6 -REPORT UPON CERTAIN INVESTIGATIONS RELATING TO THE PLANTING 
OF OYSTERS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 
BY CHARLES H. GILBERT. 
[Plates XXXI to XXXIV.J 
ALAMITOS BAY AND NEWPORT BAY, CALIFORNIA. 
The coast of southern California contains few harbors or months of rivers suit- 
able for the cultivation of oysters. The proximity of the Coast Range of mountains 
ami the limited rain-fall conspire to produce small rivers, which are dry during the 
greater part of the year, and at other times commonly reach the sea by filtering 
through the sands thrown up across their months by the waves. 
Two of the most promising estuaries, Alamitos Bay and ISTewport Bay, were vis- 
ited in January, 1889, by the writer, accompanied by Mr. N. B. Miller, of the Fish 
Commission steamer Albatross. 
Alamitos Bay lies 3 miles east of Long Beach, a sea-side resort about 20 miles dis- 
tant from Los Angeles, with which it is directly connected by rail (see plate XXXI). 
The bay consists of a channel, several miles in length, and with an extreme width of 
400 yards, winding through the flat country which here faces the coast. Xear the 
entrance to the bay it receives from the east the Xew San Gabriel River, and higher 
up a number of narrow channels. Croaker Strait and Mud Creek from the east, 
and Headquarters Creek, with three smaller channels, from the west. 
At. a distance of miles from the entrance to the bay, and above the mouth of 
Mud Creek, the channel is about 150 feet wide and 6 feet deep at low water. At this 
point there is exposed, at low water, a flat of perhaps 150 acres, consisting of soft sand 
covered with a thin layer of mud, and said to be constantly covered at high tide. In 
the channel the temperature was 00° Fahr., and the specific gravity 1.022187. Xo 
native oysters are found thus far up the bay, but cockles and scallops abound. The 
bottom consists of sand covered with a thin layer of blue mud. 
Down the channel toward the mouth of Mud Creek the width increases some- 
what, and the depth varies from 5 to 10 feet for a short distance above the creek ; the 
bottom is strewn with scattering oysters. Mud Creek has an average depth of 2 feet 
for about 2 miles. It contains more mud than other branches aud fewer oysters, 
those found being mainly toward its head. Xo fresh water is kuown to flow from it 
into the main channels, the specific gravity at its mouth being 1.023187. 
Between the mouth of Mud Creek aud Headquarters Creek the depth in the chan- 
nel varies from 7 to 9 feet, with a bottom of mixed saud and mud. Headquarters 
Creek contains an abundance of native oysters, cockles, and scallops, and the water 
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