Page 147 - California Diving and Surfing

he undersea also features reefs and km2) is the largest of the eight islands
Tledges and amazing kelp forests. Good
diving can be found somewhere around the
island almost always. There is a prolific va-
riety of nudibranchs, anemones, moon and
purple jellyfish, and gorgonians including
pink gorgonians. There is more underwater
diversity found her than at any other Chan-
nel Island. The weather usually blows out of
the north and strikes the side of the island
that faces the mainland. The open ocean
side is often the lee-side with the calmest
conditions. There are numerous wrecks to
dive, including the famous minesweeper
“ Pe a c o c k ”.
S anta Cruz Island was the largest pri-
vately owned island off the continental
United States, but is currently part-owned
by the National Park Service (NPS owns
24%, and the Nature Conservancy owns
76%). The island, located off the coast of
California, is 22 miles (35 km) long and from
2 to 6 miles (3.2 to 9.7 km) wide. It is part of cialization and trade with the mainland
the northern group of the Channel Islands
of California, and at 61,764.6 acres (249.952
Lucas.
in the chain. Santa Cruz Island is located
Iwithin Santa Barbara County, California. The
n 1602, Sebastián Vizcaíno led the last
coastline has steep cliffs, gigantic sea caves, Spanish expedition to California. His map
coves, and sandy beaches. named Santa Cruz Island the Isla de Gente
A rchaeological investigations indicate Barbuda (island of the bearded people).
that Santa Cruz Island has been oc- Between 1602 and 1769 there was no
recorded European contact with the island.
cupied for at least 9,000 years. It was known Finally, in 1769, the land-and-sea expedi-
as Limuw (place of the sea) or Michumash tion of Don Gaspar de Portolà reached
in the Chumash language. The people of Santa Cruz Island. Traveling with him were
the Chumash Indian tribe who lived on the Father Juan González Vizcaíno and Father
island developed a highly complex society Francisco Palóu. Father Palóu wrote of Fa-
dependent on marine harvest, craft spe- ther Vizcaíno’s visit to the Santa Cruz village
of Xaxas that the missionaries on ship went
population. The Santa Cruz Island Chumash ashore and “they were well received by the
produced shell beads that they used for heathen and presented with fish, in return
currency, which formed an important part for which the Indians were given some
of the overall Chumash economy. Na- strings of beads.” The island was considered
tive villagers had no known contact with for establishment of a Catholic mission to
Europeans until the 16th and early 17th serve the large Chumash population. When
centuries. Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, who is Mission San Buenaventura was founded
credited with the first European exploration across the channel in 1782, it commenced
of the California coast, observed at least the slow religious conversion of the Santa
six villages, though he and his crew did not Cruz Chumash. In 1822, the last of the Chu-
come ashore. Cabrillo named the island San mash left the island for mainland California.