Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist (read the original in Noozhawk by clicking here)
The Channel Islands are a sanctuary not just for marine life but for people. I have been fortunate to spend several week-long increments on Santa Rosa Island during the pandemic. It is volunteer time that can be arduous and absolutely relaxing.
This month my husband and I felt like newbie visitors, snapping photos of dazzling varieties of wildflowers. Wind and grit challenged our eyes, but the landscape was our eyes’ delight.
On island boat days we rise at five; dark even at this time of year. We load up a week’s worth of food, clothing and bedding, and head for Ventura. After retrieving a Park Service-issued radio, we load a megabag with coolers, boxes, and dry bags.
The megabag holds up to one ton of gear, so our musical instruments are in, as well as plenty of dark chocolate. A crane loads supplies for park staff, volunteers, and researchers from UCSB or CSCI. After cleaning our boots and checking our gear for invasive seeds and mainland dirt, we board and settle in for the ride.
The Park Service boat is kind of a mail run. Once we stopped at Prisoner’s Harbor on Santa Cruz Island to pick up kayak frames that had been stored there during Scorpion Pier’s rebuild. Often there are Kubotas, lumber, or crates of toilet paper to deliver to one of the islands.
In the smoother part of the crossing I perused Christian Beamish’s description of exploring the Channel Islands with a homemade boat in “The Voyage of the Cormorant.”
I’d only completed a few pages when a megapod of common dolphins arrived to surf our wake. Several thousand approached from all directions. Some glided to our port side, silhouetted against the swells. Many leaped out of the water as if to get a peak at us.
On other trips, we’ve sailed in a soup of gray whales or been awed by the endless back of a blue whale.
We don’t see fish, but they are thriving in our Channel Islands Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), according to research published in December by Oregon State University.
Their study found the populations of four species of kelp forest fish within the MPAs contained large numbers of larger, older fish consistent with no harvesting. Good news for the fish and for sustainable fishing.
Our recent trip was particularly windy, so our route was the relative calm on the south side of Santa Cruz Island. I pulled out my topo map and marked our leisurely passage past Yellowbanks, Bluebanks, the clifftop electronic equipment of the Navy Station, and Valley Anchorage: where the Central Valley fault line meets the Pacific.
When we reached Gull Island I slipped inside to brace for a rocky crossing from Santa Cruz to Santa Rosa Island.
Once on the island, our principal job is orienting visitors including day hikers, campers and backpackers. Our goal is to protect the resources and the visitors, rewarding them for visiting these extraordinary, isolated islands so close to major cities.
The pandemic has brought some changes, such as curtailing our guided hikes. This leaves us more time to check out the island for ourselves.
The island was blinged out with wildflowers: lines of lupine and gilded hummocks of goldfields at Carrington Point. Giant coreopsis filled some canyons; fields waved in blue dicks, buttercups, and fiddlenecks.
We came across several stakes marking research transects. More than 300 transects dot the island, located by GPS. Every 30 centimeters along a 30-meter line between stakes, researchers record every species they find for a longitudinal study of ranch-era recovery.
After close to 20 years of visiting, plant restorations, and volunteering on the islands, I can answer visitors’ basic questions about archeology, history, geology and biology.
The other day, as I waited on the pier with the returning campers, a woman approached me burdened with backpack, bags, and other gear. “What a beautiful island,” she said, grinning. “But I’m returning early because it’s just so windy. When should I come back to see the island in calm weather?”That stumped me.
Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist
Karen Telleen-Lawton is an eco-writer, sharing information and insights about economics and ecology, finances and the environment. Having recently retired from financial planning and advising, she spends more time exploring the outdoors — and reading and writing about it. The opinions expressed are her own.