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Half Moon Bay (California)
Encyclopedia
Bay
A bay is an area of water mostly surrounded by land. Bays generally have calmer waters than the surrounding sea, due to the surrounding land blocking some waves and often reducing winds. Bays also exist as an inlet in a lake or pond. A large bay may be called a gulf, a sea, a sound, or a bight...
of the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
on the coast of San Mateo County
San Mateo County, California
San Mateo County is a county located in the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. It covers most of the San Francisco Peninsula just south of San Francisco, and north of Santa Clara County. San Francisco International Airport is located at the northern end of the county, and...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. The bay is approximately semi-circular
Semicircle
In mathematics , a semicircle is a two-dimensional geometric shape that forms half of a circle. Being half of a circle's 360°, the arc of a semicircle always measures 180° or a half turn...
, hence the name half moon, with sea access to the south. Coastal towns located there are Princeton-by-the-Sea, Miramar
Miramar, Half Moon Bay, California
Miramar is a district located within the city limits of Half Moon Bay in San Mateo County, California. Miramar Beach is located at Miramar....
, El Granada
El Granada, California
El Granada is a census-designated place in the coastal area of northern San Mateo County, California, United States. The population was 5,467 at the 2010 census.-Geography:...
, and the city of Half Moon Bay
Half Moon Bay, California
Half Moon Bay is a coastal city in San Mateo County, California, USA. Its population was 11,324 as of the 2010 census. Immediately at the north of Half Moon Bay is the Pillar Point Harbor and the unincorporated community of Princeton-by-the-Sea....
.
The surfing location Mavericks
Mavericks (location)
Maverick's or Mavericks is a surfing location in Northern California, U.S.A.. It is located approximately 2 miles from shore in Pillar Point Harbor just north of Half Moon Bay at the village of Princeton-By-The-Sea. After a strong winter storm in the northern Pacific Ocean, waves can routinely...
is located on the outer edge of the peninsula which forms the bay. Miramar Beach
Miramar Beach, California
Miramar Beach is a sandy beach in western San Mateo County, California. Miramar Beach is one of the numerous beaches on Half Moon Bay, a Pacific Ocean embayment noted for its surfing and extensive visitation...
is located along the shore of the bay opposite the peninsula.
Marine species include flatfish
Flatfish
The flatfish are an order of ray-finned fish, also called the Heterosomata, sometimes classified as a suborder of Perciformes. In many species, both eyes lie on one side of the head, one or the other migrating through and around the head during development...
, the commercially important English sole
Sole (fish)
Sole is a group of flatfish belonging to several families. Generally speaking, they are members of the family Soleidae, but, outside Europe, the name sole is also applied to various other similar flatfish, especially other members of the sole suborder Soleoidei as well as members of the flounder...
, rockfish
Rockfish
Rockfish may refer to one of the following fishes:* One of several species in the Sebastes genus of the Sebastidae family, including the Shortraker rockfish, Rougheye rockfish, Blue rockfish, Yellow tail rockfish and many others....
, surfperch, Pacific herring
Pacific herring
The Pacific herring, Clupea pallasii, is a species of the herring family associated with the Pacific Ocean environment of North America and northeast Asia. This species is a silvery fish with unspined fins and a deeply forked caudal fin...
, lingcod
Lingcod
The lingcod, Ophiodon elongatus, is a fish of the greenling family Hexagrammidae. It is the only extant member of the genus Ophiodon...
; and abundant winter species including starry flounder
Starry flounder
The starry flounder is a common flatfish found around the margins of the North Pacific.The distinctive features of the starry flounder include the combination of black and white-to-orange bar on the dorsal and anal fins, as well as the skin covered with scales modified into tiny star-shaped plates...
and top-smelt.