Today, Upper Newport Bay covers 1,357 acres in Newport Beach. Historically, Upper Newport Bay covered 2,800 acres. The Santa Ana River carved out Upper Newport Bay in the Pleistocene Epoch. And the area used to be home to mega fauna such as bison, mammoths, and giant sloths. Upper Newport Bay is thought to have been first inhabited by humans 9,000 years ago. Gabrielino Indians lived in Upper Newport Bay 2,000 years ago, and lived off of the fish and plants that call the wetlands home. Historically, the bay was deeper than it is now, as run-off water containing silt and soil has raised the level of the bay floor. Hard to imagine now, the bluffs surrounding the bay used to be completely untouched, and cattle and sheep once grazed there after being introduced by the Spanish. Native California species, like California sagebrush, California buckwheat, pickleweed, cordgrass, and bush sunflower, grew abundantly in and surrounding the bay. Bird species were even more abundant than they are today as birds used and still use Upper Newport Bay as both a home and a stopping point on the Pacific Flyway. Beyond birds, the bay has been home to mammals (raccoons, coyotes, and rabbits) and amphibians (frogs), and reptiles (snakes and lizards). Over 80 species of fish have been identified in the bay today, so it is likely that even more species occupied the bay before so much toxic run-off was channeled into the bay. Furthermore, Upper Newport Bay used to flow directly into the Pacific Ocean, and the many types of fish served as food for gray smoothhound sharks and round stingrays. The bay now flows into a man-made harbor before it hits the Pacific Ocean, and so large predators, like sharks, are rarely, if ever, seen in the bay now.
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