Gulf of the Farallones

Water type: Bay
Connection to the ocean: Pacific Ocean
Continent: North America
Climate: Subtropical

Gulf of the Farallones is a gulf of the Pacific Ocean off the northern California coast. It extends westward from the opening of the San Francisco Bay and Drakes Bay to the Farallon Islands. Most of the gulf lies in Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, which protects about 3,200 km2.

The gulf is home to major shipping lines to the Port of San Francisco, Port of Oakland, and Port of Richmond. The gulf has also historically been used as a dumping ground for various types of waste, including dredging sediment, industrial waste, sunk vessels, and barrels of low-level nuclear waste. Around 47,800 barrels of nuclear waste were dumped between 1946 and 1970; their location was largely unknown until mapping and monitoring efforts in the 1990s.

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