Sugar Loaf Island, also known as ''Sugar Loaf'', ''Cape Rock'', ''Sugarloaf Island'', ''Sugar Loaf Rock'', and ''Sugarloaf Rock Island'' is an island offshore Cape Mendocino in

Humboldt County, California Humboldt County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 136,463. The county seat is Eureka. Humboldt County comprises the Eureka–Arcata–Fortuna, California Micropolitan Statistica ...

. It is the westernmost island in California It is part of South Cape Mendocino State Marine Reserve, a large protected marine reserve centered on Cape Mendocino fully protected by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The area is one of the most undeveloped sections of the California coast, and its waters are home to important bird and mammal species. Within the South Cape Mendocino State Marine Reserve, the taking of any living marine resources is prohibited. Sugarloaf Island is covered by the Cape Mendocino, California U.S. Topographic Map quadrant. The island is named because it is shaped like a sugarloaf which was refined sugar in the form of a rounded cone, the most common way of distributing sugar until the late 19th century. The area provides essential habitat and breeding grounds to the

Steller 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 ...

and its rocky outcroppings also provide resting places for California sea lions. South Cape Mendocino also provides key breeding grounds for the Western gull, double-crested cormorant,

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 ...

, pelagic cormorant,

black oystercatcher The black oystercatcher (''Haematopus bachmani'') is a conspicuous black bird found on the shoreline of western North America. It ranges from the Aleutian Islands of Alaska to the coast of the Baja California peninsula. The black oystercatcher ...

, pigeon guillemot and tufted puffin. While it is sometimes confused with "Sugarloaf Rock," the latter is found in the

Farallon Islands The Farallon Islands, or Farallones (from the Spanish ''farallón'' meaning "pillar" or "sea cliff"), are a group of islands and sea stacks in the Gulf of the Farallones, off the coast of San Francisco, California, United States. The island ...

offshore San Francisco, several hundred miles distant.

References

External links

Marine Life Protection Act InitiativeCalOceansCalifornia Marine Protected Areas Educational ResourcesYouTube of island
Cape Mendocino Cape Mendocino Islands of California Pacific islands of California {{HumboldtCountyCA-geo-stub