Santa Barbara Channel Islands Research Articles

Explaining the monopoly in shell-bead production on the Channel Islands: drilling experiments with four lithic raw materials

Significant political and economic developments among the Chumash of southern California were catalyzed in part by the emergence of an intensive, specialist-driven shell-bead industry during the second millennium CE on the Santa Barbara Channel Islands. The production of millions of beads depended in turn on the availability of lithic microdrills of standardized form and materials. Channel Islanders quarried a particular stone type, a blocky Monterey Formation chert, from multiple outcrops situated close to the eastern shores of Santa Cruz Island. Rich archaeological assemblages document the lithic and shell byproducts of these intertwined production systems, each of which endured for several centuries (CE 1150–1819). Islanders invariably chose Island chert for making microdrills: hundreds of thousands of specimens recorded to date are of this material. Furthermore, nearly every microlith in all of Chumash territory (post CE 1150) was produced on the islands; the large populations on the mainland did not participate in microlith making or bead making after CE 1150–1200. We argue that this pattern had its roots not only in the patchiness of key resources and shifting regional social relationships, but also in the physical properties of available raw materials. Here we experimentally assess the properties of Santa Cruz Island chert alongside three important mainland raw materials—Grimes Canyon fused shale, Coso obsidian, and Vandenberg chert—that potentially could have been tapped to make microliths. We test the proposition that Island chert outperforms other lithic materials in drilling efficiency and drill use life. Our experimental results from 108 drilling trials reveal sharp distinctions in performance characteristics across the four materials. We infer that the process by which Islanders became the more-or-less exclusive manufacturers of shell-bead currency in southern California was facilitated by both the efficacy and physical properties of the Island cherts and the propitious locations of the outcrops.

A Fluted Projectile Point from Crystal Cove State Park, Orange County, Alta California

Fluted projectile points are rarely found along the California coast. Only three have been previously documented, one from northern California and two from southern California. A fourth found in Orange County is reported here. This isolated artifact made of local material suggests a Clovis presence along the California littoral at the end of the Pleistocene. We re-examine the evidence of Clovis in California in light of the early occupation of Santarosae Island and explore the possible relationship between Clovis and the Late Pleistocene occupation of the Santa Barbara Channel Islands.

Effects of marine reserves on California spiny lobster are robust and modified by fine-scale habitat features and distance from reserve borders

MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections MEPS 451:137-150 (2012) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps09592 Effects of marine reserves on California spiny lobster are robust and modified by fine-scale habitat features and distance from reserve borders Matthew C. Kay1,*, Hunter S. Lenihan1, Matthew J. Kotchen2, Christopher J. Miller3 1Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106-5131, USA 2School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06511, USA 3California Lobster and Trap Fishermen’s Association, PO Box 2294, Capo Beach, California 92624, USA *Email: mattckay@gmail.com ABSTRACT: Studies of marine reserves often describe mean differences in organism size or abundance inside versus outside reserves, but recent work indicates that these differences are influenced by habitat and proximity of sites to reserve borders. In this study, we measured mean effects of reserves and the influence of distance from reserve borders on the number and size of legal (≥82.5 mm carapace length [CL]) California spiny lobster Panulirus interruptus trapped at sites across a reserve network at the Santa Barbara Channel Islands, California, USA. Additionally, we controlled for habitat variability across sites (1) by measuring relative abundance of sublegal adult lobsters (i.e. those not removed through fishing) and (2) through visual SCUBA surveys on which we quantified fine-scale habitat features. Traps placed in reserves yielded more (4.81 trap−1) and larger (7.03 mm CL) legal-sized lobsters than traps placed outside. Multiple linear regression revealed that 2.43 more legal lobsters per trap were captured for every 1 km moved from borders towards reserve centers. Additionally, lobsters tagged and released immediately inside reserve borders were recaptured in areas open to fishing at a higher rate than lobsters tagged and released farther inside reserves. These results suggest that abundance gradients inside reserve borders were caused by net emigration of lobsters (spillover). Sublegal lobsters were more abundant inside reserves and nearer to reserve centers, but these increases were much smaller in magnitude than for legal-sized lobsters. Our results indicate that the differences we observed for legal-sized lobsters were driven primarily by reserve effects but were partially influenced by habitat heterogeneity. KEY WORDS: Reef · Structure · Spillover · Fishing the line · Catch · Marine reserve · Marine protected area · MPA · Marine reserve border · Habitat · Collaborative · Panulirus interruptus Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Kay MC, Lenihan HS, Kotchen MJ, Miller CJ (2012) Effects of marine reserves on California spiny lobster are robust and modified by fine-scale habitat features and distance from reserve borders. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 451:137-150. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps09592 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 451. Online publication date: April 11, 2012 Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599 Copyright © 2012 Inter-Research.

