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San Pedro Mártir is the name of an island of
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
, located in the Gulf of California, about halfway between the coast of Baja California and Sonora. San Pedro Mártir is located in the center of the
Gulf of California The Gulf of California (), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Vermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja California peninsula from ...
and is the most remote island in the
Sea of Cortez The Gulf of California (), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Vermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja California peninsula from ...
. It is located 51 km from
Baja California Baja California, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California, is a state in Mexico. It is the northwesternmost of the 32 federal entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of B ...
and 53 km off the coast of
Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into Municipalities of Sonora, 72 ...
. The island is 2 km long and 1.5 km maximum width, with a total of 2,729 km2 of total area (272 hectares). The island is uninhabited by humans and is 60 km from
Bahía Kino Bahía Kino is a town part of the Hermosillo Municipality in Sonora, Mexico on the Gulf of California; it was named after Eusebio Kino. It has a population of approximately 7,000 people. The name also applies to the adjacent bay between Tiburó ...
, the nearest city in the state of Sonora on the west coast. The island and its marine life are, since 2002, part of the San Pedro Martir Biosphere Reserve, and is regarded as a natural laboratory of adaptive evolution, similar to that of the
Galápagos Islands The Galápagos Islands () are an archipelago of volcanic islands in the Eastern Pacific, located around the equator, west of the mainland of South America. They form the Galápagos Province of the Republic of Ecuador, with a population of sli ...
. It is home to 292 species of fauna and flora (both land-based and aquatic), with 42 species protected by Mexican law, and 30 listed on the
Red List of Threatened Species The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological spe ...
. San Pedro Martir is also unique in the area for its year-round quantity of birds. The island is the only island in the area with a perpetually swirling cloud of sea birds. This is because the water around the island, has some of the most successful marine productivity in the world, resulting in incredible densities of small-pelagic fish, such as anchovies and sardines, in comparison to other regions of the world. This attracts both seabirds and whales to its waters.
Isla Rasa Isla Rasa is an island in the Gulf of California east of the Baja California Peninsula. The island is uninhabited and is part of the Mexicali Municipality. The 0.21 sq./mi island has three small ponds and has small shed located in the center of ...
and San Pedro are regarded as the most significant bird sanctuaries in the Sea of Cortes. The large bird population deposits enormous quantities of guano on the island, resulting in the white appearance of the island contrasted with sparse vegetation. While the island has 24 species of vascular plants, the flora of the island is dominated by the Mexican giant cardon or elephant cactus that can grow to 60 feet, and is especially suited to the lack of rainfall. A subspecies of bee (Diadasia rinconis petrinus), is the primary pollinator of the cacti. San Pedro Mártir Island houses the largest nesting colonies of the brown boobies (Sula leucogaster) and blue-footed boobies (Sula nebouxii) in the world. This, in turn, has fed the success of the two endemic lizard species on the island, San Pedro Martir whiptail (Aspidoscelis martyris) and the San Pedro Side-blotched Lizard (Uta palmeri), who feed off of fish scraps leftover by the birds.
Sea lion Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear flaps, long foreflippers, the ability to walk on all fours, short and thick hair, and a big chest and belly. Together with the fur seals, they make up the family Otariidae, eared seals. ...
(Zalophus californianus) rockeries also ring the island, housing the fourth most important colony for sea lion breeding in the Gulf of California. The Seri Indians created benches to attract nest building and ease of egg collection, the sole permanent evidence of human intervention visible on the island. In the late 19th and early 20th century
guano Guano (Spanish from ) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. Guano is a highly effective fertiliser due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. Guano was also, to a le ...
was heavily mined off the island and shipped as far as Europe for use as fertilizer. Mining boats brought the
black rat The black rat (''Rattus rattus''), also known as the roof rat, ship rat, or house rat, is a common long-tailed rodent of the stereotypical rat genus ''Rattus'', in the subfamily Murinae. It likely originated in the Indian subcontinent, but is n ...
as an invasive species to the island. The rats were eradicated in the fall of 2007 by spraying rat poison on the island. San Pedro Martir is seldom visited, having near vertical sides leaving only questionable fair weather anchorages in two locations. Landing access was possible near a small
isthmus An isthmus (; : isthmuses or isthmi) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea count ...
in the southeast of the island, but is now forbidden. In 2005, the island was classified along with 244 others as a
World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
by
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
, and included in the Islands and Protected Areas of the
Gulf of California The Gulf of California (), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Vermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja California peninsula from ...
.


Flora and fauna

According to the National Biodiversity Information System of
Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad The (CONABIO; ) is a permanent inter-ministerial commission of the Mexican government, Federal Mexican government, created in 1992. It has the primary purpose of coordinating, supporting and executing activities and projects designed to foment u ...
(CONABIO) in San Pedro Mártir Island Biosphere Reserve there are over 330 plant and animal species from which 27 are in at risk category and 7 are exotics.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:San Pedro Martir Island Islands of Sonora Protected areas of Sonora Islands of the Gulf of California Uninhabited islands of Mexico Ramsar sites in Mexico Biosphere reserves of Mexico