Negit Island is an island in

Mono Lake Mono Lake ( ) is a saline soda lake in Mono County, California, formed at least 760,000 years ago as a terminal lake in an endorheic basin. The lack of an outlet causes high levels of salts to accumulate in the lake which make its water a ...

. Negit (along with nearby

Paoha Island Paoha Island is a volcanic island in Mono Lake, an endorheic lake in the U.S. state of California. The island was formed by a series of eruptions in the 17th century. It is composed of lakebed sediments deposited above volcanic domes. It is one ...

) is a

volcanic cone Volcanic cones are among the simplest volcanic landforms. They are built by ejecta from a volcanic vent, piling up around the vent in the shape of a cone with a central crater. Volcanic cones are of different types, depending upon the nature and ...

less than 2000 years old. It can be considered to be the northernmost of the Mono Craters. Negit is composed of three dark

dacite Dacite () is a volcanic rock formed by rapid solidification of lava that is high in silica and low in alkali metal oxides. It has a fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic texture and is intermediate in composition between andesite and rhyolite ...

lava flows. Negit is an important nesting ground for migratory birds, including the

California gull The California gull (''Larus californicus'') is a medium-sized gull, smaller on average than the herring gull but larger on average than the ring-billed gull, though it may overlap in size greatly with both. Description Adults are similar in ap ...

, which can often be seen wheeling in the air above Mono Lake. The fall of the lake level since 1941 created a land bridge to the island. The land bridge permitted predators, such as coyotes, to raid the bird eggs of the island. However, since 1994, the lake level has been permitted to rise and the land bridge is currently submerged. 17 27 022 mono lake

Negit Island is accessible by

boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on inl ...

s (commonly kayaks). However, the island is off-limits from April 1 through August 1, to protect the nesting gulls.

See also