Spatially explicit mortality of California spiny lobster (Panulirus interruptus) across a marine reserve network

SUMMARYStudies of marine reserves typically focus upon differences in the size and abundance of target organisms inside versus outside reserve borders, but they seldom provide spatially explicit measurements of how reserves influence mortality rates. This study investigated mortality rates for female California spiny lobster (Panulirus interruptus) at multiple sites inside and outside of three marine reserves at the Santa Barbara Channel Islands, California, USA. Mean total mortality (Z) of female lobsters was lower at sites inside reserves (Z = 0.22 [± 0.05 SE]) than at sites outside reserves (Z = 0.59 [± 0.02 SE]). Mean mortality at all sites inside reserves, and among sites near reserve centres (where Z = 0.17 [± 0.05 SE]), was similar to estimates of natural mortality for other temperate spiny lobster species. Among sites inside reserves, there was a positive relationship between mortality and proximity to reserve borders, but this relationship was absent among sites outside reserves. Mortality estimates were much more variable among sites inside reserves than at sites in fished areas. This variation is probably due to differential emigration rates from the three reserves, as well as site-specific ecological factors that influence population structure, demonstrating the importance of spatially explicit reserve sampling and understanding how ecological heterogeneity influences fisheries models.

Collaborative assessment of California spiny lobster population and fishery responses to a marine reserve network

Assessments of the conservation and fisheries effects of marine reserves typically focus on single reserves where sampling occurs over narrow spatiotemporal scales. A strategy for broadening the collection and interpretation of data is collaborative fisheries research (CFR). Here we report results of a CFR program formed in part to test whether reserves at the Santa Barbara Channel Islands, USA, influenced lobster size and trap yield, and whether abundance changes in reserves led to spillover that influenced trap yield and effort distribution near reserve borders. Industry training of scientists allowed us to sample reserves with fishery relevant metrics that we compared with pre-reserve fishing records, a concurrent port sampling program, fishery effort patterns, the local ecological knowledge (LEK) of fishermen, and fishery-independent visual surveys of lobster abundance. After six years of reserve protection, there was a four- to eightfold increase in trap yield, a 5-10% increase in the mean size (carapace length) of legal sized lobsters, and larger size structure of lobsters trapped inside vs. outside of three replicate reserves. Patterns in trap data were corroborated by visual scuba surveys that indicated a four- to sixfold increase in lobster density inside reserves. Population increases within reserves did not lead to increased trap yields or effort concentrations (fishing the line) immediately outside reserve borders. The absence of these catch and effort trends, which are indicative of spillover, may be due to moderate total mortality (Z = 0.59 for legal sized lobsters outside reserves), which was estimated from analysis of growth and length frequency data collected as part of our CFR program. Spillover at the Channel Islands reserves may be occurring but at levels that are insufficient to influence the fishery dynamics that we measured. Future increases in fishing effort (outside reserves) and lobster biomass (inside reserves) are likely and may lead to increased spillover, and CFR provides an ideal platform for continued assessment of fishery-reserve interactions.

