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.

Chapter 10 - The Southern Coastlands: On The Subtropical Margin

Monterey Bay is more similar to the eastern half of the Southern Coastlands than the western half. Monterey is a really nice place to visit since there are so many things to see and because of this, there are a lot of people from all over the world that vist Monterey!

Some of the most popular attractions to see while visiting Monterey are: Cannery Row, which includes the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey Whale Watching, and Fisherman's Wharf.

  

Cannery Row



Monterey Bay Aquarium



Fisherman's Wharf

Tourism is an important part of Monterey's economy and has been especially important in the last 30 years. Tourism in Monterey supports 1/3 of the jobs there. People visit Monterey most from April through Thanksgiving.  

So, if you haven't visited Monterey Bay, what are you waiting for?

Okie Dokie Artichokie!

Although Monterey and the South seem very different, they do have one major aspect in common. Just what is it?

They are both BIG on agriculture!

A neat aspect of Monterey is that they just don't have one major cash crop, they have many cash crops depending where in Monterey you are.

In one area of Monterey, the artichoke is the biggest cash crop. (Yum Yum!)Not only is the artichoke big in Monterey, people from all over the United States depend on Monterey to grow their artichokes. A whopping 75% of the artichokes grown in the United States comes from Monterey!

In a different area of Monterey, strawberries are the biggest cash crop.

Another interesting fact about Monterey is that there are festivals that occur in the areas that have farming to celebrate that area's cash crop! These festivals have food that you can buy with the specific cash crop in it.  They also have arts and crafts for sale, music, and contests. The next time I go to Monterey, I am certainly going to plan it around one of these festivals.

Submarine Canyon

Often times when people hear the term "topography," they think of mountains, or at least I do.  Mountains are an obvious form of topography such as the Appalachia and Ozark mountains which are found in parts of Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia.  However, there are areas in the United States that have very little or no mountains, so just what is the topography in such areas?


Monterey Bay is an example.  Upon doing research with regards to the topography in Monterey, many links sent me to Monterey Submarine Canyon.  Who knew such a place existed?  It was exciting to learn about it, and I would like to tell you a little about the topography of Monterey Bay!


Monterey Submarine Canyon is a Submarine Canyon still being studied by scientists from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.  The canyon is about 2 miles below the surface and is 1 mile deep.  Because the canyon is so deep, it creates a great area for marine life to live.

Early Settlement

Just what was it that brought people to the Monterey Bay area early on? Why did people settle there?

Some areas, such as Bypassed East, on a portion of the east coast and part of Canada, brought early European settlers because of its trees and fish (flounder, cod, and halibut). The climate was damp and cold...something not necessarily attractive to people.

Monterey Bay was a good location for early settlers to attract because of the convenient ports and fishing industry potential. The area offered fish and wildlife, natural resources and mild climate. Several types of fish include: salmon, albacore, rock cod, lingcod, halibut and rockfish.

Monterey Bay may not be part of the manufacturing core but it has a big part of agriculture. Interesting that it use to be the only port of entry for taxable goods in California, yet didn't end up being a main manufacturing area. Before any goods could get into California, they had to go through the Custom House.  Until the 1950's, Monterey had been famous for fishery. Now people can go and see the old canning factories and there are still a few fishing companies left on Cannery Row.

The Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments (AMBAG) is responsible for transportation planning.  They did a study to see how efficient Monterey's transportation system is since their economy relies a lot on agriculture. The study showed that their transportation system could improve which would help the agricultural business improve and be more efficient. This study helped forecast what would be needed with regards to transportation through 2015.

Although Monterey Bay doesn't have as much manufacturing as a city in the manufacturing core has, but then again, you also don't have the water or air pollution either.  (And for even more fun, read Cannery Row, then visit Cannery Row!)



The Custom House




This is Cannery Row before it became a tourist spot



Monterey is the opposite of Megalopolis

Since Monterey Bay is surrounded by the ocean, the people who live there seem to be very aware of how cities can pollute the ocean. The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary has a Water Quality Protection Program that helps cities and counties come up with ways to reduce the amount of runoff from urban areas.

 Since the Monterey Bay area has really good soil and weather for agriculture, they provide a lot of crops to feed California. According to LandWatch, a publication in Monterey County, "the Monterey Bay area is experiencing increasing urban pressures and loss of prime agricultural land. Today there is essentially no farmland left in the Santa Clara Valley. The question is, should we or can we allow this same thing to happen in the Monterey Bay Area."                    

                        


The people who live in Monterey Bay seem to really care more about nature and less about being an urban city that is fast paced and very populated. Monterey Bay is the opposite of Megalopolis.

Who first settled in Monterey? The original religion?

The first people to settle in what is now known as Monterey were the Rumsen Ohlone tribe which were one of the distinct Ohlone groups in California. They were attracted to the Monterey area because it was rich in marine life. They lived comfortably by fishing, hunting, and gathering. In the 18th century they were taken over by the Spanish settlers.

The main religion in Monterey during the time the Spanish settled there was Roman Catholicism.  An interesting fact is that Monterey has the oldest cathedral in California.  It was established in 1794 by Father Junipero Serra.

The oldest stone building in California.

The climate is amazing!

Well...how much better can you get than the climate in a coastal town? I love coastal towns.  

Monterey Bay is on the Pacific Ocean so the temperatures there are not very drastic. The climate there is considered a Mediterranean climate which is the Koppen climate classification. It never gets very hot even in the summer.  The high average in the summer is 72 degrees Fahrenheit and the average high in the winter is 60 degrees Fahrenheit. 

The annual rainfall is 19.5" and rain generally falls between November and April.  The summers are cool and foggy.  Snow in monterey bay is extremely rare...not a place to visit if you are only into snowboarding!

Beautiful region!

Monterey Bay, California is a beautiful place to visit.  (If you are lucky, you can even live there!) 

The total area in square miles is 11.7.  Of those, 3.3 is water and 8.4 is land. According to the latest 2000 census, the population density was 3,516.9 people per square mile. 

In California, Monterey was the original and only port of entry for taxable goods in the state. (Wow!)

  

The economy relies on tourism in the Coastal regions and Agriculture in the land regions.

Coastal Region

Agriculture Region (Strawberry field)