The recorded history of Mobile Bay begins about 1500, when Spanish explorers were sailing into the area. On early maps, the bay was named as Bahía del Espíritu Santo (Bay of the Holy Spirit). The area was explored in more detail in 1516 by Diego Miruelo and in 1519 by Alonso Álvarez de Pineda.
How did Mobile get its name?
Etymology. The city gained its name from the Mobile tribe that the French colonists encountered living in the area of Mobile Bay.
How was Mobile Bay created?
Mobile Bay and estuaries along the Gulf of Mexico margin typically originate as incised fluvial valleys that formed during the most recent drop in sea level, and were then drowned by the subsequent postglacial sea-level rise. Most of these estuaries have been filling with sediment from fluvial and marine sources.
What is Mobile Bay known for?
Mobile Bay, on the Gulf of Mexico, has a number of lovely beaches, small towns, and historic sites to explore. At the southwest entrance to Mobile Bay lies the Dauphin Island bird sanctuary, with Fort Gaines, which played a part in the Civil War.
Why is the Mobile Bay Brown?
A boat that loses power in the woods quickly finds itself in a dangerous situation, pinned against the cypress and gum trees by the muddy brown water. When the flood is on, the plume of muddy river water takes over Mobile Bay, turning the salty, 20-mile-long estuary into a freshwater extension of the Delta.
Who Discovered Mobile Bay?
The recorded history of Mobile Bay begins about 1500, when Spanish explorers were sailing into the area. On early maps, the bay was named as Bahía del Espíritu Santo (Bay of the Holy Spirit). The area was explored in more detail in 1516 by Diego Miruelo and in 1519 by Alonso Álvarez de Pineda.
Which city is older Mobile or New Orleans?
“New Orleans wasn’t founded until 1718. Therefore, strictly speaking, Mobile had the earliest celebration of the two cities.”
Are there sharks in Mobile Bay?
Bull sharks are extremely common in Mobile Bay, one of the Gulf’s most important shark nursery areas. Biologists with the Dauphin Island Sea Lab collected 57 baby bull sharks from the beach on Saturday.
What river is empty into Mobile Bay?
Mobile River, river formed by the confluence of the Tombigbee and Alabama rivers, southwestern Alabama, U.S. It enters Mobile Bay after a southerly course of 45 miles (72 km) through the delta region.
Can you swim in Mobile Bay?
We recommend that individuals always take appropriate precautions when swimming. Those precautions include not exposing open wounds to the water and washing thoroughly after leaving the water. Bacteriological testing requires a 24-hour incubation period.
Are there alligators in Mobile Bay?
Alligators have been reported in parking lots on the causeway that crosses Mobile Bay and along heavily traveled U.S. 98 in Daphne, CBS affiliate WKRG-TV reported, so the city posted notes on social media asking residents to be careful, particularly with pets.
Do the tunnels in Mobile go underwater?
The George Wallace Tunnel is located in downtown Mobile, and travels beneath the Mobile River. The depth of the tunnel is 40 feet from the water’s surface to the top of the tunnel. The length of the tunnel is 3,000 feet long, just over half a mile. The twin tunnels carry Interstate 10, one eastbound and one westbound.
What lives in Mobile Bay?
Mobile Bay is home to 49 species of mammals, 126 species of reptiles and amphibians, 337 species of fresh and saltwater fish, and 355 species of birds. Endemic species within the basin include 40 fishes, 33 mussels and 110 aquatic snails, as well as a number of turtles, aquatic insects and crustaceans.
Why is the Gulf of Mexico so dirty?
It was caused by high levels of nutrient runoff into the Mississippi River that left the water emptying into the Gulf of Mexico with high levels of nitrogen. Those nitrogen levels cause overgrowth of algae and other vegetation that deplete much of the oxygen from the water and kills fish.
Why is Florida water so clear?
Our shores have shallow waters often resulting in sandbars, so the sun can reflect off the white sea floors and the surrounding microscopic plankton, which creates the gradient effect of clear-to-emerald-to azure-to-navy waters as you progress further out into the Gulf.
Why is Destin Florida water so clear?
Choctawhatchee Bay in Destin
Believe it or not, the presence of Choctawhatchee Bay plays a key role in preserving the clarity and color of the Emerald Coast water. Rivers that empty into the bay contain sediment and that murkier water we talked about above.
How old is the City of Mobile?
Mobile Founded by the French in 1702, Mobile is Alabama’s oldest city and a major port facility for the region. The city’s three centuries of history have been inextricably tied to the development of its port and the economic prosperity of the adjoining area.
Is Mobile Bay fresh water?
Mobile Bay’s salinity is driven predominantly by freshwater inflow from the large Mobile Bay watershed. A combination of winds and tidal regimes delivers salty Gulf waters into the Bay from the south. As a result, salinity in Mobile Bay is highly dynamic.
Why is there a tunnel in Mobile Alabama?
Wallace Tunnel was built to move three times as many cars through, to meet demand (which marked the end of the toll). And now, there’s a lot of talk about building a bridge across the Mobile River to help with the traffic that gets bottlenecked in both of our tunnels.
What is the oldest town in USA?
St. Augustine
St. Augustine, founded in September 1565 by Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles of Spain, is the longest continually inhabited European-founded city in the United States – more commonly called the “Nation’s Oldest City.”
What are the 5 oldest cities in the US?
This article takes a look at 7 of these old American cities and what they have to offer:
- Saint Augustine, Florida (1565)
- Jamestown, Virginia (1607)
- Santa Fe, New Mexico (1610)
- Hampton, Virginia (1610)
- Albany, New York (1614)
- Plymouth, Massachusetts (1620)
- Weymouth, Massachusetts (1622)