Estimation of In Situ 3-D Particle Distributions From a Stereo Laser Imaging Profiler

In this paper, an image processing system for estimating 3-D particle distributions from stereo light scatter images is described. The system incorporates measured, three-component velocity data to mitigate particle blur associated with instrument motion. An iterative background estimation algorithm yields a local threshold operator that dramatically reduces bias in particle counts over the full image field. Algorithms are tested on simulated particle distributions and data from an open-ocean profile collected near the Santa Barbara Channel Islands, CA. They yield over a 50% reduction in root-mean-squared error in particle size estimates, and a 30% reduction in the magnitude of the motion blur point spread function. In situ particle distributions are estimated and compared to several models. It is demonstrated that quantitative, 3-D particle distributions can be accurately estimated from these data for particles with diameter larger than 4 pixels (0.8 mm).

Brief communication: Additional cases of maxillary canine‐first premolar transposition in several prehistoric skeletal assemblages from the Santa Barbara Channel Islands of California

This article identifies and discusses seven new cases of complete maxillary canine-premolar transposition in ancient populations from the Santa Barbara Channel region of California. A high frequency of this tooth transposition has been previously documented within a single prehistoric cemetery on one of the Channel Islands. A total of 966 crania representing 30 local sites and about 7,000 years of human occupation were examined, revealing an abnormally high prevalence of this transposition trait among islanders during the Early period of southern California prehistory ( approximately 5500-600 B.C.). One of the affected crania is from a cemetery more than 7,000-years-old and constitutes the earliest case of tooth transposition in humans so far reported. The results are consistent with findings by other studies that have indicated inbreeding among the early Channel Islands groups. Together with the normal transposition rates among mainland populations, the decreasing prevalence of maxillary canine-first premolar transposition among island populations across the Holocene suggests that inbreeding on the northern Channel Islands had all but ceased by the end of the first millennium B.C., most likely as a result of increased cross-channel migration and interaction.

Response of the Summer Marine Layer Flow to an Extreme California Coastal Bend

Abstract A summer wind speed maximum extending more than 200 km occurs over water around Point Conception, California, the most extreme bend along the U.S. West Coast. The following several causes were investigated for this wind speed maximum: 1) synoptic conditions, 2) marine layer hydraulic flow effects, 3) diurnal variations, 4) mountain leeside downslope flow, 5) sea surface temperature structure, and 6) island influence. Synoptic conditions set the general wind speed around Point Conception, and these winds are classified as strong, moderate, or weak. The strong wind condition extends about Point Conception, reaching well offshore toward the southwest, and the highest speeds are within 20 km to the south. Moderate wind cases do not extend as far offshore, and they have a moderate maximum wind speed that occurs over a smaller area in the western mouth of the Santa Barbara Channel. The weak wind speed case consists of light and variable winds about Point Conception. Each category occurs about one-third of the time. Atmospheric marine layer hydraulic dynamics dominate the situation after the synoptic condition is set. This includes an expansion fan on the south side of the point and a compression bulge on the north side. The expansion fan significantly increases the wind speeds over a large area that extends to the southwest, south, and east of Point Conception, and the maximum wind speed is increased for the strong and moderate synoptic cases as well. The horizontal sea surface temperature pattern contributes to the sea surface wind maximum through the Froude number, which links the potential temperature difference between the sea surface temperature and the capping inversion temperature with marine layer acceleration in an expansion fan. A greater potential temperature difference across the top of the marine layer also causes more energy to be trapped in the marine layer, instead of escaping upward. The thermally driven flow resulting from differential heating over land in the greater Los Angeles, California, coastal and elevated area to the east is not directly related to the wind speed maximum, either in the Santa Barbara Channel or in the open ocean extending farther offshore. The effects of the thermally driven flow extend only to the east of the Santa Barbara Channel. The downslope flow on the south side of the Santa Ynez Mountains that is generated by winds crossing the Santa Ynez Mountain ridge contributes neither to the high-speed wind maximum in the Santa Barbara channel nor to that extending farther offshore. Fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University–NCAR Mesoscale Model (MM5) simulations do support a weak leeside flow in the upper portions of the Santa Ynez Mountains. The larger Channel Islands have a significant effect on the marine layer flow and the overwater wind structure. One major effect of the Santa Barbara Channel Islands is the extension of the zone of high-speed winds farther to the south than would otherwise be the case.

