Bodega Head State Marine Reserve/State Marine Conservation Area

Bodega Head SMR and SMCA and the surrounding region are located along the highly active San Andreas Fault. The granite “Bodega Head” feature itself was sheared off the southern edge of the Sierra Nevada Mountains millions of years ago and transported northward by the Pacific Plate. The Bodega Head MPAs protect the beaches, rocky shoreline, sandy seafloor, and rocky reefs west of Bodega Head.

The Bodega Head promontory, or headland, also supports one of the most persistent and important upwelling plumes along California’s coast. During spring months, strong winds push surface waters offshore, causing deep, cold, nutrient-rich water to come to the surface near shore in a process called upwelling. This nutrient-rich water feeds plankton blooms, which attract krill and small fish, which in turn support the entire marine food web within the area.

Gray whales feast in the rich waters during their migrations, and seabirds such as cormorants, murres, guillemots, and auklets forage for fish. Beneath the surface, a modest kelp forest is home to many animals including rockfish, surfperch, greenlings, urchins, and abalone. Closer to shore, sand crabs submerge themselves in beach sand, while mussels and barnacles adhere to the hard rocks of the intertidal zone tidepools, filter-feeding on the plankton that washes over them with each incoming wave.

For centuries, Native American Tribes in California have relied on marine and coastal resources. Many Native American Tribes in California continue to regularly harvest marine resources within their ancestral territories and maintain relationships with the coast for ongoing customary uses. Currently part of the Graton Rancheria Tribe, Bodega Bay is the traditional home of the Bodega Miwok. The traditional Bodega Miwok diet consists of many species of fish, invertebrates, and seaweeds harvested from the shore and ocean.

Indigenous peoples were quickly overrun by foreign explorers when Spanish ships arrived in the early 1800s. Bodega Bay was named for Don Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra, who arrived on one of the first Spanish ships of exploration. The region was subsequently explored and settled by Russians, Spaniards, Mexicans, and European-Americans. This exploration and settlement brought fur trapping, commercial fishing, cattle ranching, and missions to the area.

In the early 1960s, the Bodega Head area was selected as the site of a new Pacific Gas and Electric nuclear power plant. Plans for this power plant ultimately ended due to conservation efforts.

Bodega Head houses the University of California at Davis' Bodega Marine Laboratory. Established in 1960 to support field researchers studying the area, Bodega Marine Laboratory offers facilities for faculty, visiting scientists, local schools, and graduate and undergraduate students.

Visitors can enjoy the Bodega Head MPAs by land or by sea. Easily accessible from Highway 1, guests can park their cars and hike the Overlook Trail to the southernmost point of Bodega Head, which is within Sonoma Coast State Park. Parking and bathrooms are located at the Bodega Bay Trailhead, at the end of Westshore Road, and at Campbell Cove Beach. The Bodega Head Trail, a one- to two-mile loop on top of Bodega Head, is handicapped-accessible and is an ideal location for appreciating the beauty of the California coast and these MPAs.

From the Bodega Head promontory high over the Pacific Ocean, visitors can observe migrating whales, seabirds, seals, and sea lions. Whale-watching charter boats take people into the MPAs for an up-close experience. If you plan to go fishing, remember that the SMR prohibits all take but the SMCA allows for some types of commercial and recreational take of marine resources, including Dungeness crab; please check all regulations before embarking on a fishing trip. Visitors may also visit the University of California, Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory, which offers free docent-led tours of the facility including numerous marine aquarium displays showcasing the marine life found in the MPAs.

Coordinates

Bodega Head SMR

This area is bounded by the mean high tide line and straight lines connecting the following points in the order listed except where noted:

38° 20.100' N. lat. 123° 04.123' W. long.;
38° 20.100' N. lat. 123° 08.448' W. long.; thence southward along the three nautical mile offshore boundary to
38° 18.000' N. lat. 123° 08.140' W. long.; and
38° 18.000' N. lat. 123° 03.680' W. long.

California Code of Regulations Title 14, Section 632(b)(39)

Bodega Head SMCA

This area is bounded by the mean high tide line and straight lines connecting the following points in the order listed except where noted:

38° 18.000' N. lat. 123° 03.680' W. long.;
38° 18.000' N. lat. 123° 08.140' W. long.; thence southward along the three nautical mile offshore boundary to
38° 13.340' N. lat. 123° 03.510' W. long.; and
38° 17.930' N. lat. 123° 03.510' W. long.

California Code of Regulations Title 14, Section 632(b)(40)