Christian

Anacapa Island As you could see, off the coast of Ventura there are some beautiful islands. If you look at the land that is at far left side, you will find an island that is called Anacapa Island. Anacapa is entirely made of igneous rock that can also mean that its Miocene. An Island being made of igneous rock means that it was formed by a volcanic eruption. Anacapa Island is made of one big chunk of igneous rock but in these days, it appears to be made of three islets. What’s really right, is that it only appears to look like it is made of three islets is because over the years, the ocean level has been rising rapidly. There are some caves inside of Anacapa Island were lava used to flow through when it was formed. Anacapa Island has also been weathered and eroded over years that leave sheer cliffs and a plateau surface. One more thing about weathering and erosion, there is this one beautiful place that is located on the Island. This part of the Island is called Arch rock because it is in a shape of an arch. Arch rock seems to be popular and was formed by weathering and erosion. In my opinion, I think that Anacapa Island is a really nice place to relax on. Anacapa Island is located at about 34 degrees lattitude and longitude of -119.4 degrees and is fourteen miles of the coast of Ventura. If your at Ventura beach, you will see at least two islands. Anacapa is the one that is located on the left.

There are many animals living on Anacapa Island.The Anacapa Deer Mouse is one of the biggest subspecies of the Deer Mouse family. The scientific name for the deer mouse is peromyscus maniculatus. The deer mouse is an omnivore that makes its nests in hollow trees, stumps and wood piles. The deer mouse has been threatened by the non- native black rat that also lives on Anacapa Island. Sometimes mice can get eaten by rats while fighting for food. The national park services and other conservation groups have been working together to remove invasive rats from the Island. Ever since then, the Island’s been recovering. One of the birds that lives on the Anacapa Island is called the the Xantus’ Murrelet. Its scientific name is Synthliboramphus hypoleucus. The bird can lay about two eggs in crevices or rock caves. On the island, their young’s spend about 1-2 days in there nest before taking off. The leave by scrambling down 325 feet cliffs. The way the get down to sea, they follow their parents and then learn how to hunt ( dive) for food. The murrelets have once been listed to be threatened by the California fish and Game commission. The American Trader Trustee Council organized a program that restored sea bird breeding habitat on Anacapa island by removing the black rat. Ever since the black rat has been removed from the Island, the Xantus Murrelet population has recovered and been growing tremendously. There are also lots of beautiful plants at (on) Anacapa Island. There is this one pretty plant that is called the Cliff-Aster. The Cliff-Aster is known to be part of the sunflower family. It only lives (grows) on Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, San Miguel and San Nicolas Islands. It sort of looks like a daisy and sunflower combined together to make a beautiful plant. It is white and has a patch of yellow in the center and squiggly strings coming out of it too. Its scientific name is Malacothrix saxatilis v. implicata. Another plant that lives on the northern Islands is called the Island Painbrush.The Island Paintbrush only lives (grows) on Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa and San Miguel Islands. The Island Paintbrush is also a part of the family figwort. It sort of looks like it has a long stem with a lot flower peddles sticking out from it. It has the colors red and green. It has red at the top and green on the rest of the plant. It is really tall and appears that it can grow big. I think that it was named the Island Paintbrush because it is really thick like a pain brush and thin in length, Also since red is only at the top, it looks more like a paint brush. The Island Paintbrush’s scientific name is Castilleja lanata s. hololeuca. That is very good! ;) -Colton