Geochemical characterization of tarballs on beaches along the California coast. Part I— Shallow seepage impacting the Santa Barbara Channel Islands, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa and San Miguel

Tarballs are common along the southern California coastline. This study investigates tarballs from beaches along this coastline, with a focus on Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, and San Miquel Islands in the Santa Barbara Channel. The tarballs were fingerprinted using biomarker and stable carbon isotope parameters, and then grouped according to genetic similarities. The data show that the tarballs are of natural and not anthropogenic origin and that all originate from source rock within the Miocene Monterey Formation via shallow seeps offshore. Sterane biomarker parameters were found to vary widely in the sample set. Biodegradation, especially of the regular steranes, is the primary process impacting the biomarker distributions in a large group of samples. The most common tarball occurrences appear to come from offshore seepage near the west end of Santa Cruz Island. Another major group most likely was transported north from near Santa Monica Bay. Several individual occurrences of some of these tarball groups also were found on beaches as far north as Pt. Reyes and as far south as San Diego, indicating significant long-distance dispersal by ocean currents. This study begins a library of tarball fingerprints to be used as a database to help distinguish between natural and anthropogenic tar occurrences all along the California coast, and to compare shallow seepage with future samples of deeper production oils from the same area.

Health in Prehistoric Populations of the Santa Barbara Channel Islands

Skeletal remains from the Santa Barbara Channel Islands, California were analyzed to evaluate the health consequences of an economic shift from a generalized maritime hunting-and-gathering adaptation to one focused increasingly on fishing. Changes in stature and in the frequency of inflammatory bone lesions suggest that health generally declined during this economic shift. This occurred despite an increase in the protein content of the diet. These data provide a basis for evaluating the significance of protein deficiency as a cause of the deterioration in health seen with the development of intensive agriculture.

The Santa Barbara Channel Islands Bladelet Industry

AbstractThere is a massive bladelet production industry coming to light on the northern Santa Barbara Channel Islands of California. This industry operated ca. A.D. 900-1785 and underwent several culturally and technologically significant changes through its prehistory. Density of bladelet cores, manufacturing detritus, and bladelets found within village middens and on surfaces of chert quarry sites appears to exceed in volume finds at any other known microblade sites in North America. The bladelet makers during the latter half of this time span were very likely genuine craft specialists.

The Reverend Stephen Bowers: "Curiosity Hunter of the Santa Barbara Channel Islands"

The Reverend Stephen Bowers: "Curiosity Hunter of the Santa Barbara Channel Islands"

Developments in West Coast Area in 1974

Exploratory activity in Washington declined. Four wells were drilled in the Grays Harbor area; none was successful. The only exploratory activity in Oregon was some leasing in the Coast Range south of Eugene. A deeper pool discovery at the Tule Elk field was the only significant new discovery in California. Several small gas discoveries were made in the Sacramento Valley. Development drilling in California nearly doubled the 1973 rate. Seismic activity increased onshore in the Sacramento and northern San Joaquin Valley and offshore south of the Santa Barbara Channel Islands where an OCS lease sale is expected in 1975.

