Water is brought in from the bay into man-made ponds.San Francisco Bay offers good area for salt production (Cargill Salt Company).Low tide fish eating birds consume fish, that didn’t make it out.High tide fish use the area for forage.Vegetation consists of algae, sea lettuce, and eel grass.Produce large amounts of plant material.The “kidneys” of Bays, purifying pollutants.Salt ponds- Large man-made ponds that are flooded with Bay water.Non-tidal diked wetlands- Tidal marshes that are isolated from tidal influence and maintain wetland features.Riparian Habitat- Boards creek, rivers, lakes.Seasonal Wetlands- Moist grassland and vernal pools.Tidal Marsh- Areas flooded by high tide but retain some water during low tide.Tidal Flats- Areas that are flooded during high tide and lose most the water during low tide.Interconnecting wetlands (sloughs, marshes, channels, rivers).Made up of San Francisco Bay (north, south, and central) and the San Pablo Bay.Nation’s second largest/most biologically significant estuary on the Pacific Coast.Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers empty.Mostly fresh water but contains salt marshes and also mudflats.

Levels were rising at 1” per year, along with rivers and creeks coming into the area.

Sea levels rose and inland through the “golden gate”.

The bay was formed 10,000 yrs ago during the last ice age.

One of the most important coastal wintering and migratory habitats for Pacific flyway waterfowl.

Relatively shallow, channel on 50 ft exists.

4 areas of the bay the north, central, and south San Francisco Bay, and San Pablo Bay.

Extends from California’s San Pablo Bay to South San Francisco Bay.

Thought had the perfect area for a prison.

Rising tide interactive san francisco