Where Fish And Otters Roam

From author’s collection — Monterey Beach

Walking on Monterey Beach, California early morning in October. It’s comprised of massive sand dunes and spans of uninterrupted beach and is also adjacent to a National Marine Sanctuary. During the early morning and late afternoon hours beginning in October when fall sets in, waves grow high and fishing can be excellent.

The native people who’d lived there for thousands of years before Euro-Americans landed on Monterey’s shores are known as “Rumsiens” but almost nothing is known about them other than that it was the abundance of fish and wildlife combined with the Central Coast’s mild weather that helped maintain their way of life.

Spanish explorer Juan Rodríquez Cabrillo was the first Euro-American who saw the bay in 1542 and sixty years later, in in1602, Sebastián Vizcaíno became the first European to set foot there renaming it “Monte Rey Bay” for New Spain’s Viceroy who’d ordered his expedition.