The Islas San Benito lie in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

off the west coast of the

Mexican state The states of Mexico are first-level administrative territorial entities of the country of Mexico, which is officially named Mexico, United Mexican States. There are 32 federal entities in Mexico (31 states and the capital, Mexico City, as a sepa ...

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

, 25 km west of

Cedros Island Cedros Island (''Isla de Cedros'', "island of cedars" in Spanish) is an island in the Pacific Ocean belonging to the state of Baja California, Mexico. The dry and rocky island had a population of 1,350 in 2005 and has an area of which include ...

. They are part of the Cedros Island ''delegación'', a subdivision of

Ensenada (municipality) The municipality ( es, link=no, municipio) of Ensenada is the fourth-largest municipality in Mexico with a land area of in 2020, about the same size as Hidalgo state and larger than five Mexican states. Located offshore, Cedros Island and Gu ...

. The group consists of three barren islands, with a total area of 3.899 km², and is surrounded by rocks and patches of kelp. The

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

of 2001 recorded a population of two on ''Benito del Oeste'' (West Benito); the other islands are uninhabited.

Geography and ecology

''Benito del Oeste'' (West Benito, 2.6 km²) is the westernmost and largest island of the group. It appears as a plateau with a mound rising 600 ft (202 m) high near the center. A

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

tower, 4 m high, stands in the southern part of the island. The main lighthouse, a prominent, 17 m high tower with a dwelling, stands near the northwest extremity of the island. Rocas Pinaculo, two steep-to rocks, lie 1.6 km west of Benito del Oeste. ''Benito del Centro'' (Central Benito, 0.4 km²) and ''Benito del Este'' (East Benito, 0.9 km²) , the other two islands, lie close east of Benito del Oeste and are separated by ''Canal de Peck'', a deep passage just 200 ft (c. 65 m) wide. Benito del Este is characterized by four well-defined hills up to 421 ft (c.140 m) high. Benito del Centro is low and flat with a hill 82 ft (25 m) high rising near its eastern end. The vegetation consists mainly of low

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

s and

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

s as well as some large

cacti A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek ...

('' Cylindropuntia prolifera'', '' C. ramosissima''). There are few land animals and no native mammals. Birds are moderately abundant due to the islands' barrenness, but

Cassin's auklet Cassin's auklet (''Ptychoramphus aleuticus'') is a small, chunky seabird that ranges widely in the North Pacific. It is the only species placed in the genus ''Ptychoramphus''. It nests in small burrows and because of its presence on well studied ...

is rather plentiful at breeding time.

Endemism

Due to the islands' remoteness, several

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...

have evolved here: Animals: * San Benito side-blotched lizard, ''

Uta stansburiana The common side-blotched lizard (''Uta stansburiana'') is a species of side-blotched lizard in the family Phrynosomatidae. The species is native to dry regions of the western United States and northern Mexico. It is notable for having a unique fo ...

stellata'' * San Benito

house finch The house finch (''Haemorhous mexicanus'') is a bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It is native to western North America and has been introduced to the eastern half of the continent and Hawaii. This species and the other two American rosef ...

, ''Carpodacus mexicanus mcgregori'' –

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

:Disappeared c. the 1940s, mainly due to overhunting by biological specimen collectors. * San Benito sparrow, '' Passerculus rostratus sanctorum'' (or ''

Passerculus sandwichensis The Savannah sparrow (''Passerculus sandwichensis'') is a small New World sparrow. It was the only member of the genus '' Passerculus'' and is typically the only widely accepted member. Comparison of mtDNA NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 and 3 sequ ...

sanctorum'') Plants: * '' Cryptantha patula'' – only on West Benito * '' Dudleya linearis'' – only on West Benito * '' Hemizonia streetsii'' – West and East Benito * '' Malva pacifica'' – all islands * '' Mammillaria neopalmeri'' – West and East Benito * '' Senecio benedictus'' – only on West Benito

References

{{coord, 28, 18, 12, N, 115, 35, 24, W, type:isle_source:dewiki, display=title Islands of Ensenada Municipality Islands of Baja California .