Protection Island is an island located in the

Strait of Juan de Fuca The Strait of Juan de Fuca (officially named Juan de Fuca Strait in Canada) is a body of water about long that is the Salish Sea's outlet to the Pacific Ocean. The international boundary between Canada and the United States runs down the centre ...

just north of

Discovery Bay Discovery Bay (DB) is a resort town on Lantau Island, Hong Kong. It consists of mixed, primarily residential, development, in particular upmarket residential development and private and public recreational facilities, including garden houses, ...

in northeastern

Jefferson County, Washington Jefferson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 32,977. The county seat and only incorporated city is Port Townsend. The county is named for Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson County w ...

, United States. The island has a land area of . It is a federally protected National Wildlife Refuge; boats are not permitted within for the safety and health of wildlife on and near the shores. There is only one individual still living on the island not associated with the government. Marty Bluewater has lifetime use of his

inholding An inholding is privately owned land inside the boundary of a national park, national forest, state park, or similar publicly owned, protected area. In-holdings result from private ownership of lands predating the designation of the park or fores ...

cabin on the island's southern bluffs. The island also houses a caretaker, a volunteer hired by the

United States Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with othe ...

, to watch over the island and take care of its many inhabitants. Boat trips from nearby

Port Townsend, Washington Port Townsend is a city on the Quimper Peninsula in Jefferson County, Washington, United States. The population was 10,148 at the 2020 United States Census. It is the county seat and only incorporated city of Jefferson County. In addition t ...

provide

ecotourism Ecotourism is a form of tourism involving responsible travel (using sustainable transport) to natural areas, conserving the environment, and improving the well-being of the local people. Its purpose may be to educate the traveler, to provide fund ...

visits for viewing wildlife from the adjacent waters. Spanish explorers were the first Europeans to find the island. In 1790 it was given the name ''Isla de Carrasco'', in honor of Juan Carrasco. It was given its present name by

George Vancouver Captain George Vancouver (22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a British Royal Navy officer best known for his 1791–1795 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of what are ...

in 1792. Protection Island National Wildlife Refuge was designated in 1982 to protect the entire island and its coast. Approximately 70 percent of the nesting

seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same envir ...

population of

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected m ...

and the Strait of Juan de Fuca nest on the island, which includes one of the largest nesting colonies of

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 ...

s in the world and the largest nesting colony of

glaucous-winged gull The glaucous-winged gull (''Larus glaucescens'') is a large, white-headed gull. The genus name is from Latin ''Larus'' which appears to have referred to a gull or other large seabird. The specific ''glaucescens'' is New Latin for "glaucous" from ...

s in Washington. The island contains one of the last two nesting colonies of

tufted puffin The tufted puffin (''Fratercula cirrhata''), also known as crested puffin, is a relatively abundant medium-sized pelagic seabird in the auk family (Alcidae) found throughout the North Pacific Ocean. It is one of three species of puffin that make ...

s in the Puget Sound area. It is on the

flyway A flyway is a flight path used by large numbers of birds while migrating between their breeding grounds and their overwintering quarters. Flyways generally span continents and often pass over oceans. Although applying to any species of migrat ...

for many migrating birds. Seals (harbor and elephant), sea lions, orcas, and other cetaceans are often seen nearby. About 1,000

harbor seal The harbor (or harbour) seal (''Phoca vitulina''), also known as the common seal, is a true seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. The most widely distributed species of pinniped (walruses, eared se ...

s depend upon the island for a pupping and rest area. The refuge is closed to visitation to protect the fragile habitat. Visitors may view the island by boat; a 200-yard off-shore buffer is enforced to ensure adult birds are not flushed from their nests. The waters surrounding the North Olympic Peninsula support five additional refuges: Flattery Rocks, Quillayute Needles, Copalis,

Dungeness Dungeness () is a headland on the coast of Kent, England, formed largely of a shingle beach in the form of a cuspate foreland. It shelters a large area of low-lying land, Romney Marsh. Dungeness spans Dungeness Nuclear Power Station, the hamlet ...

, and

San Juan Islands The San Juan Islands are an archipelago in the Pacific Northwest of the United States between the U.S. state of Washington and Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The San Juan Islands are part of Washington state, and form the core ...

. Protection Island is managed as part of the

Washington Maritime National Wildlife Refuge Complex Washington Maritime National Wildlife Refuge Complex is an administrative grouping of six National Wildlife Refuges in Washington, managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. It includes: * Flattery Rocks National Wildlife Refuge (, ) ...

Gallery

File:Protection Island (WA).jpg, Satellite image File:Protection Island National Wildlife Refuge.jpg, Birds nesting on Protection Island File:Rhinoceros auklet - Protection Island NWR.jpg, The refuge is home to 17,000 pairs of nesting

s Gull (Larus) nest with eggs, Protection Island NWR, Jefferson County, Washington, USA.jpg, Gull nest on the refuge File:Fratercula cirrhata, Protection Island NWR, Washington, USA.jpg, A

swims in the refuge

References

External links

Protection Island National Wildlife Refuge
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service {{authority control National Wildlife Refuges in Washington (state) Protected areas of Jefferson County, Washington Islands of Washington (state) Landforms of Jefferson County, Washington Uninhabited islands of Washington (state) Strait of Juan de Fuca