Channel Islands National Park
| Channel Islands National Park | |
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IUCN category II (national park)
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A beach in Channel Islands National Park
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| Location | Santa Barbara County & Ventura County, California, United States |
| Nearest city | Santa Barbara |
| Coordinates | 34°0.5′N 119°25.0′W / 34.0083°N 119.4167°WCoordinates: 34°0.5′N 119°25.0′W / 34.0083°N 119.4167°W |
| Area | 249,561 acres (1,009.94 km2) |
| Established | March 5, 1980 |
| Visitors | 364,807 (in 2016) |
| Governing body | National Park Service |
| Website | Channel Islands National Park |
Channel Islands National Park is a United States national park that consists of five of the eight Channel Islands off the coast of the U.S. state of California, in the Pacific Ocean. Although the islands are close to the shore of densely populated Southern California, their isolation has left them relatively undeveloped. The park covers 249,561 acres (100,994 ha) of which 79,019 acres (31,978 ha) are owned by the federal government.The Nature Conservancy owns and manages 76% of Santa Cruz Island, the largest island in the park.
Channel Islands National Park is home to a wide variety of significant natural and cultural resources. It was designated a U.S. National Monument on April 26, 1938, and a National Biosphere Reserve in 1976. It was promoted to a National Park on March 5, 1980.Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary encompasses the waters six nautical miles around Channel Islands National Park.
The Channel Islands were originally discovered in 1542 by the explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo. In 1938 the Santa Barbara and Anacapa islands were designated a national monument. San Miguel, Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz islands were combined with the monument in 1980 to form modern-day Channel Islands National Park.
On January 28, 1969 an oil rig belonging to Union Oil experienced a blow-out 6 miles (9.7 km) off the coast of California. The resulting spill was, at the time, the largest oil spill to occur in United States territorial waters. Crews took approximately 11 days to seal the rupture using a cement plug, during which approximately 200,000 US gallons (760,000 litres; 170,000 imperial gallons) of crude oil spilled into the Pacific Ocean, creating an oil slick with an area of about 800 square miles (2,100 km2). Following the spill, tides carried the oil onto the beaches of the Anacapa, San Miguel, Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz islands.
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Wikipedia