The Channel Islands
| Anacapa Island Anacapa is part of the Channel Islands archipelago (island chain), and is part of the Channel Islands National Park. It is the smallest of the northern islands. The island is actually composed of three islets. Anacapa is the only one of the Channel Islands to have a non-Spanish-derived name. Anacapa comes from the Chumash word eneepah, meaning mirage island. | | | | San Miguel Island San Miguel Island is the westernmost of California's Channel Islands and the sixth-largest of the eight at 9,325 acres. The island, at its furthest extent, is 8 miles long and 3.7 miles wide.
San Miguel is part of Channel Islands National Park and lies within Santa Barbara County. This island receives northwesterly winds and severe weather from the open ocean. The cold and nutrient-rich water surrounding the island is home to a diverse array of sea life that are not found on any of the southern islands.Submerged rocks make the nearly 28-mile coastline a mariner's nightmare.
Rough seas and risky landings did not daunt the Chumash who lived there, nor did they deter the first European explorer, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, in 1542. It is also rumored be the burial place of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo; there is a monument there in his honor. Ranchers raised sheep from 1850 to 1948. Later, the Navy used the island for a bombing range.Point Bennett, the island's western beach, often plays host to as many as six different species of pinnepeds. The island also host a subspecies of the Island Fox, although scientists fear they may be extinct. | |
Santa Cruz Island
Santa Cruz Island is the largest privately owned island off the continental United States. The island, located off the coast of California, is 22 miles long and from two to six miles wide. It is part of the northern group of the Channel Islands of California, and is the largest of the eight islands in the chain. Santa Cruz Island is located within Santa Barbara County. The coastline has steep cliffs, gigantic sea caves, coves, and sandy beaches. A central valley splits the island along the Santa Cruz Island Fault, with volcanic rock on the north and older sedimentary rock on the south. Three-fourths of Santa Cruz has been owned by The Nature Conservancy since 1987, when it was willed to that group by owner Carey Stanton. The remaining fourth once belonged to the Gherini family and is now part of the Channel Islands National Park. Santa Cruz boasts the most diverse of habitats in the sanctuary.
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Santa Rosa Island
Santa Rosa Island is the second largest of the Channel Islands of California and is part of Channel Islands National Park. Santa Rosa is located about 26 miles off the coast of Santa Barbara, California in Santa Barbara County. It is occupied by rolling hills, deep canyons, a coastal lagoon and beaches adorned with sand dunes and driftwood. The Chumash, an American Indian people who lived in the Channel Islands at the time of European contact, called the driftwood wima because channel currents brought ashore logs from which they built tools (plank canoes). During the last ice age it, and the other three northern Channel Islands, were conjoined into Santa Rosa, a single island that was only five miles off the coast of mainland California. Archeologists have discovered the remains of 13,000 year-old Arlington Springs Woman, among the oldest human remains in the Americas, on Santa Rosa Island. Pygmy mammoths (Mammuthus exilis) have also been excavated there. A variety of the Torrey Pines grows exclusively on the island. If it were considered as a separate species, it could have once been one of the rarest pine in the world. However, the population has grown from about 100 trees in the early 20th century to over 2000 trees today. The Island Oak is native to the island as well |
San Clemente Island San Clemente Island is the southernmost of the Channel Islands of California. It is owned and operated by the United States Navy, and is a part of Los Angeles County. Archeologists have found traces of human occupation on the San Clemente Island dating back 10,000 years, a remarkable figure for an island 55 nautical miles out to sea, but consistent with results on other Channel Islands. Later inhabitants left trade materials from the northern islands and from the mainland, including Coso obsidian from the California desert. It has not been established what tribe the recent inhabitants belonged to, although the Tongva, who are well known from Santa Catalina Island, are the most likely candidates. The Chumash, who occupied the northern Channel Islands, may have influenced the inhabitants.The island was named by Spanish explorer Sebastian Vizcaino, who spotted it on November 23, 1602, Saint Clement's feast day. It was used by ranchers, fishermen, and smugglers during the 19th century and into the 20th century. The city of San Clemente in Orange County, California is named after the island. The U.S. Navy acquired the island in 1934. It is the Navy's only remaining ship-to-shore live firing range and is the center of the integrated air/land/sea San Clemente Island Range Complex. It is an active sonar base and has a $21 million simulated embassy for commando training. The San Clemente Island Loggerhead Shrike is an endangered species that the Navy is taking steps to protect along with the San Clemente Island Fox. Feral goats roamed the island for centuries, reaching a population of 11,000 in 1972, when their effect on indigenous species was realized. By 1980 the population had been reduced to 4,000. A plan for shooting remaining goats was blocked in court by the Fund for Animals, so the goats were removed with nets and helicopters. The San Clemente Goat is a recognized breed of domestic goat. The coves around the island are visited by divers attracted by the abundant sea life, including sea lions, lobsters, hydrocoral and kelp forests.
