacola Bay estuarine system including

Escambia Bay Escambia Bay is a bay located in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties, in the far western Florida Panhandle. The city of Pensacola is located on the western side, and the town of Milton is located on the northeastern end of the two-pronged bay. ...

, Pensacola Bay, Blackwater Bay,

East Bay The East Bay is the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area and includes cities along the eastern shores of the San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa countie ...

, and

Santa Rosa Sound Santa Rosa Sound is a sound connecting Pensacola Bay and Choctawhatchee Bay in Florida. The northern shore consists of the Fairpoint Peninsula and portions of the mainland in Santa Rosa County and Okaloosa County. It is bounded to the south by S ...

, and four rivers—the Escambia,’ Blackwater,’ Yellow and East Rivers is 144 square miles, and it is the fourth largest estuarine system in Florida. Pensacola Bay is formed and protected by

Fairpoint Peninsula The Fairpoint Peninsula (also referred to as the Gulf Breeze Peninsula or the Navarre Peninsula) is located in northwest Florida between Santa Rosa Sound (the location of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway's route through the region) and Pensacola ...

and the

barrier island Barrier islands are coastal landforms and a type of Dune, dune system that are exceptionally flat or lumpy areas of sand that form by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything fro ...

Santa Rosa Santa Rosa is the Italian, Portuguese and Spanish name for Saint Rose. Santa Rosa may also refer to: Places Argentina *Santa Rosa, Mendoza, a city * Santa Rosa, Tinogasta, Catamarca * Santa Rosa, Valle Viejo, Catamarca * Santa Rosa, La Pampa * S ...

. The

Pensacola Bay Bridge The Pensacola Bay Bridge, also known locally as the Three-Mile Bridge, runs between downtown Pensacola, Florida, and Gulf Breeze, Florida. It carries two to four lanes of U.S. Highway 98 across Pensacola Bay. History The bridge, which is dedic ...

crosses the bay, connecting Pensacola to

Gulf Breeze Gulf Breeze is a city in Santa Rosa County, Florida. It is a suburb of Pensacola, and is in the Pensacola Metropolitan Area. The population estimate was 6,900 in 2020. Gulf Breeze is located just north of Pensacola Beach, and south of Pensaco ...

on the western end of the peninsula. The

Gulf Islands National Seashore Gulf Islands National Seashore offers recreation opportunities and preserves natural and historic resources along the Gulf of Mexico barrier islands of Florida and Mississippi. The protected regions include mainland areas and parts of seven i ...

includes Santa Rosa Island, and encloses part of the bay. The

Gulf Intracoastal Waterway The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway is the portion of the Intracoastal Waterway located along the Gulf Coast of the United States. It is a navigable inland waterway running approximately from Carrabelle, Florida, to Brownsville, Texas. The waterwa ...

runs through a section of the bay. Pensacola Bay leads into

to the north, and to the

Pensacola Pass Pensacola Pass, separating mainland Florida from Santa Rosa Island, Florida, Santa Rosa Island, is the mouth of Pensacola Bay. Pensacola Pass forms a water passage that connects Pensacola Bay with the Gulf of Mexico to the south, in the U.S. state ...

connects the Bay to the Gulf of Mexico.

History

After the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

, the federal government decided to fortify Pensacola and Pensacola Bay. It built the Navy Yard west of the city in Warrington, starting in 1828 (this was redeveloped in the 20th century as

Naval Air Station Pensacola Naval Air Station Pensacola or NAS Pensacola (formerly NAS/KNAS until changed circa 1970 to allow Nassau International Airport, now Lynden Pindling International Airport, to have IATA code NAS), "The Cradle of Naval Aviation", is a United State ...

). It completed construction of

Fort Pickens Fort Pickens is a pentagonal historic United States military fort on Santa Rosa Island in the Pensacola, Florida, area. It is named after American Revolutionary War hero Andrew Pickens. The fort was completed in 1834 and was one of the few ...

in 1834 at the western end of Santa Rosa Island; completed

Fort McRee Fort McRee was a historic military fort constructed by the United States on the eastern tip of Perdido Key to defend Pensacola and its important natural harbor. In the defense of Pensacola Bay, Fort McRee was accompanied by Fort Pickens, located a ...

in 1839, and completed redesign and expansion of

Fort Barrancas Fort Barrancas (1839) or Fort San Carlos de Barrancas (from 1787) is a United States military fort and National Historic Landmark in the former Warrington area of Pensacola, Florida, located physically within Naval Air Station Pensacola, which wa ...

in 1844, to add to defenses.

2010 Gulf oil spill

Following the

Deepwater Horizon oil spill The ''Deepwater Horizon'' oil spill (also referred to as the "BP oil spill") was an industrial disaster that began on 20 April 2010 off of the coast of the United States in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect, considere ...

(called the "Gulf oil spill"), the government and BP planned to close the entrance to Pensacola Pass with a floating barrier system in June 2010, to control tidal flow of oil entering from the Gulf of Mexico. The daily

high tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables c ...

was causing oil-contaminated water to enter Pensacola Bay. Such a barrier system is designed to allow boats to travel through Pensacola Pass during the outflowing tide, but to close during the rising tide. The booming plan was never carried out. The Pass was only boomed for a day due to strong currents which broke the boom. No other plan was in place in areas of less current nor was there a plan to trap incoming oil. Oil product entered the pass.
Santa Rosa Island

References

*''The Road Atlas '06'', Rand McNally, pg. 27 *''NOAA Nautical Charts 11382, 11383, 11384''

External links

''Visit Pensacola'' Website
{{Authority control Bays of Florida on the Gulf of Mexico Bodies of water of Escambia County, Florida Bodies of water of Santa Rosa County, Florida Navarre, Florida

History

2010 Gulf oil spill

See also

References

External links