Isla Natividad is an

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

6 km west off

Punta Eugenia Punta Eugenia is a headland in the municipality of Mulegé in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. It marks the western tip of the Vizcaíno Peninsula, making it the westernmost point on the mainland of the state. It belongs to the larger a ...

, the northwestern

headland A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, Jo ...

of the

Mexican state A Mexican State (), officially the Free and Sovereign State (), is a constituent federative entity of Mexico according to the Constitution of Mexico. Currently there are 31 states, each with its own constitution, government, state governor, a ...

Baja California Sur Baja California Sur, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California Sur, is a state in Mexico. It is the 31st and last state to be admitted, in 1974. It is also the second least populated Mexican state and the ninth-largest state by ...

. 200 meters off its northwestern end lies Roca María at , with an area of 0.074 km². Isla Natividad is separated from the mainland at Punta Eugenia by Canal de Dewey (Dewey's Channel), and from

Cedros Island Cedros Island (''Isla de Cedros'', "island of cedars" in Spanish (language), Spanish) is an island in the Pacific Ocean belonging to the state of Baja California, Mexico. The dry and rocky island had a population of 1,350 in 2005 and has an area o ...

(

Baja California Baja California, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California, is a state in Mexico. It is the northwesternmost of the 32 federal entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of B ...

), which is 15 km to the north, by Canal de Keller (Canal Kellett). The island is part of Bahía Tortugas ''delegación'' of

Mulegé municipality Mulegé is the northernmost municipalities of Mexico, municipality of the Mexico, Mexican States of Mexico, state of Baja California Sur. It is the largest municipality by area in Mexico, with an area of 33,092.20 km2 (12,777 sq mi). In th ...

. It is 8.655 km² in area. At the 2001 census, the island had a population of 384, centered in Natividad, a community of

abalone Abalone ( or ; via Spanish , from Rumsen language, Rumsen ''aulón'') is a common name for any small to very large marine life, marine gastropod mollusc in the family (biology), family Haliotidae, which once contained six genera but now cont ...

lobster Lobsters are Malacostraca, malacostracans Decapoda, decapod crustaceans of the family (biology), family Nephropidae or its Synonym (taxonomy), synonym Homaridae. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on th ...

, and

clam Clam is a common name for several kinds of bivalve mollusc. The word is often applied only to those that are deemed edible and live as infauna, spending most of their lives halfway buried in the sand of the sea floor or riverbeds. Clams h ...

fishermen, at the southeastern end (). Connection to the mainland is facilitated by an

airstrip An aerodrome, airfield, or airstrip is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for public or private use. Aerodromes in ...

. There is a

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

in the northern part.

Geography and ecology

It has steep rocky shores fringed by rocks and

kelp Kelps are large brown algae or seaweeds that make up the order (biology), order Laminariales. There are about 30 different genus, genera. Despite its appearance and use of photosynthesis in chloroplasts, kelp is technically not a plant but a str ...

except for a small sandy beach towards the mainland. The island is barren and hilly with a peak 150 m high rising near its center. The

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

consists mainly of a dense cover of ''

Mesembryanthemum crystallinum ''Mesembryanthemum crystallinum'' (the common, 'crystalline' or 'crystallinum' iceplant, or simply 'iceplant') is a species of Annual plant, annual/perennial, Succulent plant, succulent flowering plant in the ''Mesembryanthemum'' genus of the Aiz ...

'' and '' M. nodiflorum'',

cacti A cactus (: cacti, cactuses, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae (), a family of the order Caryophyllales comprising about 127 genera with some 1,750 known species. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, ...

, and small shrubs. There are no

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

plants or animals on Natividad due to its proximity to the mainland (it was probably part of the mainland several times during the

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...

s, when

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

s were lower). However, ''

Mammillaria pondii ''Cochemiea pondii'' is a species of ''Cochemiea'' found in Mexico. Description ''Cochemiea pondii'' grows initially as a solitary plant and later forms small groups. Its cylindrical shoots can reach in length and in diameter. The conically arra ...

'' and a little-researched

Opuntioideae Opuntioideae is a subfamily of the cactus family, Cactaceae. It contains 15 genera divided into five tribes. The subfamily encompasses roughly 220–250 species, and is geographically distributed throughout the New World from Canada, to Argentina ...

cactus, as well as ''Mentzelia hirsutissima'' var. ''nesiotes'' are found in few other places. Native land

vertebrate Vertebrates () are animals with a vertebral column (backbone or spine), and a cranium, or skull. The vertebral column surrounds and protects the spinal cord, while the cranium protects the brain. The vertebrates make up the subphylum Vertebra ...

s are few, including the

deer mouse ''Peromyscus'' is a genus of rodents. They are commonly referred to as deer mice or deermice, not to be confused with the chevrotain or "mouse deer". They are New World mice only distantly related to the common house and laboratory mouse, ''Mu ...

Peromyscus maniculatus ''Peromyscus maniculatus'', the eastern deermouse, is a rodent native to eastern North America. It is a species of the genus ''Peromyscus'', a closely related group of New World rats and mice, New World mice often called "deermice". When former ...

'' and some

lizard Lizard is the common name used for all Squamata, squamate reptiles other than snakes (and to a lesser extent amphisbaenians), encompassing over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most Island#Oceanic isla ...

Seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adaptation, adapted to life within the marine ecosystem, marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent ...

s – namely

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 ...

– and

seals Seals may refer to: * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impress an emblem, used as a means of a ...

use the island as a breeding and resting site. Isla Natividad is one of the southernmost breeding locations of

Cassin's auklet Cassin's auklet (''Ptychoramphus aleuticus'') is a small, chunky seabird that ranges widely in the North Pacific. It is the only species placed in the genus ''Ptychoramphus''. It nests in small burrows and because of its presence on well studied ...

and a main breeding site for

black-vented shearwater The black-vented shearwater (''Puffinus opisthomelas'') is a species of seabird endemic to islands off of the Pacific coast of Mexico and the Gulf of California. It is a smaller shearwater, with a length of 30–38 cm, 76–89 cm wings ...

Restoration

Between 1997 and 2001, Conservacion de Islas removed introduced goat, ''Capra hircus'', domestic sheep ''Ovis aries'', domestic cats ''Felis catus'', domestic dog ''Canis familiaris'', from the island to primarily benefit the black-vented shearwater ''Puffinus opisthomelas''.

References

{{coord, 27, 52, 33, N, 115, 11, 05, W, type:isle_source:dewiki, display=title

External links

Conservación de Islas website
Islands of Baja California Sur Mulegé Municipality