San Nicolas Island ( Spanish: ''Isla de San Nicolás'';

Tongva The Tongva ( ) are an Indigenous people of California from the Los Angeles Basin and the Southern Channel Islands, an area covering approximately . Some descendants of the people prefer Kizh as an endonym that, they argue, is more historically ...

: ''Haraasnga'') is the most remote of the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

, off of

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...

, 61 miles (98 km) from the nearest point on the mainland coast. It is part of

Ventura County Ventura County () is a County (United States), county in Southern California, the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, California ...

. The 14,562 acre (58.93 km² or 22.753 sq mi) island is currently controlled by the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

and is used as a weapons testing and training facility, served by

Naval Outlying Landing Field San Nicolas Island Naval Outlying Landing Field San Nicolas Island or NOLF San Nicolas Island is a military airport located on San Nicolas Island, in Ventura County, California, United States. The airport is administered by Naval Base Ventura County and is one of s ...

. The uninhabited island is defined by the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...

as Block Group 9,

Census Tract A census tract, census area, census district or meshblock is a geographic region defined for the purpose of taking a census. Sometimes these coincide with the limits of cities, towns or other administrative areas and several tracts commonly exis ...

36.04 of

Ventura County, California Ventura County () is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, and the county seat is the city of Ventura. Ventura County comprises the Oxn ...

. The Nicoleño Native American tribe inhabited the island until 1835. As of the

2000 U.S. Census The United States census of 2000, 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 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 cen ...

, the island has since remained officially uninhabited, though the census estimates that at least 200 military and civilian personnel live on the island at any given time. The island has a small airport, though the runway is the second longest in Ventura County (slightly behind the one at the Naval Air Station Point Mugu). Additionally, there are several buildings including

telemetry Telemetry is the in situ collection of measurements or other data at remote points and their automatic transmission to receiving equipment (telecommunication) for monitoring. The word is derived from the Greek roots ''tele'', "remote", an ...

reception antennas. San Nicolas Island (27048963529)

History

Archaeological evidence suggests that San Nicolas Island has been occupied by humans for at least 10,000 years. For thousands of years, San Nicolas was the home of the Nicoleño people, who were probably related to the

of the mainland and Santa Catalina Island. It was named for

Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-day Dem ...

by Spanish explorer

Sebastián Vizcaíno Sebastián Vizcaíno (1548–1624) was a Spanish soldier, entrepreneur, explorer, and diplomat whose varied roles took him to New Spain, the Baja California peninsula, the California coast and Asia. Early career Vizcaíno was born in 154 ...

after he sighted the island on the saint's

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context do ...

(December 6) in 1602.

Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 '' Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

called the island Il'men, after the name of the

maritime fur trade The maritime fur trade was a ship-based fur trade system that focused on acquiring furs of sea otters and other animals from the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast and natives of Alaska. The furs were mostly sold in China in exc ...

ship that reached it, ''

Il’mena ''Lydia'' was a US merchant ship that sailed on maritime fur trading ventures in the early 1800s. In December 1813 it was sold to the Russian–American Company and renamed ''Il'mena'', also spelled ''Ilmena'' and ''Il'men (Russian: Ил� ...

''. The Nicoleños were evacuated in the early 19th century by the padres of the

California mission The Spanish missions in California ( es, Misiones españolas en California) comprise a series of 21 religious outposts or missions established between 1769 and 1833 in what is now the U.S. state of California. Founded by Catholic priests of ...

system. Within a few years of their removal from the island, the Nicoleño people and their unique language became extinct.

Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island

The most famous resident of San Nicolas Island was the "Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island", christened Juana Maria; her birth name was never known to anyone on the mainland. She was left behind (explanations for this vary) when the rest of the Nicoleños were moved to the mainland. She resided on the island alone for 18 years before she was found by Captain

George Nidever George Nidever (also spelled Nidiver; December 20, 1802 – March 24, 1883) was an American mountain man, explorer, fur trapper, memoirist and sailor. In the 1830s he became one of the first wave of American settlers to move to Mexican California ...

and his crew in 1853 and taken to Santa Barbara. Her story is famously fictionalized in the award-winning children's novel ''

Island of the Blue Dolphins ''Island of the Blue Dolphins'' is a 1960 children's novel by American writer Scott O'Dell, which tells the story of a 23 year-old girl named Karana, who is stranded alone for years on an island off the California coast. It is based on the true ...

