Santa Barbara Island (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

: ''Isla de Santa Bárbara'';

Tongva The Tongva ( ) are an Indigenous peoples of California, Indigenous people of California from the Los Angeles Basin and the Channel Islands of California, Southern Channel Islands, an area covering approximately . In the precolonial era, the peop ...

: ''Tchunashngna'') is a small island of the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...

in Southern

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. It is protected within

Channel Islands National Park Channel Islands National Park is a national park of the United States, which consists of five of the eight Channel Islands off the coast of California. Although the islands are close to the shore of the densely populated state, they have been ...

, and its marine ecosystem is part of the

Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary The Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary is a sanctuary off the coast of Santa Barbara and Ventura counties in Southern California south of San Francisco and north of Los Angeles. It was designated on October 2, 1980, by the Nati ...

. Public passenger access to Santa Barbara Island is provided by the

Island Packers Island Packers is an American passenger ferry service that operates scheduled trips between Channel Islands National Park and mainland California. The company began service in 1968. In January 2024, Island Packers entered a new 10-year contra ...

ferry service.

Geography

The island is located about from the

Palos Verdes Peninsula The Palos Verdes Peninsula () is a peninsular subregion of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, located within southwestern Los Angeles County, California. It is often called simply "Palos Verdes", and is made up of a group of cities in the Palos ...

coast of Los Angeles County,

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

, (near

Ventura County Ventura County () is a county located 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 ...

and west of

Greater Los Angeles Greater Los Angeles is the most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. state of California, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino County and Riverside County in the eas ...

). With a total area of about 1 square mile (), it is the smallest of the eight Channel Islands. It is the southernmost island in the

. The highest peak on the island is Signal Hill, at . Although closer to mainland

and

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...

, the island is part of

Santa Barbara County Santa Barbara County, officially the County of Santa Barbara (), is a county located in Southern California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 448,229. The county seat is Santa Barbara, and the largest city is Santa M ...

(

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

Block 3012, Block Group 3,

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 ...

29.10). It is the only one of the four southern

included in the

, which also encompasses all four northern islands. As of the 2000 census the island is uninhabited and has a total land area of . The island is so small that it cannot usually be seen from the mainland, except on clear days (usually in winter). At sunset the island is a backlit silhouette.

Geology

While the island is not a volcano, it is composed primarily of

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

volcanic rocks (

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

) 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 caused by wave erosion of fault weakened rock. Offshore, there are two named rocks:

Sutil Island Sutil Island, formerly known as Gull Island, is a 13-acre rocky islet in the Channel Islands National Park, California, United States. It is named after a ship of the Dionisio Alcalá Galiano, Galiano expedition of 1792. It is located 0.4 miles s ...

off the southwest end () and Shag Rock off the northerly shore () .

History

Native American peoples, probably the

Chumash Chumash may refer to: *Chumash (Judaism), a Hebrew word for the Pentateuch, used in Judaism *Chumash people, a Native American people of southern California *Chumashan languages, Indigenous languages of California See also

* Pentateuch (dis ...

and

, occupied Santa Barbara Island periodically for millennia. Archaeological sites dating to as much as 4,000 years ago have been documented on the island, which may have served as a stopover or refuge point for voyagers between the mainland and the other Channel Islands. The island was named by Spanish explorer

Sebastián Vizcaíno Sebastián Vizcaíno (c. 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 ...

, who sighted the island on 4 December 1602, the

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 does n ...

dedicated to

Saint Barbara Saint Barbara (; ; ; ), known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara, was an Early Christianity, early Christian Greek saint and martyr. There is no reference to her in the authentic early Christian writings nor in the origin ...

. The

United States Coast Survey United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

surveyed the island in the 1850s.

Squatting Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there wer ...

fishermen and seal hunters occupied the island, including H. Bay Webster near Webster Point, until the federal government leased the island to J.G. Howland in July 1909 for a period of five years. Alvin Hyder assumed the next five-year lease. From 1916 onwards, the island was occupied by the Hyder brothers, Alvin, Clarence and Cleve, with their families. They raised sheep until departing the island in 1922. The only other individuals to lease the island, before it became part of the national monument in 1938, were by Arthur McLelland and Harry Cupit from 1929 to 1932. In 1852,

Charles Melville Scammon Charles Melville Scammon (1825–1911) was a 19th-century whaleman, naturalist, and author. He was the first to hunt the gray whales of both Laguna Ojo de Liebre and San Ignacio Lagoon, the former also known as "Scammon's Lagoon" after him. In ...

