The eight Channel Islands of California, off the west coast of the United States.
The Channel Islands of California, also called the Santa Barbara Islands, are a chain of eight islands located off the coast of Southern California. The eight islands are split between the jurisdictions of three separate California counties: Santa Barbara County (four), Ventura County (two) and Los Angeles County (two). The archipelago extends for 160 miles (257.5 kilometers) between San Miguel Island in the north and Santa Clemente in the south.
The Channel Islands are part of one of the richest marine biospheres of the world. The islands are divided into two groups, the Northern Channel Islands and the Southern Channel Islands. The four Northern Islands used to be a single landmass known as Santa Rosae.
Five of the islands (San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, Anacapa, and Santa Barbara) were made into the Channel Islands National Park in 1980. The Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary encompasses the waters six nautical miles (11 km) off Anacapa, Santa Cruz, San Miguel and Santa Barbara Islands. The United States Navy controls San Nicolas Island and San Clemente Island completely and has installations elsewhere in the chain. Santa Catalina Island is the only one of the eight islands with a significant permanent civilian settlement—the resort city of Avalon, California.
Wildlife
Many unique species of plants and animals are endemic to the Channel Islands.
The ChannelIslands of California, also called the Santa Barbara Islands, are a chain of eight islands located in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Southern California along the Santa Barbara Channel in the United States of America.
The eight islands are split between the jurisdictions of three separate Californiacounties: Santa Barbara County (four), VenturaCounty (two) and Los Angeles County (two).
During WWII all of Southern California'sChannelIslands were put under complete military control—including the civilian populated Santa Catalina where tourism was halted and established residents needed permits to travel to and from the mainland.
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