The Santa Barbara Channel is a portion of the
Southern California Bight
The Southern California Bight is a 692-kilometer-long (430 mi) stretch of curved coastline that runs along the west coast of the United States and Mexico, from Point Conception in California to Punta Colonet in Baja California, plus the area o ...
and separates the
mainland
Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or dem ...
of
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
from the northern
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...
. It is generally south of the city of
Santa Barbara, and west of the
Oxnard Plain
The Oxnard Plain is a large coastal plain in southwest Ventura County, California, United States surrounded by the mountains of the Transverse ranges. The cities of Oxnard, Camarillo, Port Hueneme and much of Ventura as well as the unincorpora ...
in
Ventura County
Ventura County () is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, and the county seat is the city of Ventura.
Ventura County comprises the Oxnar ...
.
It trends east-west, is approximately long and averages about across, becoming narrowest at its easternmost extremity where
Anacapa Island
Anacapa Island (Chumash: ''Anyapax'', meaning "mirage, illusion") is a small volcanic island located about off the coast of Port Hueneme, California, in Ventura County. The island is composed of a series of narrow islets long, oriented ...
is about from the mainland. During the last ice age, the four northern Channel Islands, including Santa Rosa Island, were conjoined into
Santa Rosae
Santa Rosae (also spelled Santarosae) was, before the end of the last ice age, an ancient landmass off the coast of present-day southern California, near Santa Barbara County and Ventura County, of which the northern Channel Islands of California ...
, a single island that was only five miles (8 km) off the coast.
The islands are visible from the mainland on clear days. Excursion boats cross the channel, taking visitors to watch
whale
Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. As an informal and colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and ...
s and visit the islands. In the perpendicular (east-west) direction, huge cargo ships and tankers occupy a major shipping lane on their way to or from the ports of
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
and
Long Beach
Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California.
Incorporate ...
.
The Channel is the location of numerous oil fields, some of which have substantial reserves. These include the
Ellwood,
Summerland,
Carpinteria offshore and
Dos Cuadras fields. In 1969, the Dos Cuadras was the point of origin of a major
oil spill, which came about when oil spurted at high pressure through faults and cracks around a zone which had recently been drilled for the first time. Public outrage over the massive environmental damage inflicted by this spill, which covered hundreds of square miles of the channel and fouled beaches from Ventura to Goleta, was a major spur to the budding
environmental movement
The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement), also including conservation and green politics, is a diverse philosophical, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues. Environmentalists a ...
. The Santa Barbara Channel contains the world's largest natural oil seepage -
Coal Oil Point.
Goleta Point is a nearby extension into the channel.
Point Arguello
Point Arguello ( Spanish: ''Punta Argüello'') is a headland on the Gaviota Coast, in Santa Barbara County, California, near the city of Lompoc. The area was first used by the United States Navy in 1959 for the launch of military and soundin ...
, a headland near the city of
Lompoc
Lompoc ( ; Chumash: ''Lum Poc'') is a city in Santa Barbara County, California. Located on the Central Coast, Lompoc has a population of 43,834 as of July 2021.
Lompoc has been inhabited for thousands of years by the Chumash people, who called ...
, was the site of the
Honda Point disaster
The Honda Point disaster was the largest peacetime loss of U.S. Navy ships. On the evening of September 8, 1923, seven destroyers, while traveling at 20 knots (37 km/h), ran aground at Honda Point (also known as Point Pedernales; the cliffs ...
in 1923, in which seven US Navy destroyers ran aground, in the largest peacetime loss of US Navy ships.
Prehistory
Prior to the
Holocene
The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togethe ...
era sea levels were considerably lower, such that the water width separating the islands from the mainland was much less, making
biological colonization
Colonisation or colonization is the process in biology by which a species spreads to new areas. Colonisation often refers to ''successful'' immigration where a population becomes integrated into an ecological community, having resisted initial ...
as well as human transport across the channel easier. In recent times the
Native American Chumash people
The Chumash are a Native American people of the central and southern coastal regions of California, in portions of what is now San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties, extending from Morro Bay in the north to Mali ...
s navigated these waters with ease in
small watercraft, allowing communication and trade between island and mainland villages. C. Michael Hogan reviews some of the theories of colonization of the
rare species Torrey Pine, ''
Pinus torreyana
The Torrey pine (''Pinus torreyana'') is a rare pine species in California, United States. It is a critically endangered species growing only in coastal San Diego County, and on Santa Rosa Island, offshore from Santa Barbara in Santa Barbara ...
'' to the islands, suggesting that it is likely that Chumash peoples carried the initial cones in their Tomols. The
pygmy mammoth
The pygmy mammoth or Channel Islands mammoth (''Mammuthus exilis'') is an extinct species of dwarf elephant descended from the Columbian mammoth (''M. columbi'') of mainland North America. This species became extinct during the Quaternary extin ...
, an extinct, endemic species, were capable swimmers able to cross the channel and adapt to the island environment by
insular dwarfism
Insular dwarfism, a form of phyletic dwarfism, is the process and condition of large animals evolving or having a reduced body size when their population's range is limited to a small environment, primarily islands. This natural process is disti ...
.
Risk of ship-whale collisions
As of at least 2011, a few endangered species of whale (including
blue
Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...
,
fin
A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foils that produce lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while traveling in water, air, or other fluids. Fin ...
, and
humpback) have begun to feed in a new area north of the
Santa Cruz and
Santa Rosa
Santa Rosa is the Italian, Portuguese and Spanish name for Saint Rose.
Santa Rosa may also refer to:
Places Argentina
*Santa Rosa, Mendoza, a city
* Santa Rosa, Tinogasta, Catamarca
* Santa Rosa, Valle Viejo, Catamarca
* Santa Rosa, La Pampa
* S ...
islands of the Santa Barbara Channel. These whales are at risk to be struck by ships passing through a
shipping lane used to move goods south to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
and
Long Beach
Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California.
Incorporate ...
ports. About 100 collisions have been documented off of the coast of California since 1982, which includes a rate of about 6 per year today, possibly more due to the difficulty of observing the incidents.
Scientists estimate that over 80 endangered whales are killed from vessel collisions off the U.S west coast each year.
See also
*
Offshore oil and gas in California
Offshore oil and gas in California provides a significant portion of the state's petroleum production. Offshore oil and gas has been a contentious issue for decades, first over the question of state versus federal ownership, but since 1969 mo ...
References
External links
Oil companies continue efforts for permission to drill in the channel
{{Coord, 34, 14, 31, N, 119, 53, 24, W, type:waterbody_scale:500000, display=title
Landforms of the Channel Islands of California
Channel
Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to:
Geography
* Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water.
Australia
* Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...
Channel
Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to:
Geography
* Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water.
Australia
* Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...
Straits of California