Monterey Bay is a broad Pacific inlet on California’s central coast, bordered by Santa Cruz, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Moss Landing, and Marina. European explorers gave it successive names as Spanish expeditions entered and charted the bay in 1542, 1595, and 1602, when Sebastián Vizcaíno bestowed the name honoring the Count of Monterrey, viceroy of New Spain. Beneath its waters, Monterey Canyon begins off Moss Landing and stretches about 249 miles as one of the world’s largest submarine canyons, shaping the bay’s marine environment. Rich wildlife, extensive kelp forests, and protected marine reserves make the bay one of California’s most valued coastal landscapes.

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain