Pensacola Pass, separating mainland Florida from Santa Rosa Island

Santa Rosa Island, Florida

Santa Rosa Island[p] is a 40-mile barrier island located in the U.S. state of Florida, thirty miles east of the Alabama state border...

, is the mouth of Pensacola Bay

Pensacola Bay

Pensacola Bay is a bay located in the northwestern part of Florida, United States, known as the Florida Panhandle.The bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, is located in Escambia County and Santa Rosa County, adjacent to the city of Pensacola, Florida, and is about 13 miles long and 2.5 miles ...

.
Pensacola Pass forms a water passage that connects Pensacola Bay with the Gulf of Mexico

Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...

 to the south, in the U.S. state of Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

, east of the Alabama/Florida state line. The surrounding area is heavily developed, with high-rise condominium

Condominium

A condominium, or condo, is the form of housing tenure and other real property where a specified part of a piece of real estate is individually owned while use of and access to common facilities in the piece such as hallways, heating system, elevators, exterior areas is executed under legal rights...

s. However, there are nearby beach-front parks, with Fort Pickens

Fort Pickens

Fort Pickens is a pentagonal historic United States military fort on Santa Rosa Island in the Pensacola, Florida, area. It is named after American Revolutionary War hero Andrew Pickens. The fort was completed in 1834 and remained in use until 1947...

 on the eastern side of Pensacola Pass.

Description

Pensacola Pass is a waterway connecting the Gulf to Pensacola Bay, to allow ships and boats to travel between the two. During the daily flood tide

Flood Tide

Flood Tide is an adventure novel by Clive Cussler. This is the 14th book featuring the author’s primary protagonist, Dirk Pitt. He must rescue illegal immigrants from a Chinese tycoon and locate the bones of the Peking Man, the famous lost example of Homo erectus...

, water enters Pensacola Pass from the Gulf of Mexico.

2010 Gulf oil spill

Following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

Deepwater Horizon oil spill

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill is an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico which flowed unabated for three months in 2010, and continues to leak fresh oil. It is the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry...

 (called the "Gulf oil spill"), the entrance to Pensacola Pass was closed,
with a floating barrier system in June 2010, to control tidal flow of oil entering from the Gulf of Mexico. The daily high tide

High Tide

High Tide was a band formed in 1969 by Tony Hill , Simon House , Peter Pavli and Roger Hadden .-History:...

 was causing oil-contaminated water to enter Pensacola Bay

Pensacola Bay

Pensacola Bay is a bay located in the northwestern part of Florida, United States, known as the Florida Panhandle.The bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, is located in Escambia County and Santa Rosa County, adjacent to the city of Pensacola, Florida, and is about 13 miles long and 2.5 miles ...

. The barrier system is designed to allow boats to travel through Pensacola Pass, during the outflowing tide, but close during the rising tide.