'' by

Scott O'Dell Scott O'Dell (May 23, 1898 – October 15, 1989) was an American writer of 26 novels for young people, along with three novels for adults and four nonfiction books. He wrote historical fiction, primarily, including several children's novels a ...

Whaling

The steam-schooner ''California'' and its two whale catchers ''Hawk'' and ''Port Saunders'' operated off San Nicolas in 1932 and 1937, catching about 30

fin whale The fin whale (''Balaenoptera physalus''), also known as finback whale or common rorqual and formerly known as herring whale or razorback whale, is a cetacean belonging to the parvorder of baleen whales. It is the second-longest species of ceta ...

s off the island from October to early December in the former year. San Nicholas Island California military facilities

Munitions testing

San Nicolas Island was one of eight candidate sites to detonate the first

atomic bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

before White Sands Proving Ground was selected for the

Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God th ...

nuclear test. Between 1957 and 1973, and in 2004 and again in 2010, U.S. military research

rocket A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entir ...

s were launched from San Nicolas Island. The launchpad was situated at . It remains part of the Pacific Missile Range. San Nicolas Island currently serves as a detachment of Naval Base Ventura County. In addition to the Port Hueneme and

Point Mugu Point Mugu (, Chumash: ''Muwu'') is a cape or promontory within Point Mugu State Park on the Pacific Coast in Ventura County, near the city of Port Hueneme and the city of Oxnard. The name is believed to be derived from the Chumash Indian term ...

, San Nicolas Island is military-owned and operated.

Geography

Geology

Composed primarily of

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', ...

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicat ...

and

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especiall ...

, much of the island also has marine terrace deposits of

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...

age, indicating that it was probably completely submerged at that time. The entire western part of the island is covered with reddish-brown eolian dune deposits laid down during the early

Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togeth ...

. In some places these deposits are more than 10 meters deep. Small quantities of

volcanic A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plat ...

rocks (primarily

andesite Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predo ...

) exist on the southeast end of the island.Vedder, J. G., and Robert M. Norris. 1963. ''Geology of San Nicolas Island, California'' Geological Survey Professional Paper 369. United States Government Printing Office, Washington D.C., pp. 27–29. Stone available to natives for tool making on San Nicolas Island was largely limited to metavolcanic (including

porphyritic Porphyritic is an adjective used in geology to describe igneous rocks with a distinct difference in the size of mineral crystals, with the larger crystals known as phenocrysts. Both extrusive and intrusive rocks can be porphyritic, meaning a ...

metavolcanic) and metasedimentary (mainly

quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tec ...

) rock.Rosenthal, E. Jane. 1996
"San Nicolas Island Bifaces: A Distinctive Stone Tool Manufacturing Technique."
''Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology'' vol. 18 no. 2, pp. 304. The metavolcanics are found in the form of cobbles within conglomerates and cobble-bearing

mudstones Mudstone, a type of mudrock, is a fine-grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. Mudstone is distinguished from ''shale'' by its lack of fissility (parallel layering).Blatt, H., and R.J. Tracy, 1996, ''Petrology.'' ...

. This material is dense and not easily workable.

Climate

Under the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

, San Nicolas Island features a

semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi ...

(Köppen ''BSk'') with

mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...

characteristics. Winters are mild with an average temperature of in February, the coolest month and is the season where most of the precipitation falls. Summers are dry and warm with an average of in September, indicating a seasonal lag. Temperatures above are rare, occurring on 2 days per summer. The average annual precipitation is , with the wettest month being February and the driest month being August. On average, there are 36 days with measurable precipitation.

Biota

Flora

There is little ecological diversity on San Nicolas Island. The island was heavily grazed by sheep until they were removed in 1943.

