Long Beach

There are a lot of Long Beaches. Some are longer than others. Some are attached to larger cities than others. This is one of those.

As best as I can tell (and supported by interpretive signs near the aquarium), Long Beach began as a large barrier beach stretching between the mouths of the original Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers. It still sort of is, although there has been a lot of replumbing and terraforming in the last century.

AERIAL VIEW

And maybe calling it a barrier beach is a bit too simple. The western portion of Ocean Boulevard lies well above sea level and the beach lies out in front of a modest bluff. But the eastern portion, Belmont Shores, is a barrier, with low-lying areas inland.

The beach is well-manicured - or at least it had been very recently. New sand, nicely graded, with ditches to guide stormwater from each upland source out through the beach to the sea. The area had been hit by a big rainstorm shortly before I visited - I'm not sure whether what I was seeing was the result of that, or the response to it.