Santa Barbara Island is a small island located about off the
southern CaliforniaSouthern California, or SoCal, is defined as the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its population centers around three major metropolitan areas, each of which have over 3 million people; the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area with over 12 million inhabitants, the San Bernardino-Riverside...
coast from San Pedro, near
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality 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...
.
With a total area of about 640 acres (2.6 km²) it is the smallest of the eight
Channel Islands of CaliforniaThe 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...
. It is the southern-most island in the
Channel Islands National ParkChannel Islands National Park is a United States national park that consists of five of the eight Channel Islands off the coast of the U.S. state of California, in the Pacific Ocean. Although the islands are close to the shore of densely-populated Southern California, their isolation has left them...
. The highest peak on the island is Signal Hill, at 634 feet (193 m).
This island is defined by the
United States Census BureauThe 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 part of the United States Department of Commerce, the Census Bureau serves as the leading source of quality data about...
as Block 3012, Block Group 3,
Census TractA 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, CaliforniaSanta Barbara County is a county located on the Pacific coast of the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, just west of Ventura County. As of 2000 the county had a population of 399,347. The estimated total population of Santa Barbara County as of January 2006 was 421,625, according to...
.
Santa Barbara Island is a small island located about off the
southern CaliforniaSouthern California, or SoCal, is defined as the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its population centers around three major metropolitan areas, each of which have over 3 million people; the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area with over 12 million inhabitants, the San Bernardino-Riverside...
coast from San Pedro, near
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality 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...
.
With a total area of about 640 acres (2.6 km²) it is the smallest of the eight
Channel Islands of CaliforniaThe 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...
. It is the southern-most island in the
Channel Islands National ParkChannel Islands National Park is a United States national park that consists of five of the eight Channel Islands off the coast of the U.S. state of California, in the Pacific Ocean. Although the islands are close to the shore of densely-populated Southern California, their isolation has left them...
. The highest peak on the island is Signal Hill, at 634 feet (193 m).
This island is defined by the
United States Census BureauThe 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 part of the United States Department of Commerce, the Census Bureau serves as the leading source of quality data about...
as Block 3012, Block Group 3,
Census TractA 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, CaliforniaSanta Barbara County is a county located on the Pacific coast of the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, just west of Ventura County. As of 2000 the county had a population of 399,347. The estimated total population of Santa Barbara County as of January 2006 was 421,625, according to...
. According to the
2000 censusThe 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
MioceneThe Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene period and extends from about 23.03 to 5.33 million years before the present . 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...
volcanic rocks (
basaltBasalt 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.On Earth, most...
) 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 arch causd by wave erosion of fault weakened rock.
Offshore, there are two named rocks:
Shag Rock off the northerly shore (1 acre) and
Sutil Island off the southwest end (12 acres).
History
The first European visitor to the Channel Islands was Portuguese explorer
Juan Rodriguez CabrilloJuan Rodríguez Cabrillo , João Rodrigues Cabrilho in Portuguese, 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 VizcainoSebastián 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 BarbaraSaint Barbara, known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara , was a Christian saint and martyr. Although there is no reference to her in the authentic early Christian writings, nor in the original recension of Saint Jerome's martyrology, veneration of her was common from the...
.
In December 1934, the factory ship
California spent a week anchored off Santa Barbara Island, processing whales caught by her two steam-driven whale catchers.
Wildlife
Santa Barbara Island is home to a large
sea lionSea lions are any of seven species in seven genera of modern pinnipeds including one extinct species . Sea lions are characterized by the presence of external ear pinnae , long front flippers, and the ability to walk on all four flippers on land...
rookery and
seabirdSeabirds 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 MurreletXantus'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 traskiaeDudleya 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