Developments in West Coast Area in 1973

Exploratory activity in Washington declined. One exploratory well in Oregon was drilled during the year. Exploratory drilling in California increased moderately over 1972. Most of the increase was in wells drilled primarily to find gas. The number of wells drilled in California was less than in any year since 1942. New oil and gas discoveries reversed the trend of the past several years and showed a significant increase in the volume of reserves discovered. There were 5 significant oil discoveries, but no new oil-field discoveries, and 9 significant gas discoveries made in California. Exploration activity was high in the Sacramento Valley and in the Outer Basins area south of the Santa Barbara Channel Islands. A campaign of deep drilling was initiated in California which ill continue in 1974. Geothermal exploration continued in northern California. One geothermal test was drilled in south-central Oregon. The Geysers became the world's largest producer of geothermal power. Testing continued in the Imperial Valley to determine if highly saline and lower temperature reservoir fluids can become a commercial source of power.

Indo-Australian insular elephants.

Various Pleistocene dwarfed elephants known from the islands of Celebes, Flores and Timor in the eastern part of the Malay Archipelago are described and their relationships considered. It is evident that these pygmy forms arose independently on each of the islands as a result of isolation and genetic drift favouring small size as in the better-known cases of the Mediterranean and Santa Barbara Channel Islands dwarf species. The dispersal possibilities of elephants are discussed; the conclusion must be drawn that geographic spacing has been the prime factor in species formation. Idle or fruitless speculations about ecological or other non-morphological species criteria have been omitted; the taxonomy of proboscideans as far as needed in the present context is however elucidated. It is pointed out that wherever we find pygmy elephants we have also giant rodents; in these presumably small isolated populations giganticism in small rodents appears to have been as advantageous to the animals as is dwarfing in elephants. As neither the exact date of colonization nor that of the eventual extinction (brought about by man or otherwise) is known, we have no means of knowing how many generations were involved; it is, however, likely that evolutionary velocity has been higher under these conditions than is usual.

Curved Single-Piece Fishhooks of Shell and Bone in California

Notwithstanding the numerous published works which have specifically or incidentally treated with the curved fishhooks of California, there is available at present no single source which draws together the accessible information and cites the relevant bibliography. The present article seeks to remedy this situation and seems justified on the grounds of making available the California data to local workers and to those who are further interested in the near identity of some of the California types with those of the Chilean coast in South America, on the one hand, and with those of the Oceanian area, on the other. Within North America the distribution of single-piece curved bone fishhooks is spotty, and a theoretical problem of historical community of these various occurrences also awaits analysis.Curved hooks of shell and/or bone occur in California in archaeological sites on the Santa Barbara Channel islands (San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz), on the islands farther south and more distant from the mainland shore (San Nicolas, San Clemente, San Miguel), and on the coast from Point Concepcion to Santa Ana.

History of the Santa Cruz Island Grant

The Santa Barbara Channel Islands consist of four islands, Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, and San Miguel. In the order in which they are named, they lie in a line from east to west parallel to the coast line from Point Magu to Point Conception, and are separated from the mainland by the Santa Barbara Channel. The channel was so named by the Vizcaino expedition, which entered it on Saint Barbara's day, 1602. The recently reported purchase of Santa Cruz Island, the largest one of the group, from the owners, the Caire family, or the Santa Cruz Island Company, by Edmund L. Stanton of Los Angeles, for a consideration of something like $i,ooo,ooo, has attracted the attention of persons interested in the history and in the possibilities for development of these large land areas separated from the coast. Santa Cruz Island is twenty miles long, an average of four miles wide and has a shoreline of not less than fifty-three miles. On the north side near the middle shore, there is a deep curve forming a roadstead called Prisoners' Harbor since 1829, when the citizens of Santa Barbara sent some thirty criminals to Santa Cruz to rid themselves of the worst of a group of convicts imposed upon them by the Mexican government. This harbor is located at the opening of a valley where wood and water may be obtained. Anchorage is possible here, but there is no protection from the heavy swells setting in with a northwester. The island is about 1700 feet high, with its southern slope irregular, barren, and destitute of water. The east point of the island is twenty-four miles from Santa Barbara, the west