Channel Islands

The Central Coast of California is slowly becoming my go-to weekend travel destination, and one of my favorite places on earth. I can’t believe, as a native Californian, it has taken me this long to discover and appreciate this spectacular area, and all the incredible wildlife it has to offer! Dave and I drove up to Ventura and took the ferry over to Santa Cruz Island, which is part of the Channel Islands National Park. This is America’s least visited National Park, probably because it is quite pricey ($80 for the ferry! Yikes!) to get out there. About 20 miles off the coast, the ferry took an hour and we lucked out that it wasn’t too choppy because I am unfortunately prone to getting seasick. On our way out we passed a buoy with a GIANT Steller’s sea lion resting on it. This species is common up north- like Alaska north, and this is the very southern tip of its range. Apparently this individual hangs out on the buoy regularly, but it was a treat to get to see such an enormous fellow.

On the island there are no services- no cars, no bikes, just 25 campsites (which do have potable water and pit toilets! Luxurious!) and a handful of facilities for the rangers who live there.  The Channel Islands are home to an endangered species of fox found nowhere else- the Channel Island fox. Each island has its own unique subspecies, and I was really hoping to catch a glimpse of the Santa Cruz Island fox. I didn’t have to look far- these creatures have figured out that campers = food, and are like squirrels, running around campsites, jumping on picnic tables, and running away with any unattended food items. Heavy-duty lock boxes are provided at each picnic table, and when the foxes climbed on the table with us standing a few feet away during the middle of the day, we understood why.

The foxes are an endangered species success story. Descendants of mainland gray foxes, they have evolved on the islands for about 10,000 years with no natural predators and are quite small- the size of large house cats. Bald eagles have historically lived on the islands, though they only eat fish, seabirds, and carcasses; not live foxes.  Farming came to the islands, bringing with it DDT which began to wipe out bald eagles and non-native animals which were a food source for golden eagles, which could move in when their bald eagle competitors were declining. Golden eagles were also large enough that they easily preyed on the Island Foxes. By the late 1990’s there were only 80 foxes left on Santa Cruz Island. The National Park service and US Fish and Wildlife began an aggressive, multi-pronged approach to save the foxes.

Some of the remaining individuals were brought into a captive breeding program. The golden eagles were moved off the island and the native bald eagles were brought back in. Livestock were shipped off and the feral pigs were wiped out. Efforts continue to remove invasive plant species, such as fennel, which outcompete natives.  Foxes are now reproducing unassisted (as evidenced by the 3 baby foxes we saw! So cute!!) and are roaming the island. Of course, their interactions with campers (and human food) are not natural, but the park service makes sure to educate everyone who comes over on the ferry and make sure they are aware of the problem. It was amazing to see so many foxes!

Dave and I also went kayaking around the sea caves with Channel Island Outfitters, a great group that rents kayaks and organizes guided tours, which is what we did. Apparently the Channel Islands have the highest density of sea caves anywhere in the world! I certainly wouldn’t go into any of them without an expert who can judge the safety conditions- we got part way into one and backed out when our guide decided it was too sketchy to safely stay in. But it was amazing, going through arches and caves! There was one cave with a beach in the back they call Seal Beach, where harbor seals are often found resting. When we visited there were no animals on the beach, but two very curious young seals who swam right up and investigated us and our boats. They are so cute! We also so lots of sea lions, brown pelicans, and tons of cormorants. On the ferry back to the mainland we came across a pod of dolphins feeding on a huge school of bait fish- there were hundreds of dolphins around us, and they would come so close to the boat. What an incredible adventure, and so close to home!