Santa Monica Bay - Definition and Overview

Santa Monica Bay is an arm of the Pacific Ocean in southern California. 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 West Los Angeles and South Bay regions. Although it was fed by the Los Angeles River prior to the river's catastrophic change in course in 1825, the only stream of any size now flowing into it is Ballona Creek.

Once a major commercial fishery, Santa Monica Bay's water quality declined drastically in the 20th century as development of Los Angeles County 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, the bay's water quality has improved fairly dramatically from its early-1980s nadir. However, during the region's rainy winters, it still suffers from algal bloom and other water pollution-related maladies, forcing the closure of most of the famous beaches along its shore.

Communities along the shore of Santa Monica Bay include:

• Malibu
• Pacific Palisades
• Santa Monica
• Venice
• Marina del Rey
• Playa del Rey
• El Segundo
• Manhattan Beach
• Hermosa Beach
• Redondo Beach
• Torrance
• Palos Verdes Estates
• Rancho Palos Verdes

External links

• Heal the Bay (http://www.healthebay.org/)