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Chris Brackley via canadiangeographic.ca

Cumulative stress is the weighted sum of 34 environmental stressors.

Environmental stressor groups:
– Toxic point source pollutants and contaminated sediments
– Invasive species
– Nonpoint pollutants (including agricultural, forestry, and urban sources)
– Altered water level fluxes (often as climate change impact)
– Climate change
– Shoreline hardening and alterations, aquatic habitat alterations
– Coastal/urban development
– Natural resource use (including water withdrawals)
– Nuisance algae (harmful algal blooms, Cladophora)
– Dams and barriers

Allan JD, McIntyre PB, Smith SDP, et al. 2013. Joint analysis of stressors and ecosystem services to enhance restoration effectiveness. P Natl Acad Sci USA 110: 372–77.

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The bathymetric map below, designed by Alex Varlamov, helps understand the size and depth of the Great Lakes.

The visualization below clearly shows the depths of the Great Lakes. Lake Superior is the largest and deepest of the Great Lakes and ranks as the second largest lake in the world by area.

Great Lakes ranked by the average depth
Lake Superior: 483 ft (147 m) – Deepest Point is 1,333 ft (406 m)
Lake Ontario: 283 ft (86 m) – Deepest Point: 804 ft (245 m)
Lake Michigan: 279 ft (85 m) – Deepest Point: 925 ft (282 m)
Lake Huron: 195 ft (59 m) – Deepest Point: 748 ft (228 m)
Lake Erie: 62 ft (19 m) – Deepest Point: 210 ft (64 m)

Great lakes profile compared to profiles of other lakes

Related post:
– Lakes and oceans depth comparison

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As ship approach the entrance to the Bay, they line up within designated traffic lanes to avoid collisions in this congested zone. The official navigation charts note these traffic lanes and separation lines so that the captain can safely set a course for the approach.

Any ship over a certain size cannot enter most harbors, including the San Francisco Bay, without being guided by a professional harbor pilot who has intimate knowledge of the navigational hazards specific to the area. The challenge begins just outside the Golden Gate with treacherous shallow sand bars that give the San Francisco Bar Pilots their name. The harbor pilot meets a waiting ship just beyond the sand bars at the pilot rendezvous point. Getting a harbor pilot aboard is a dangerous job as it requires the pilot to climb up a rope ladder strung on the side of a massive cargo ship as it pitches and rolls in open ocean swells.

Inside the Golden Gate, vessel traffic of all sizes zips from shore to shore. High speed ferries make regular crossings from San Francisco to destinations in Marin County and the East Bay. Tourist ferries shuttle sightseers to Alcatraz Island or underneath the Golden Gate Bridge. Big ships generally move along predictable routes travelling counter-clockwise around Alcatraz. No matter what happens, smaller boats must yield right of way to the big ships as they have limited maneuverability in close quarters.

Once arriving in the Bay, a ship may have to wait before its destination port is ready to unload its cargo. This is especially true for oil and gas tankers, who must wait in a specially designated “anchorage for explosives” in the South Bay. The circular patterns shown here are formed as the ships spin around with the daily tides. From the city’s eastern shore, you can see these ships fully lit up at night as they wait under anchor.

There are many ports within the San Francisco Bay. Each one handles a different type of cargo. As a ship approaches its designated berth, its harbor pilot must skillfully bring it to rest, adjusting its course for the tides, currents, wind, and other factors. Also visible towards the bottom of this view is a turning basin, a section of the Oakland estuary that has been widened and dredged so big ships can turn around 180 degrees in the otherwise narrow channel.

Not all of the bay is navigable to large ships. Some regions, such as the area between Richmond and Emeryville, are much too shallow for deep draft ships to pass— as little as one meter in some places. The only traffic you will see here is from smaller pleasure craft, such as a powerboat returning from China Camp State Park to the Berkeley Marina, or a sailing vessel (tracing a telltale zig-zag pattern as it tacks upwind) touring a popular route around Angel Island. Only boats over 60ft in length are required by law to transmit AIS telemetry data, so many smaller boats do not appear on this map.

Via mapbox.com

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