Overgrazing Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods. It can be caused by either livestock in poorly managed agricultural applications, game reserves, or nature res ...

and

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is d ...

have removed much of the

topsoil Topsoil is the upper layer of soil. It has the highest concentration of organic matter and microorganisms and is where most of the Earth's biological soil activity occurs. Description Topsoil is composed of mineral particles and organic matt ...

from the island. Despite the degradation, three

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

plants are found on the island: '' Astragalus traskiae'', '' Eriogonum grande'' subspecies ''timorum'', and '' Lomatium insulare''. The dominant plant community on the island is coastal bluff

scrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It ...

, with giant coreopsis ('' Coreopsis gigantea'') and coyote brush (''

Baccharis pilularis ''Baccharis pilularis'', called coyote brush (or bush), chaparral broom, and bush baccharis, is a shrub in the family Asteraceae native to California, Oregon, Washington, and Baja California. There are reports of isolated populations in New Me ...

'') the most visible components. The few trees present today, including California fan palms ('' Washingtonia filifera'') were introduced in modern times. However, early written accounts and the remains of ancient plants in the form of

calcareous Calcareous () is an adjective meaning "mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate", in other words, containing lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of scientific disciplines. In zoology ''Calcareous'' is used as an ad ...

root casts indicate that, prior to 1860, brush covered a portion of the island.

Fauna

Island Night Lizard, San Nicolas Island, California

There are only three species of endemic land

vertebrates Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () (chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, with ...

on the island: the

island night lizard The island night lizard (''Xantusia riversiana'') is a species of night lizard native to three of the Channel Islands of California: San Nicolas Island, Santa Barbara Island, and San Clemente Island. A small number of island night lizards also ...

(''Xantusia riversiana''), deer mouse (''Peromyscus maniculatus exterus''), and island fox (''Urocyon littoralis dickeyi''). Two other reptiles, the common side-blotched lizard (''Uta stansburiana''), and the southern alligator lizard (''Elgaria multicarinatus''), were at one time thought to be endemic, but an analysis of

mitochondrial DNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial D ...

indicates that both species were most likely introduced in recent times. More than 10 endemic

molluscs Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is estim ...

are known only from San Nicolas Island. These are '' Binneya notabilis'', '' Catinella rehderi'', '' Haplotrema duranti duranti'', '' Micrarionta feralis'', '' Micrarionta micromphala'', '' M. opuntia'', '' M. sodalis'', '' Nearctula rowellii longii'', '' Sterkia clementina'', and '' Xerarionta tryoni'' (ssp. ''tryoni'' and ''hemphilli''). Large numbers of birds can be found on San Nicolas Island. Two species are of particular ecological concern: the

western gull The western gull (''Larus occidentalis'') is a large white-headed gull that lives on the west coast of North America. It was previously considered conspecific with the yellow-footed gull (''Larus livens'') of the Gulf of California. The western ...

(''Larus occidentalis'') and

Brandt's cormorant Brandt's cormorant (''Urile penicillatus'') is a strictly marine bird of the cormorant family of seabirds that inhabits the Pacific coast of North America. It ranges, in the summer, from Alaska to the Gulf of California, but the population north ...

(''Phalacrocorax penicillatus''), which are threatened by island foxes.

Conservation and Restoration

The common housecat was one of the greatest threats to the island's wildlife until they were eradicated from the island by the US Navy with the support of

Island Conservation Island Conservation is a non-profit organization with the mission to prevent extinctions by removing invasive species from islands. Island Conservation has therefore focused its efforts on islands with species categorized as Critically Endangered ...

and the

Humane Society of the United States The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is an American nonprofit organization that focuses on animal welfare and opposes animal-related cruelties of national scope. It uses strategies that are beyond the abilities of local organizations. ...

in 2009. The cats killed

cormorant Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the IOC adopted a consensus taxonomy of seven ge ...

s, gulls, and the island night lizard and competed with the endemic Island fox. The cats arrived on the island before 1952, probably brought by navy officers who worked there. All cats were relocated to a specially prepared habitat in Ramona, in

San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the f ...

with the assistance of the

.McCormack, P
Island's feral cats get home at rehab center
''San Diego Union-Tribune'' December 24, 2009. Cats were officially declared eradicated in 2012. The eradication effort took 18 months and cost $3 million.

References

External links

*

* {{Authority control Islands of the Channel Islands of California Islands of Ventura County, California Rocket launch sites in the United States Islands of Southern California Islands of California Island restoration