Santa Monica Bay is a
bight of the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...
in
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...
,
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 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
. Its boundaries are slightly ambiguous, but it is generally considered to be the part of the Pacific within an imaginary line drawn between
Point Dume, in
Malibu, and the
Palos Verdes Peninsula. Its eastern shore forms the western boundary of the
Los Angeles Westside and
South Bay regions. Although it was fed by the
Los Angeles River until the river's catastrophic change of course in 1825, the only stream of any size now flowing into it is
Ballona Creek
Ballona Creek (pronunciation: “Bah-yo-nuh” or “Buy-yo-nah”
) is an channelized stream in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, that was once a “year-round river lined with sycamores and willows.” Ballona Cree ...
. Smaller waterways draining into the bay include
Malibu Creek,
Topanga Creek
Topanga () (Tongva: ''Topaa'nga'') is a census-designated place (CDP) in western Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located in the Santa Monica Mountains, the community exists in Topanga Canyon and the surrounding hills. The narrow ...
, and
Santa Monica Creek
Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnight ...
.
The Santa Monica Bay is home to some of the most famous beaches in the world, including
Malibu Lagoon State Beach
Malibu Lagoon State Beach in Malibu, California, United States, is also known as Surfrider Beach. It was dedicated as the first World Surfing Reserve on October 9, 2010. The site was established as a California state park in 1951. It lies with ...
(Surfrider),
Will Rogers State Beach,
Santa Monica State Beach, and
Dockweiler State Beach.
Several piers extend into the bay, including Malibu Pier,
Santa Monica Pier,
Venice Pier,
Manhattan Beach pier,
Hermosa Beach pier
The Hermosa Beach pier is located in the Southern California community of Hermosa Beach. It extends into the Pacific Ocean.
In 1904 the first pier was built. It was constructed entirely of wood even to the pilings and it extended five hundre ...
, and
Redondo Beach pier.
Marina Del Rey is a dredged marina. The Bay is also a very popular fishing destination year-round.
Chevron Reef is an artificial surfing reef in the bay.
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
Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place (a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, ...
, Santa Monica Bay's water quality declined drastically in the 20th century as development of
Los Angeles County
Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is th ...
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
Heal the Bay is a U.S. environmental advocacy group of activists based in Santa Monica, California. The focus is protecting coastal waters and watersheds of southern California, and is focused on Santa Monica Bay.
Heal the Bay is a 501(c)(3) ...
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,
Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 933 crashed into the bay while on approach to
Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the W ...
, killing 15 of the 45 people on board. Five days later on January 18,
United Airlines Flight 266 crashed into the bay after takeoff from the same airport, killing all 38 people on board.
In 1990, actor
Wallace Reid Jr.
William Wallace Reid Jr. (June 18, 1917 – February 28, 1990) was an American actor. The son of actors Dorothy Davenport and Wallace Reid Sr., he appeared in ten films between 1920 and 1943, later becoming an architect. Reid was born in Los An ...
was killed when his
homebuilt plane crashed in the bay amid heavy fog.
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
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...
to pick up a cancer patient who needed transportation to UCLA Medical Center for treatment when their airplane crashed.
Communities and settlements
*
El Porto
*
El Segundo
*
Hermosa Beach
*
Malibu
*
Manhattan Beach and
Bruce's Beach
*
Marina del Rey
*
Pacific Palisades
*
Palos Verdes Estates
Palos Verdes Estates (''Palos Verdes'', Spanish for "Green Sticks") is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, situated on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. The city was master-planned by the noted American landscape architect and ...
*
Playa del Rey
*
Rancho Palos Verdes
*
Redondo Beach
Redondo Beach (Spanish for ''round'') is a coastal city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located in the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the Greater Los Angeles area. It is one of three adjacent Beach Cities, b ...
*
Santa Monica
*
Torrance
*
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...
See also
References
External links
Heal the BayEPA Santa Monica Bay Watershed Profile
{{Authority control
Bays of California
Bodies of water of Los Angeles County, California
Bights (geography)
Geography of Los Angeles
South Bay, Los Angeles
Westside (Los Angeles County)
Tourist attractions in Los Angeles County, California