Shiara+Santa+Cruz









If you weren’t aware twenty-five miles off the Coast of southern California there is one huge island called Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz is the largest island in all of the 8 Channel Islands. It is 5 miles to the left of Anacapa Island. You won’t have to worry about if it’s the island or not because all you have to know is that Santa Cruz Island is much, much larger than Anacapa Island. Another neighbor to Santa Cruz is Santa Rosa, which is 106 miles away from Santa Cruz. On a real map Santa Cruz Islands location is approximately 34*00’13*N and 119*43’35*W. Despite the fact that being local would be a good reason to go, most people go for the amazing scenery. Santa Cruz Island is a beautiful island just twenty-five miles off the coast of southern California. It is also very large measuring at 22 miles long and 2 to 6 miles wide. It is actually the largest island in the 8 Channel Islands. It is a very rough and mountainous island with deep canyons to discover on any adventure. It has very large, steep hills on it and the highest one, Picacho Diablo, is 2,434 feet in elevation. That is higher than the Empire State Building and Picacho Diablo is almost tall enough to be higher than 2 Empire State Buildings stacked on top of one another. Even though it’s great to peer at the island for its amazing beauty the real stars, flora and fauna are what live on the island and lurk in its waters. The Santa Cruz Island Bush Mallow is an endangered species in the Mallow family. The Bush Mallows binomial name is Malacothamnus fasciculatus v. nesioticus. When they are in bloom in clusters of pink flowers butterflies are attracted to them. They are open evergreen shrubs with thin, wispy branches. They have shallowly lobed leaves that are green-gray and make the plants also look green-gray and the flowers are pinkish-lavender. The Santa Cruz Island Bush Mallow may sound neat but wait till you here about a tree known to have marvelous bark. The Santa Cruz Island Manzanita is a plant that grows on Santa Cruz Island and is in the Heath family. The binomial name of the Manzanita is Arctostaphylos insularis. The Santa Cruz Island Manzanita is known for its very stunning bark. You can tell where it got its name because in Spanish Manzanita means little apple and if you ever see one you will know why. The fruit that grows on the tree is little apples! The Santa Cruz Manzanita is a very windy, spindly tree with red, brown, and orange bark. It has oval shaped leaves that are very green and little apples growing in a bunch. The Santa Cruz Island Manzanita is a plant that grows on Santa Cruz Island and is in the Heath family. The binomial name of the Manzanita is Arctostaphylos insularis. The Santa Cruz Island Manzanita is known for its very stunning bark. You can tell where it got its name because in Spanish Manzanita means little apple and if you ever see one you will know why. The fruit that grows on the tree is little apples! The Santa Cruz Manzanita is a very windy, spindly tree with red, brown, and orange bark. It has oval shaped leaves that are very green and little apples growing in a bunch. The Santa Cruz Island Manzanita is a very interesting plant; you might be interested in a plant that is an endangered species, in the Pea family. The Santa Cruz Island Silver Lotus is an endangered species in the Pea family. Its binomial (scientific) name is Lotus argophyllus v. niveus. The Santa Cruz Island Silver Lotus is a blueish-gray colored plant with bright yellow flowers. Its leaves look more flower-like then the real flowers in my opinion. The Santa Cruz Island Silver Lotus is an endangered species in the Pea family. Its binomial (scientific) name is Lotus argophyllus v. niveus. The Santa Cruz Island Silver Lotus is a blueish-gray colored plant with bright yellow flowers. Its leaves look more flower-like then the real flowers in my opinion. Then there is also the fauna of the island. The Island Scrub Jay is endemic to Santa Cruz Island. Endemic means that it is only found on that island and is different from any other. Its binomial name is Aphelocoma insularis. Their diet consists of acorns, insects, spiders, snakes, lizards, mice, and other bird’s eggs and nests. The species name (insularis) means “from an island” in Latin. The Island Scrub-Jay is a large, outstandingly blue bird with a whitish-gray breast and a black bill. The Island Scrub Jay is endemic to Santa Cruz Island. Endemic means that it is only found on that island and is different from any other. Its binomial name is Aphelocoma insularis. Their diet consists of acorns, insects, spiders, snakes, lizards, mice, and other bird’s eggs and nests. The species name (insularis) means “from an island” in Latin. The Island Scrub-Jay is a large, outstandingly blue bird with a whitish-gray breast and a black bill. Despite the fact that the Island Scrub-Jay sounds like a beautiful bird wait till you here about a fox that is gray, rosy red, white, and has a black stripe on its tail. The Channel Island Fox, also known as Urocyon littoralis santacruzae, is a critically endangered species found on Santa Cruz Island. The poor fox’s are being wiped out by the Golden Eagle which is four times the fox’s size. The Channel Islands diet consist of fruits, insects, birds, eggs, crabs, lizards, and small mammals, like deer mice. The Channel Island Fox is many colors if you ask me. It has gray fur on its head, rosy red on its sides, white fur on its belly, throat, and lower half of its face, and a black stripe on the fox’s tail.