, in the brig ''Mary Helen'', hunted

northern elephant seal The northern elephant seal (''Mirounga angustirostris'') is one of two species of elephant seal (the other is the southern elephant seal). It is a member of the family Phocidae (true seals). Elephant seals derive their name from their great s ...

s and

sea lion Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear flaps, long foreflippers, the ability to walk on all fours, short and thick hair, and a big chest and belly. Together with the fur seals, they make up the family Otariidae, eared seals. ...

s on Santa Barbara Island. In December 1934, the steam-schooner ''California'' spent a week anchored off the island, processing

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...

fin A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foils that produce lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while traveling in water, air, or other fluids. F ...

, and

sperm whale The sperm whale or cachalot (''Physeter macrocephalus'') is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator. It is the only living member of the Genus (biology), genus ''Physeter'' and one of three extant species in the s ...

s caught by her two steam-driven whale catchers ''Hawk'' and ''Port Saunders''. The

United States Lighthouse Board The United States Lighthouse Board was the second agency of the U.S. federal government, under the Department of Treasury, responsible for the construction and maintenance of all lighthouses and navigation aids in the United States, between 18 ...

erected a

beacon A beacon is an intentionally conspicuous device designed to attract attention to a specific location. A common example is the lighthouse, which draws attention to a fixed point that can be used to navigate around obstacles or into port. More mode ...

on the northwest side of the island in 1928, followed by the addition of a second beacon on the southwest corner in 1934. The

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

took over servicing, and replaced the northwest tower with a steel tower, solar-powered, in 1980. From 1942 until 1946, the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

built a Coastal Lookout Station on the island, and in the 1960s they built a photo-tracking station, but had left the island by the mid-1960s.

Natural history

Fauna

Santa Barbara Island is home to a large

rookery and

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 ...

nesting colonies. It is also home to the largest breeding colony for

Scripps's murrelet Scripps's murrelet (''Synthliboramphus scrippsi'') is a small seabird found in the California Current system in the Pacific Ocean. This auk breeds on islands off California and Mexico. It is threatened by predators introduced to its breeding col ...

, a threatened seabird species. Scripps's murrelet is listed as vulnerable because so much of its breeding takes place on such a small and isolated island. Fourteen species of birds nest annually on the island. These include the

horned lark The horned lark or shore lark (''Eremophila alpestris'') is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae found across the northern hemisphere. It is known as "horned lark" in North America and "shore lark" in Europe. Taxonomy The horned lark was Sp ...

orange-crowned warbler The orange-crowned warbler (''Leiothlypis celata'') is a small songbird of the New World warbler family. Taxonomy The orange-crowned warbler was formally described in 1822 by the American zoologist Thomas Say under the binomial name ''Sylvia ce ...

, and

house finch The house finch (''Haemorhous mexicanus'') is a North American bird in the finch family. It is native to Mexico and southwestern United States, but has since been introduced to the eastern part of North America and Hawaiʻi; it is now found year-r ...

. Other birds found on the island include the

brown pelican The brown pelican (''Pelecanus occidentalis'') is a bird of the pelican family, Pelecanidae, one of three species found in the Americas and one of two that feed by diving into water. It is found on the Atlantic Coast from New Jersey to the mouth ...

Western gull The western gull (''Larus occidentalis'') is a large white-headed gull that lives on the west coast of North America and the Pacific Ocean. The western gull ranges from British Columbia, Canada, to Baja California, Mexico. It was previously con ...

storm petrel Storm petrel or stormy petrel may refer to one of two bird family (biology), families, both in the order Procellariiformes, once treated as the same family. The two families are: * Northern storm petrels (''Hydrobatidae'') are found in the No ...

Guadalupe murrelet The Guadalupe murrelet (''Synthliboramphus hypoleucus'') or 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. It is threatened by predators int ...

, and

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 International Ornithologists' Union (IOU) ado ...

Sea lion Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear flaps, long foreflippers, the ability to walk on all fours, short and thick hair, and a big chest and belly. Together with the fur seals, they make up the family Otariidae, eared seals. ...

harbor seal The harbor (or harbour) seal (''Phoca vitulina''), also known as the common seal, is a true seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. The most widely distributed species of pinniped (walruses, eared sea ...

s, and

s are found along the shoreline.

Flora

Santa Barbara Island live-forever (''Dudleya traskiae'') is a succulent plant

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 ...

to the island. A variety of St. Catherine's lace buckwheat (''Eriogonum giganteum''), ''Eriogonum giganteum'' var. ''compactum'' or Santa Barbara Island buckwheat, is endemic to and particularly rare on Santa Barbara Island.

In popular culture

* ''

California's Gold ''California's Gold'' was a public television human interest program that explores the natural, cultural, and historical features of California. The series ran for 24 seasons beginning in 1991, and was produced and hosted by Huell Howser in coll ...

'' Episode 508

References

{{authority control Channel Islands National Park Channel_Islands_of_California Islands of Southern California Islands of the Channel Islands of California Islands of Santa Barbara County, California Miocene volcanism Volcanism of California Miocene geology Paleogene California Uninhabited islands of California Islands of California