Santa Barbara Island
Encyclopedia
Channel Islands of California
The Channel Islands of California are a chain of eight islands located in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Southern California along the Santa Barbara Channel in the United States of America...
archipelago
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. It is located about 38 miles (61.2 km) off the Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
coast from the Palos Verdes Peninsula
Palos Verdes
Palos Verdes is a name often used to refer to a group of coastal cities in the Palos Verdes Hills on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, within southwestern Los Angeles County in the U.S...
, near Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
in Ventura County, California
Ventura County, California
Ventura County is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. It is located on California's Pacific coast. It is often referred to as the Gold Coast, and has a reputation of being one of the safest populated places and one of the most affluent places in the country...
.
With a total area of about 640 acres (2.6 km²) it is the smallest of the eight Channel Islands. It is the southern-most island in the Channel Islands National Park
Channel Islands National Park
- External links :* Official site: * *...
. The highest peak on the island is Signal Hill, at 634 feet (193 m).
While in Ventura County, the island is defined by the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
as Block 3012, Block Group 3, Census Tract
Census tract
A census tract, census area, or census district is a geographic region defined for the purpose of taking a census. Usually these coincide with the limits of cities, towns or other administrative areas and several tracts commonly exist within a county...
29.10 of Santa Barbara County, California
Santa Barbara County, California
Santa Barbara County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, on the Pacific coast. As of 2010 the county had a population of 423,895. The county seat is Santa Barbara and the largest city is Santa Maria.-History:...
. According to the 2000 census
United States Census, 2000
The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...
the island is uninhabited and has a total land area of 2.625 km² (1.0136 sq mi).
Like most of the Channel Islands, it can be seen from the mainland on exceptionally clear days (usually in winter).
Geology
While the island is not a volcano it is composed primarily of MioceneMiocene
The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...
volcanic rocks (basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
) interbedded with marine sediments.
The steep wave-cut cliffs of its shoreline indicate that this is one of the younger Channel Islands. It exhibits at least six marine terraces; evidence of repeated tectonic uplift and subsidence (so called porpoising). Arch Point, on the north-east shore of the island is a 130 ft (39.6 m) arch causd by wave erosion of fault weakened rock.
Offshore, there are two named rocks: Shag Rock off the northerly shore (1 acres (4,046.9 m²)) and Sutil Island off the southwest end (12 acres (48,562.3 m²)).
History
The first European visitor to the Channel Islands was Portuguese explorer Juan Rodriguez CabrilloJuan Rodríguez Cabrillo
Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo was a Portuguese explorer noted for his exploration of the west coast of North America on behalf of Spain. Cabrillo was the first European explorer to navigate the coast of present day California in the United States...
in 1542. He made no specific mention of this island.
Sixty years later, the island was named by Spanish explorer Sebastian Vizcaino
Sebastián Vizcaíno
Sebastián Vizcaíno was a Spanish soldier, entrepreneur, explorer, and diplomat whose varied roles took him to New Spain, the Philippines, the Baja California peninsula, the California coast and Japan.-Early career:...
, who visited the island on December 4, 1602, the feast day dedicated to Saint Barbara
Saint Barbara
Saint Barbara, , Feast Day December 4, known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara, was an early Christian saint and martyr....
.
In December 1934, the steam-schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
California spent a week anchored off Santa Barbara Island, processing blue
Blue Whale
The blue whale is a marine mammal belonging to the suborder of baleen whales . At in length and or more in weight, it is the largest known animal to have ever existed....
, fin
Fin Whale
The fin whale , also called the finback whale, razorback, or common rorqual, is a marine mammal belonging to the suborder of baleen whales. It is the second longest whale and the sixth largest living animal after the blue whale, bowhead whale, and right whales, growing to nearly 27 metres long...
, and sperm whale
Sperm Whale
The sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus, is a marine mammal species, order Cetacea, a toothed whale having the largest brain of any animal. The name comes from the milky-white waxy substance, spermaceti, found in the animal's head. The sperm whale is the only living member of genus Physeter...
s caught by her two steam-driven whale catchers Hawk and Port Saunders.
Wildlife
Santa Barbara Island is home to a large sea lionSea Lion
Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear-flaps, long fore-flippers, the ability to walk on all fours, and short thick hair. Together with the fur seal, they comprise the family Otariidae, or eared seals. There are six extant and one extinct species in five genera...
rookery and seabird
Seabird
Seabirds are birds that have adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations...
nesting colonies. It is also home to the largest breeding colony for Xantus's Murrelet
Xantus's Murrelet
Xantus's Murrelet is a small seabird found in the California Current system in the Pacific Ocean. This auk breeds on islands off California and Mexico...
, a threatened seabird species. Xantus's murrelet is listed as vulnerable because so much of its breeding takes place on such a small and isolated island.
Santa Barbara Island live-forever (Dudleya traskiae
Dudleya traskiae
Dudleya traskiae is a rare succulent plant known by the common name Santa Barbara Island liveforever. This dudleya is endemic to Santa Barbara Island, one of the Channel Islands of California, where it grows on rocky bluffs. The plant has a basal rosette of flat, spade-shaped fleshy leaves up to 15...
) is a succulent plant endemic to the island.
See also
- List of islands of California
- Coastal islands of Alta and Baja CaliforniaCoastal islands of Alta and Baja CaliforniaThis is a list of notable Coastal islands of the Californias - coastal islands west of California and the Baja California Peninsula in the Pacific Ocean. California is in the United States; and the Baja California Peninsula includes the states of Baja California Sur and Baja California in Mexico...