In 1978, British amateur historian Bob Ward proposed that Whale Cove was the location where Francis Drake spent the summer of 1579 during his circumnavigation of the globe by sea. The exact location of Drake's landing spot, at which he claimed a portion of the west coast of North America as "New Albion", has been claimed to be identified by proponents of more than twenty sites. The officially recognized Drake landing site is at the Drakes Bay Historic and Archaeological District National Landmark in northern California on the coast of Marin County.