| | | | San Nicholas Island
San Nicolas Island is the most remote of California's Channel Islands. The island is currently controlled by the United States Navy and is used as a weapons testing and training facility. San Nicolas was originally the home of the NicoleŅo people, who were probably related to the Tongva of the mainland and Santa Catalina Island. It was named for Saint Nicholas by Spanish explorer Sebastin VizcaĢno after he sighted the island on St. Nick's feast day (December 6) in 1602. The NicoleŅos were evacuated in the early 19th century by the padres of the California mission system after a series of conflicts with Aleutian and Russian hunter-traders. Within a few years of their removal from the island, the NicoleŅo people and their unique language became extinct. |
Santa Barbara Santa Barbara Island is the smallest of the eight Channel Islands of California and is part of Channel Islands National Park. Santa Barbara Island is part of Santa Barbara County. The island is formed by underwater volcanic activity. Offshore, there are two named rocks, Shag Rock off the northerly shore, and Sutil Island off the southwest end. These huge rocks are home to a large sea lion rookery and seabird nesting colonies. Santa Barbara Island Live-Forever (Dudleya traskiae) is a succulent plant only endemic to the island.
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Santa Catalina
Santa Catalina Island, often called Catalina Island, is a rocky island and is the only Channel Island to have a permanent civilian settlement and urbanization. Most of the 3,000 residents live in the resort city of Avalon. Most of the island is owned by the Catalina Island Conservancy. Prior to the modern era the island was inhabited by people of the Tongva tribe, who also lived in the area of Los Angeles, had villages near present day San Pedro and Playa del Rey, and who regularly traveled back and forth to Catalina for trade. The Tongva called the island Pimu or Pimungna.The first European to ever set foot on the island was the Spanish explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo. This happened on October 7, 1542. He claimed the island for Spain and christened it San Salvador. Another Spanish explorer, Sebastian Vizcaino, rediscovered the island on the eve of Saint Catherine's day (November 24) in 1602. He renamed it Santa Catalina. During the following 300 years, the island served as home or base of operation for all sorts of visitors, from Russian otter hunters to Spanish smugglers to Chinese pirates. Franciscan monks tried to build a mission there, but failed due to the lack of fresh water on the island. The native population was mostly wiped out during 19th century. Catalina Island experienced a brief period of gold rush in 1860s, but no gold was found, and ultimately those early mining attempts were abandoned. By the end of 19th century, the island was almost uninhabited except for a few cattle herders. The sons of Phineas Banning bought the island in 1891 and established the Santa Catalina Island Company to develop it as a resort. Their efforts were set back on November 29, 1915 when a fire burned half of Avalon's buildings, including six hotels and several clubs. World War I also hampered tourism, and the Banning brothers were forced to sell the island. William Wrigley, Jr. bought Catalina Island in 1919 and devoted himself to preserving and promoting it. In 1921 he sold lots for building in the town of Avalon. The tourism industry was encouraged by the construction of a beautiful Art Deco dance hall, called the Casino, in 1929. Its upstairs dance floor has a capacity of over 6,000 dancers, and sits above the glamorous Avalon Theater, which seats 1,150. While the theater shows movies almost exclusively, it has the capabilities to host theatrical productions as well. The Casino's name derives from a more traditional Italian definition of casino, meaning social gathering place; the building has never served as a gambling establishment. From 1927 through 1937 pottery and tile were made on the island, and these items are now collectible. The Chicago Cubs, also owned by Wrigley, used the island for the team's spring training. During World War II, the island was closed to tourists and used as a military training facility. [1] Catalina's airport, the "Airport in the Sky" (AVX), was completed in 1946. The 3,250-foot runway sits on a mountaintop, 1,602 feet above sea level. Up until the time of the airport's construction, the only air service to the island was provided by seaplanes. In 1975, Philip Wrigley deeded the Wrigley shares in the Santa Catalina Island Company to the Catalina Island Conservancy that he had helped create. It now owns the vast majority of the island. A herd of American Bison roamed the island for many decades, supposedly first imported in 1924 for the silent film version of Zane Grey's Western tale "The Vanishing American." Boars, brought over as game, also ran free. The island also maintains a small population of Island Foxes, an endangered endemic species. About 400 species of native plants grow on the island, including the endangered Santa Cruz Island Rock Cress (Sibara filifolia). Several species of plants are found only on Catalina Island, including: Cliff Spurge (Euphorbia misera), Island Cherry (Prunus ilicifolia ssp. lyonii) and Catalina Ironwood (Lyonothamnus floribundus ssp. floribundus). Some of these plants are protected in the island's Wrigley Botanical Gardens. In the waters surrounding the island, there are also lots of fish like garibaldi, blacksmiths, opal eyes and many more. The Conservancy is tasked with the responsibility of maintaining the island's natural state. It is eradicating invasive weeds and removing non-native animals such as boars. Some bison are occasionally removed to control their population, as they have destroyed much of the original, native plant life on the island. During the past few years, most of the bison were relocated to the mainland. For example, in December 2004, the Morongo Band of Cahuilla/Mission Indians donated $75,000 to relocate 104 bison to South Dakota. As of September 2005, about 125 bison still remain, and this number is expected to stay unchanged, since they are a major tourist attraction. | | |
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