Chapter 18 - Hawaii

One of the well known characteristics of Hawaii is their volcanoes. I found that Monterey also has a volcanoes but they are underwater! The Davidson Seamount is a 26 mile long and 8 mile wide cluster of submarine volcanoes. It is over 4,100 feet below the surface. The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary studies and identifies species there. They have identified 168 species of animals which include sea stars, sea cucumbers, and sea urchins. They have also identified 27 types of corals which include sea fans and black corals. According to the website baynature.org, Davidson Seamount attracts a lot of marine life because the swirling currents produced in the area concentrate nutrients which attracts the marine life.  


How cool is this?

Chapter 16 - The North Pacific Coast

Like the North Pacific Coast, Monterey has mountains. The Santa Cruz Mountains, which are part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, run through Monterey. The elevation of the Santa Cruz Mountains is 3,786 ft.  This is nothing compared to some of the mountains in the North Pacific Coast! The interesting thing about the Santa Cruz Mountains is that there are between 50-60 wineries in the mountains. You can go visit the wineries and see a view of the Monterey Bay at the same time! 


Monterey also has a total of 27 mountain summits and peaks according to the website, mountainzone.com. These mountains are good for hiking or climbing! Some of these mountains are: Artillery Hill Summit which has a peak elevation of 410ft, Huckleberry Hill Summit which has a peak elevation of 945ft, and Fish Head Hill Summit which has a peak elevation of 2,523ft. 


Who would have thought that a place like Monterey would have many mountains?  

Chapter 15 - California

One of the disadvantages of California is that there is a water shortage. One main reason why California has a problem with the amount of water supply is because there is a lot of agriculture. The farms in California are the main users of water. Since Monterey is in California and it is a big farming area, the people there know how important it is to come up with new ways to supply water. A website called, "Water World" mentioned how the Monterey area has come up with a water supply project. California American Water has done studies for years and came up with an idea that could help the water situation. They came up with the idea to desalinate water and store water underground that comes from winter river flows so that they do not rely on the Carmel River so much for their water. The desalination facility will take in water from the sea and from groundwater. Their plan to take seawater will not hurt the marine life. There will also be additional storage facilities built so that the excess winter flows from the Carmel River can be captured and stored. They will use this captured water during the dry season.   

Regional Water Supply Project

Chapter 14 - The Southwest Border Area: Tricultural Development

According to the U.S. Census Bureau's website, there is a diverse amount of ethnic background in Monterey Bay, but it does not seem as diverse as the Southwest Border area. White persons consists of 85.5% of the population in Monterey County, Black persons consists of 3.5%, American Indian and Alaska Native persons consists of 1.4%, Asian persons consists of 6.4%, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander consists of 0.6%, and persons of Hispanic or latin origin consists of 53.9%.


It is interesting to learn how certain ethnic groups chose to settle in Monterey Bay. After reading a website by the Monterey County Historical Society, I learned that Chinese immigrants were the first to fish in Monterey Bay starting in 1850. They came up with industrialized ways to fish which made Monterey Bay a successful fishing port. This also developed Cannery Row. Another early settler of Monterey Bay were the Spanish. In 1602 an explorer from Spain named Sebastian Vizcaino found Monterey. He did reports on how Monterey had good land to settle on. He was the first person to record the ecological features of the California coast including Monterey.

   

Chapter 13 - The Empty Interior

The Empty Interior is known for having a lot of land and a good portion of that land is used for the national park system. Like the Empty Interior, Monterey Bay also has national parks.

One of the national parks is the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS). According to the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary website,  it was established in 1992. It was established to protect  resources, to conduct research, and for education.  It has 6,094 square miles of ocean. It would be a neat place to visit since it has one of the world's most diverse marine life! 

Another national park in Monterey Bay is the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve. According to ElkhornSlough.org it has biological diversity and provides a habitat for many aquatic birds, marine invertebrate, and fish. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration decided to have certain areas of the Elkhorn Slough be part of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary to protect rare and endangered species that live in those areas. 

Monterey Bay is a neat place because they have such diverse marine life. I think that it is good that they protect the diverse areas so that the marine life are able to live without having their environment damaged by pollution and other things that can harm their environment.    



Elkhorn Slough



Chapter 12 - The Great Plains and Prairies

After reading about the great plains and prairies, I realized that Monterey has one aspect in common with the great plains and has another aspect that is the total opposite of the great plains. 


The great plains and prairies is used in a lot of literature because of its landscape. Monterey is also a place authors have used as there setting in their story. John Steinbeck is an example of an author who wrote about Monterey in his book called "Cannery Row" and he lived in Monterey. Another author was Robert Louis Stevenson who lived in a hotel in Monterey for a little bit while he was writing "Amateur Immigrant", "The Old Pacific", "Capital", and "Vendetta of the West." Another interesting fact is that there is a village in Monterey called Carmel which was founded by writers and artists.

A place in Carmel

The great plains and prairies can have extreme weather like blizzards, high winds, and tornadoes. Monterey on the other hand has perfect weather! The temperature ranges from 60-72 degrees Fahrenheit. The average rainfall is 19.5 inches a year.  Monterey does have a moderate risk of earthquakes and there is a possibility of tsunami's but overall the weather is mild and steady.

John Steinbeck

Chapter 11 - The Agricultural Core

Monterey Bay is similar to the Agricultural Core because there is a lot of agriculture there too. However, unlike the Agricultural Core, Monterey Bay is a nice place to visit since there is a lot more to do there besides just farming!

According to a website done by UC Davis, Monterey is considered the "salad bowl" of the world because its temperate climate and rich soils produce lots of cool season vegetables, wine grapes, strawberries, and flowers. It is interesting to note that of the packaged salads and pre-cut vegetable industry, 90% comes from Monterey. Wow! That is a lot of easy dinners.

Monterey County has the largest payroll in all the agricultural areas in California.  I found that interesting, but can understand why because UC Davis' website also said agriculture is year round in Monterey and this makes that area have continual labor which is a lot of work.