On Hugo's Deck
Ship Strikes
Waterfront Sea Wall
Waterfront Sea Wall
50,000 ships
20,000 whales
On any given day, approximately 50,000 commercial maritime vessels navigate the world’s seas and waterways providing food and supplies to global communities.
Every year, cargo, cruise, and fishing vessels kill an estimated 20,000 whales. These ship strikes are a result of the overlap between whale feeding grounds and maritime shipping lanes, and an increase in vessels on the ocean.
Waterfront Sea Wall
Waterfront Sea Wall
Waterfront Sea Wall
"(to build a seawall) — the sense of interwoven city and nature would be destroyed, no matter how many “access points” were carved out along the way. But that’s the sort of option that City Hall and the Port will juggle as San Francisco and the Army Corps try to settle on long-term plans for the City's bay shoreline during the next two years - " - John King, SF Chronicle
Sinking Docks
Waterfront Sea Wall
Sinking Docks
The 900-foot Dry Dock No. 2 at the Port of San Francisco’s Piers 68-70, built in 1970, was retired only a decade ago. The severe storms in November 2025 ripped into Dry Dock No. 2 causing it to list to the east - in other words, it’s sinking. If the dock sinks to the bottom of the bay it will trigger a release of fuel and other toxins into the water.
Historical Footnotes
San Francisco Reclamation
San Francisco Reclamation
San Francisco Reclamation
Filling in Yerba Buena Cove
“So much of San Francisco is its relationship to the water."
- Archeologist James Delgado
The bones of the Gold Rush ships (over 40 known) lie beneath the streets of the Embarcadero and Financial District.
Launched in 1818, the three-masted sailing vessel, that the Candace, was buried in mud and sand 168 years at Spear and Folsom Streets. Hugo sees the Candace - cut in two pieces and currently stored on Pier 50 - could be part of a rebirth of the Central Waterfront -
not unlike Fort Bragg and the blue whale
Barrier Island Resilience
San Francisco Reclamation
San Francisco Reclamation
Adapting
Florida’s powerful Calusa natives, whose civilization thrived in the region for over 2,000 years, faced constant sea level fluctuations and storms. Evidence of their fishing and building adaptations can teach us about dealing with coastal change.
Hugo becomes intrigued by the history of Blind Key when he 'discovers' the Calusa watercourt buried in the mangroves.
The fictional barrier island of Blind Key is only a few miles south of Cayo Costa where the historical Hurricane Ian made its Florida landfall in September of 2022