While on vacation in Oxnard, California, I took a Channel Island wildlife cruise. It took us out to Anacapa Island where we saw the Arch Rock in the photo. On the way, we were fortunate enough to see a pod of bottlenose dolphins, and at the island we saw fat sea lions lazily napping on the rocks. I always joke with my friend Donna Ward when I visit her in Oxnard that I want to do things you can’t do in Texas. Seeing dolphins and sea lions is definitely something I can’t do in Texas except maybe at Sea World in San Antonio. The only island I have been to in Texas is Galveston Island; its muddy water and sultry weather just can’t compare to the sparkling blue ocean and cool breezes in the Channel Islands. During a previous visit, Donna and I hiked around an island taking in the wildlife including an island fox, finishing with lunch on a cliff overlooking the ocean. On Catalina Island, we lunched at a café in the quaint town of Avalon and took a tour of the circular, art deco Catalina Museum with a grand ballroom from bygone days with a dance floor that was built with springs underneath to accommodate vigorous dancers. The Channel Islands have something for everyone. Let’s learn more about them.
The Channel Islands are an eight-island archipelago located within the Southern California Bight — a 426-mile-long stretch of curved coastline that runs along the west coast of the United States and Mexico — in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of California. The four Northern Channel Islands are part of the Transverse Ranges geologic province, and the four Southern Channel Islands are part of the Peninsular Ranges province. Five of the islands are within the Channel Islands National Park, and the waters surrounding these islands make up Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. The islands were inhabited as early as 13,000 years ago, the earliest paleontological evidence of humans in North America. They are the easternmost islands in the Pacific Island group.
The Chumash and Tongva Native Americans who lived later on the islands may be the descendants of the original inhabitants, but they were then displaced by Spaniards who used the islands for fishing and agriculture. The U.S. military uses the islands as training grounds, weapons test sites and as a strategic defensive location. The Channel Islands and the surrounding waters house a diverse ecosystem with many endemic species and subspecies. The islands harbor 150 unique species of plants.
Characteristics
The eight islands are split among the jurisdictions of three California counties: Santa Barbara County (four), Ventura County (two) and Los Angeles County (two). The islands are divided into two groups — the northern Channel Islands and the southern Channel Islands. The four northern Islands used to be a single landmass known as Santa Rosae.
The archipelago extends for 160 miles between San Miguel Island in the north and San Clemente Island in the south. Together, the islands’ land area totals 221,331 acres or about 346 square miles.
Five of the islands — San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, Anacapa and Santa Barbara — were made into the Channel Islands National Park in 1980. The Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary encompasses the waters six nautical miles or 6.9 miles off these islands.
Santa Catalina Island is the only one of the eight islands with a significant permanent civilian settlement — the resort city of Avalon, California, and the unincorporated town of Two Harbors. The University of Southern California also houses its USC Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies marine lab in Two Harbors.
The Channel Islands National Park mainland visitor center in Ventura Harbor received 342,000 visitors in 2014. The islands attract around 70,000 tourists a year, mostly during the summer. Visitors can travel to the islands via public boat or airplane transportation. Camping grounds are available on Anacapa, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, San Miguel and Santa Barbara Islands in the Channel Islands National Park. Attractions include whale watching, hikes, snorkeling, kayaking and camping.
Natural seepage of oil occurs at several places in the Santa Barbara Channel. Tar balls or pieces of tar in small numbers are found in the kelp and on the beaches. Native Americans used naturally occurring tar — bitumen — for a variety of purposes which include roofing, waterproofing, paving and some ceremonial purposes.
The Channel Islands at low elevations are virtually frost-free and constitute one of the few such areas in the 48 contiguous US states. It snows only rarely, on higher mountain peaks.
Earliest humans in North America
Separated from the California mainland throughout recent geological history, the Channel Islands provide the earliest evidence for human seafaring in the Americas. It is also the site of the discovery of the earliest paleontological evidence of humans in North America. The northern Channel Islands are now known to have been settled by maritime Paleo-Indian peoples at least 13,000 years ago.
The Arlington Springs Man was discovered in 1960 at Arlington Springs on Santa Rosa Island. The remains were dated to 13,000 years BP or Before Present.
The Tuqan Man was discovered on San Miguel Island in 2005. His remains were exposed by beach erosion and were preserved by University of Oregon archeologists. His age was determined to be about 10,000 years.
Archeological sites on the island provide a unique and invaluable record of human interaction with Channel Island marine and terrestrial ecosystems from the late Pleistocene to historic times. The Anacapa Island Archeological District is a 700-acre historic district that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
Indigenous peoples
Historically, the northern islands were occupied by the island Chumash, while the southern islands were occupied by the Tongva.
The earliest known Chumash village site has been discovered on Santa Rosa Island. It belongs to the period around 7,500 BP. Soon after, the population density on the islands begins to rise. Significant increase in fish and marine mammal exploitation has been observed.
