Año Nuevo Island (''Año Nuevo'' is Spanish for ''New Year'') is a small island off Año Nuevo Point on the coast of

Northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

, between San Francisco and Santa Cruz. The island has an area of . It is an important breeding site for northern elephant seals and the endangered

Steller's sea lion The Steller sea lion (''Eumetopias jubatus''), also known as the Steller's sea lion and northern sea lion, is a near-threatened species of sea lion in the northern Pacific. It is the sole member of the genus ''Eumetopias'' and the largest of t ...

, as well as several species of seabirds, including

rhinoceros auklet The rhinoceros auklet (''Cerorhinca monocerata'') is a seabird and a close relative of the puffins. It is the only extant species of the genus ''Cerorhinca''. Given its close relationship with the puffins, the common name rhinoceros puffin has b ...

Brandt's cormorant Brandt's cormorant (''Urile penicillatus'') is a strictly marine bird of the cormorant family of seabirds that inhabits the Pacific coast of North America. It ranges, in the summer, from Alaska to the Gulf of California, but the population nort ...

s and western gulls. Due to the number of seals and sea lions, great white sharks are frequently spotted patrolling the waters around the island. It is protected as part of the Año Nuevo State Reserve.

Año Nuevo State Marine Conservation Area Año Nuevo State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) is one of two adjoining marine protected areas off the coast of San Mateo and Santa Cruz Counties, on California’s central coast. The area is approximately 55 miles south of San Francisco. The ...

and

Greyhound Rock State Marine Conservation Area Greyhound Rock State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) is one of two adjoining marine protected areas off the coast of San Mateo County and Santa Cruz County, on California's central coast. The area is approximately south of San Francisco. The ...

are two adjoining protected marine areas off the coast of Año Nuevo State Park. Like underwater parks, these marine protected areas help conserve ocean wildlife and marine ecosystems. The waters of Año Nuevo State Marine Conservation Area surround Año Nuevo Island.

Geology

As recently as the 18th century, what is today Año Nuevo Island was a

peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...

. It became separated from the mainland by a channel that continues to widen. The island is mainly made up of Miocene

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especial ...

and deposits from ancient dunes, along with a broad intertidal shelf and low, rocky islets, all of which are frequently altered by the erosive pounding of waves, particularly during winter storms.

Administration

Año Nuevo Island is managed by the University of California Natural Reserve System Santa Cruz campus, under an agreement with the

California Department of Parks and Recreation The California Department of Parks and Recreation, more commonly known as California State Parks, manages the California state parks system. The system administers 279 separate park units on 1.4 million acres (570,000 hectares), with over 280 ...

. The Año Nuevo Island Reserve, including the island and surrounding waters, comprises 25 of the of the Año Nuevo State Reserve, the rest of which is on the mainland opposite the island.

Access and facilities

Access to Año Nuevo Island is restricted to members of approved research teams; the island is closed to the public. The island has a few abandoned buildings built in the late 19th century. A residential home and

foghorn A foghorn or fog signal is a device that uses sound to warn vehicles of navigational hazards such as rocky coastlines, or boats of the presence of other vessels, in foggy conditions. The term is most often used in relation to marine transport. W ...

station, all abandoned, are located on the island. The original light tower was deliberately toppled early in the first decade of the 21st century as it began to deteriorate and became a hazard to the resident wildlife. Some of the remaining buildings are used as research facilities.

Restoration

Año Nuevo Island is a haul-out site for thousands of California sea lions. Over the past several decades, they have caused extensive damage to native plants and auklet burrows. In 2010, a conservation non-profit organization, Oikonos, started a restoration project to reduce sea lion trampling, re-grow native plants, and help the auklet populations.

In Literature

New Year Island (novel) New Year Island may refer to: * Año Nuevo Island, California * Islas Año Nuevo, Argentina * Isla de Año Nuevo, name variant of Isla Observatorio, Argentina * New Year Island (Northern Territory) * New Year Island (Western Australia) * New Year I ...

is a 2013 fiction thriller by

Paul Draker Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

, set on modern-day Año Nuevo Island.

References