The Channel Islands are absolutely beautiful. I knew it was going to be an awesome adventure when on the ferry ride to theisland we were camping on we encountered a very large pod of dolphins. This was the most dolphins I have ever see in my life and the boat captain said that this was a very small pod. The water was crystal clear, a lot different then the ocean I am use to in New Jersey. We arrived on the island of Santa Cruz midday and it was stunning. The rocky beach was full of life, sea urchin, starfish, hermit crabs, and plenty of fish. I could not believe my eyes I felt like I was at an aquarium. This could not be real life. We unloaded the ferry and started to walk towards are campsite, a nice mile hike. On the way we passed a huge eucalyptus trees and little foxes that were so cute. Nothing on this island could make you unhappy. We then learned that people lived on this island, the land was donated to the National Park Service but the residents still had some time to live there. That is simply amazing, I am jealous of whoever gets to live in such a beautiful place. Once we had our campsite set up we grab a little to eat and then as a group we went on to explore the island. Every over look was absolutely mind blowing. I felt like I was in another country, there was huge limestone cliffs that made you feel like you were staring at the coast of Ireland and extremely secluded coves that would be perfect to harbor a pirate.
On our hike we talked about the history and characteristics of the island. The island has been in use way before the west was settle as there is evidence of use by the Native Americans. It was officially named Santa Cruz in 1792 and in 1857 sheep ranching begun on the island. In 1980 the land was donated and turned into a National Park but ranching continued on the island until 1990. In 2007 all mammals that were not endemic to the island were removed. This left the island fox. The island fox has no natural predators and also less animals to prey on since it is on the island and because of this it has evolve to be about 20% smaller than their mainland relatives. The opposite is with the island scrub jay, they have evolved to be 30% larger because they have no predators and a lot more food then on the mainland. That was awesome to learn about because it was exactly what we have been learning about all of our lives with Darwin and evolution but it was happening a lot closer to home. Another beautiful thing about the island were their kelp forests, at first they seem like ugly plants ruining the crystal clear water but when you take a closer look the forest are full of fish and other sea creatures that depend of the forest to survive. We also learned that the Native Americans used this kelp as a very important food source in their diets.
It was sad when we had to leave, the views were spectacular and the amount of wildlife that I saw will be hard to beat. The ferry ride back was even more exciting then the ride there. the pod of
dolphins were back and their size had tripled. They were extremely playful just in our wake and riding with us for the entire length of the cruise back to the mainland. For the time I was there I felt like I was in a dream. It was definitely the most beautiful place we have been on so far and most likely the entire trip.
Picture Citations:
"Limestone Cliff." Anthony Sarnoski. 2011.
"Channel Island Fox." Mark Holden. Web. 2007.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/theholdensphotos/1176199831/lightbox/
"Common Dolphin." Anthony Sarnoski. 2011.
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