Around 500 BC, there was significant evolution in technology and increasing reliance on fishing. The circular shell fishhooks were increasingly used. Mortars and pestles were manufactured on San Miguel Island for trade with the mainland.
A new type of boat, the tomol — a frameless, planked canoe — appeared on the islands around 500 AD. Also, bow and arrows were introduced at that time.
The Nicoleño
(1800, est.) The Nicoleño were an Uto-Aztecan Native American people who lived on San Nicolas Island in California. The population was "left devastated by a massacre in 1811 by sea otter hunters." The group's last surviving member was given the name Juana Maria and was born before 1811 and died in 1853. Juana Maria — better known to history as the "Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island," her native name is unknown — lived alone on San Nicolas Island from 1835 until her removal from the island in 1853, when men discovered her inside a hut made of whalebones and brush. Juana Maria's fondness for green corn, vegetables and fresh fruit caused severe attacks of dysentery. In her weakness, she fell from Nidever's porch and injured her spine. On Oct. 18, 1853, only seven weeks after arriving on the mainland, she died of dysentery in Garey, California at age 43. Before she died, Father Sanchez baptized and christened her with the Spanish name Juana Maria. She was buried in an unmarked grave on the Nidever family plot at the Santa Barbara Mission cemetery.
Aleut hunters visited the islands to hunt otters in the early 1800s. The Aleuts purportedly clashed with the native Chumash, killing many over trading disputes. Aleut interactions with the natives were detailed in Scott O'Dell's novel “Island of the Blue Dolphins” which described the indigenous peoples living on the island.
The Chumash and Tongva were removed from the islands in the early 19th century and taken to Spanish missions and pueblos on the adjacent mainland. For a century, the Channel Islands were used primarily for ranching and fishing activities, which had significant impacts on island ecosystems, including the local extinction of sea otters, bald eagles and other species. Several of the islands were used by whalers in the 1930s to hunt for sperm whales. As most of the Channel Islands are managed by federal agencies or conservation groups, the restoration of the island ecosystems has made significant progress. An example of conservation progress has been the bald eagle — which was threatened due to DDT contamination — but whose populations are now recovering. With the help of scientists from the USC Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies, the Catalina Island Fox has also recovered from a low of 100 individual foxes to over 1,500 foxes in 2018.
Occasional discussion on the status of the islands has arisen because they and the Farallon Islands were not specifically mentioned in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which ceded northern Mexico to the United States. Citing these perceived legal ambiguities, in at least two cases settlers created unrecognized Micronations there. A 1944 review by the Mexican government apparently concluded that it had no claim to them, and a 1978 maritime treaty with the U.S. formally closed the issue.
In 1972, in "a bit of political theater," 26 Brown Berets sailed to Catalina Island on tourist boats, set up a small encampment near the town of Avalon, put up a Mexican flag and claimed the island on behalf of all Chicanos, citing the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Twenty-four days later, sheriff's deputies took everyone back to the mainland.
Wildlife
The Channel Islands form part of one of the richest marine ecosystems of the world. Many unique species of plants and animals are endemic to the Channel Islands, including fauna such as the Channel Islands spotted skunk, ashy storm-petrel, Santa Cruz sheep and flora including a unique subspecies of Torrey pine.
Flora
Flora on the Channel Islands include a unique subspecies of pine, oak and the island tree mallow. Santa Rosa Island holds two groves of the Torrey pine subspecies Pinus torreyana var. insularis, which is endemic to the island. Torrey pines are the United States' rarest pine species. The islands also house many rare and endangered species of plants, including the island barberry, island rushrose and Santa Cruz Island lace pod. Giant kelp forests surround the islands and act as a source of nutrition and protection for other animals.
Invasive species — such as the Australian blue gum tree, olive tree, sweet fennel and Harding grass — threaten native species through competition for light, nutrients and water. The Australian blue gum, for example, releases toxins in its leaf litter which prevents other species of plants from growing in the soil surrounding it. The blue gum — as well as other species including the Harding grass — are much more flammable and better adapted to wildfires than native species. Earthworms — thought to have come from mainland topsoil imported for road construction — are altering the unique ecosystem and microbial communities on San Clemente Island, threatening biodiversity. In this formerly earthworm-free region, they change the distribution of plants and vegetation, making it possible for non-native plants to invade.
In popular culture
- Some scenes for the season three finale of American crime drama “Bosch” were set on Santa Cruz Island. Filming occurred on Santa Catalina Island.
- Scott O’Dell's novel for young adults titled “Island of the Blue Dolphins” is based on the story of a Nicoleño woman living alone on one of the remote Channel Islands in the 19th century.
- “The Glass Bottom Boat,” which takes place on Santa Catalina Island, is a 1966 romantic comedy starring Doris Day and Rod Taylor.
- “Catalina Caper,” which takes place on Santa Catalina Island, is a 1967 beach party/heist movie starring Tommy Kirk and featuring Little Richard.
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