Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Catalina Island

The first weekend here (post move-in) consisted of a field trip to Catalina Island with my cohort so we could get to know each other, meet some grad students further along in their studies, and find out about opportunities to do field work off campus and collaborate with outside researchers.  Actually, our first real gathering was for a full day of "quantitative boot camp" consisting of 8 hours of tutorial in using the statistics program R. THAT was a true bonding experience!  So Catalina was a cake walk after that.

When we arrived we were whisked away (slowly whisked. In a large, lumbering van) and bypassed the main touristy town of Avalon which is home to the majority of the population and visitors.  We went straight to the interior of the island, which is almost entirely controlled by the Catalina Island Conservancy who work to protect the island from man-made fire, over use, and invasive species.  Two members of our cohort have been working on the island for the last few years and gave us an excellent behind-the-scenes kind of tour along with the chief conservation officer, Carlos de la Rosa, who is also adjunct faculty at UCLA.  

Catalina is part of the Channel Islands archipelago and home to the endangered Channel Island Fox.  A few years ago they did a major captive breeding and reintroduction program after the population was nearly wiped out by canine distemper.  During this program they learned a lot about the behavior of the foxes, and one pup was born with too many health problems to be successfully released so they kept her as an "ambassador" to the public.  We got to meet her and she was adoooorable- she had short little legs, like the corgi of foxes.  

We also got to meet a bald eagle (native and a recovering population) as well as a golden eagle (non-native and a predator of the endangered foxes) who were in similar situations to the fox and wouldn't survive on their own in the wild.

Ironically, the most iconic animal on Catalina 
is the bison. A herd was brought to the island in the 1920s for a silent movie shoot, and 
because it cost so much to ship them off the island, they were left there.  (Their scene was actually cut and they never even made it into the movie!)  The bison have a long history on the island and are a major tourist draw (downtown Avalon is full of bison statues and pictures) and many places serve buffalo burgers or tacos or jerky, though there are strict rules agains actually eating the bison on the island (instead they ship all the bison meat in from farms.  Seems silly).  The herd has grown quickly and its size is naturally unchecked, and the animals were causing some serious damage to native plants and cultural sights.  The Conservancy has begun implementing an innovative birth control method through shots to keep the population down, and so far it seems to be working.  All the crazy things you learn about when you hang out with scientists!


As a group we also got to visit some of the island's lovely beaches and go on a couple of hikes.  It was great to get to know people, and find out about this amazing part of Los Angeles County that is 20 miles off the coast!

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