San Nicolas Island is the most remote of California's Channel Islands. It is part
of Ventura County. The 14,562 acre island is currently controlled by the
United States Navy and is used as a weapons testing and training facility,
served by Naval Outlying Field San Nicolas Island. The uninhabited island
is defined by the United States Census Bureau as Block Group 9, Census Tract
36.04 of Ventura County, California. The Nicoleño Native American tribe inhabited
the island until 1835. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the island has since
remained officially uninhabited, though the census estimates that at least 200
military and civilian personnel live on the island at any given time. The island
has a small airport and several buildings, including telemetry reception
antennas. History
San Nicolas was originally the home of the Nicoleño people, who were probably
related to the Tongva of the mainland and Santa Catalina Island. It was named
for Saint Nicholas by Spanish explorer Sebastián Vizcaíno after he sighted the
island on the saint's feast day in 1602. The Nicoleños were evacuated in the
early 19th century by the padres of the California mission system after a series
of conflicts with Russian-led Aleutian fur trappers decimated their population.
Within a few years of their removal from the island, the Nicoleño people and
their unique language became extinct. = Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island =
The most famous resident of San Nicolas Island was the "Lone Woman of San
Nicolas Island", christened Juana Maria; her birth name was never known to anyone
on the mainland. She was left behind when the rest of the Nicoleños were
moved to the mainland. She resided on the island alone for 18 years before she
was found by Captain George Nidever and his crew in 1853 and brought back to
Santa Barbara. She died seven weeks later, her system unprepared for the
different nutritional and environmental conditions on the California mainland.
Her story was the basis for Scott O'Dell's Newbery Medal-winning 1960
novel Island of the Blue Dolphins, and was also the basis for a chapter in Max
Miller's 1932 best-selling book I Cover the Waterfront.
= Whaling = The steam-schooner California and her
two whale catchers Hawk and Port Saunders operated off San Nicolas in
1932 and 1937, catching about 30 fin whales off the island from October to
early December in the former year. = Munitions testing =
San Nicolas Island was one of eight candidate sites to detonate the first
atomic bomb before White Sands Proving Ground was selected for the Trinity.
Between 1957 and 1973, and in 2004 and 2010, U.S. military research rockets
were launched from San Nicolas Island. The launchpad was situated at 33°15′N
119°30′W. It remains part of the Pacific Missile Range.
San Nicolas Island currently serves as a detachment of Naval Base Ventura County.
In addition to Port Hueneme and Point Mugu, San Nicolas Island is
military-owned and operated. Geography
= Geology = Composed primarily of Eocene sandstone
and shale, much of the island also has marine terrace deposits of Pleistocene
age, indicating that it was probably completely submerged at that time. The
entire western part of the island is covered with reddish-brown eolian dune
deposits laid down during the early Holocene. In some places these deposits
are more than 10 meters deep. Small quantities of volcanic rocks exist on
the southeast end of the island. Stone available to natives for tool
making on San Nicolas Island was largely limited to metavolcanic and
metasedimentary rock. The metavolcanics are found in the form of cobbles within
conglomerates and cobble-bearing mudstones. This material is dense and
not easily workable. = Climate =
Under the Köppen climate classification, San Nicolas Island features a semi-arid
climate with mediterranean characteristics. Winters are mild with
an average temperature of 55.3 °F in February, the coolest month and is the
season where most of the precipitation falls. Summers are dry and warm with an
average of 64.7 °F in September, indicating a seasonal lag. Temperatures
above 90 °F are rare, occurring on 2 days per summer. The average annual
precipitation is 8.58 inches, with the wettest month being February and the
driest month being August. On average, there are 36 days with measurable
precipitation. = Biota =
There is little ecological diversity on San Nicolas Island. The island was
heavily grazed by sheep until they were removed in 1943. Overgrazing and erosion
have removed much of the topsoil from the island. Despite the degradation,
three endemic plants are found on the island: Astragalus traskiae, Eriogonum
grande subspecies tamorum, and Lomatium insulare.
The dominant plant community on the island is coastal bluff scrubland, with
giant coreopsis, Coreopsis gigantea and coyote brush, Baccharis pilularis the
most visible components. The few trees present today, including California fan
palms, Washingtonia filifera, were introduced in modern times. However,
early written accounts and the remains of ancient plants in the form of
calcareous root casts indicate that, prior to 1860, brush covered a portion
of the island. There are only three species of endemic
land vertebrates on the island; the island night lizard, Xantusia
riversiana, deer mouse, Peromyscus maniculatus exterus, and island fox,
Urocyon littoralis dickeyi. Two other reptiles, the common side-blotched
lizard, Uta stansburiana, and the southern alligator lizard Elgaria
multicarinatus, were at one time thought to be endemic, but an analysis of
mitochondrial DNA indicates that both species were most likely introduced in
recent times. Large numbers of birds can be found on
San Nicolas Island. Two species are of particular ecological concern: the
western gull, Larus occidentalis, and Brandt's cormorant, Phalacrocorax
penicillatus, both of which are threatened by feral cats and island
foxes. The common housecat was one of the
greatest threats to the island's wildlife until they were eradicated from
the island. The cats killed cormorants, gulls, and the island night lizard. The
Navy removed the cats in order to protect the birds' nesting areas. The
cats arrived on the island before 1952, probably brought by navy officers that
worked there. Many cats have been relocated to a specially prepared
habitat in Ramona, in San Diego County, where they can live indefinitely. It is
believed that there were no cats left by June 2010, but they weren't officially
declared eradicated until 2012. Eradication efforts took 18 months and
cost $3 million. References
External links CNIC NBVC website
Rocket launches at San Nicolas Island GlobalSecurity.org: San Nicolas Island
Photo of Juana Maria's Whalebone Hut