Santa Catalina Island
| Santa Catalina Island | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Waters | Pacific Ocean | |
| Archipelago | Channel Islands | |
| Geographical location | 33 ° 23 ′ N , 118 ° 26 ′ W | |
|
||
| length | 35 km | |
| width | 13 km | |
| surface | 194.19 km² | |
| Highest elevation | Mount Orizaba 648 m |
|
| Residents | 4096 (2010) 21 inhabitants / km² |
|
| main place | Avalon | |
 |
||
Santa Catalina Island , often just called Santa Catalina or Catalina Island for short , is a rocky island in the Pacific off the coast of California . It was named after St. Katharina (Spanish: Catalina).
The island is 35 km long, 13 km wide and has an area of 194.2 km². It is located about 35 km southwest of San Pedro , Los Angeles and is part of Los Angeles County .
Most of the approximately 4100 residents live in the resort town of Avalon (named after the town of the same name in Arthurian legend ) and the smaller town of Two Harbors ("two ports"). Smaller settlements are Middle Ranch and Rancho Escondido . Most of the island is owned by the Catalina Island Conservancy, a local conservation foundation.
geography
Geographical location
Santa Catalina Island is no longer on the continental plate, but on the Pacific tectonic plate. Therefore the channel between the island and the coast is very deep.
climate
The weather on the island is very sunny. In late autumn and winter, light Santa Ana winds blow and ensure warm days and cool nights.
nature
A herd of bison roamed the island for decades. They were imported in 1920 for a silent film western ( The Vanishing American by Zane Gray ). After the herd had grown to nearly 250 animals, it was decided to occasionally catch a few bison to control their population size, as the bison had destroyed much of the island's native plants.
Most of the bison have been brought to the mainland in recent years. In December 2004, 104 bison were relocated to ranches in South Dakota . This was made possible by a donation from the Cahuilla Indians (California native people) of $ 75,000. In September 2005, around 125 bison remained on the island. Since they are a major tourist attraction, they should remain on the island in this strength.
The island is also home to a population of island gray foxes , an endemic species. 100 bird species are found on the island. The Lummenalk , a small sea bird, breeds on the island . There is a bald eagle - reserve .
About 400 species of only locally occurring plants grow on the island. Some of these plants are protected in Wrigley's Botanical Gardens on the island.
The Catalina Island Conservancy is committed to preserving the island in its natural state. Introduced weeds are eliminated and non-domestic animals away.
history
Before the " discovery of America ", the inhabitants of this island belonged to the Tongva tribe. This settled in the area of today's Los Angeles and had villages on the mainland near today's San Pedro and Playa del Rey . There was regular trade between the mainland and Santa Catalina. The Tongva called the island Pimu or Pimunga.
The Spanish explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo was the first European to set foot on the island on October 7, 1542. He claimed the island for Spain and named it San Salvador. Another explorer, Sebastián Vizcaíno , rediscovered the island on November 24, 1602. He called her Sante Catalina because the next day was St. Catherine’s feast day .
For the next 300 years, the island served as a home and base for a wide variety of visitors - from Russian otter hunters to Spanish smugglers to Chinese pirates . Franciscans (OFM) tried to establish a mission there. However, due to the lack of fresh water on the island, they gave up.
In 1811, the island's seafaring Indians were forcibly relocated to the mainland. Since then, most of the island has been privately owned. By 1830, the island's indigenous people were either dead or relocated to the mainland to work in missions or as ranch workers for numerous private landowners. In 1860, Santa Catalina experienced a brief gold rush. However, since no gold was found, these early attempts at mining on the island were soon abandoned.
In 1864 the US Army sent 83 soldiers to set up an Indian reservation for militant Indians on Santa Catalina . The project was never completed, but the housing they built was preserved as a monument to the American Civil War .
At the end of the 19th century, the island was almost uninhabited apart from a few herds of cattle. At that time, Santa Catalina began developing as a vacation spot. After all, Los Angeles went through a period of strong growth. Los Angeles had about 50,000 inhabitants in 1890 and was only 35 km away.
The sons of Phineas Banning (1830–1885; American entrepreneur; "Father of the Port of Los Angeles") bought the island in 1891 and founded the Santa Catalina Island Company to convert the island into a vacation spot. Their efforts suffered a severe setback when half of Avalon burned down on November 29, 1915. There were six hotels and many clubs. The First World War also dampened tourism. Eventually the Banning brothers were forced to sell the island. The Banning House Lodge from 1910 can still be visited.
William Wrigley , Jr., heir to a "chewing gum fortune," bought Santa Catalina in 1919 and was committed to the preservation and promotion of the island. In 1921 he sold building lots to expand the town of Avalon. Tourism was boosted in 1929 with the construction of the casino , a beautiful Art Deco dance hall. The dance hall on the upper floor of the casino had space for 6,000 dancers. The glamorous Avalon movie theater with 1150 seats was located on the lower floor. However, the casino never served as a gambling casino. The name comes from the original Italian definition of "casino" and refers to a place for cozy get-togethers.
From 1927 to 1937 pottery and tiles were made on the island, which are now collectibles. The Chicago Cubs baseball team , also owned by Wrigley, used the island for training.
The island's airport , Airport in the Sky ("Flugplatz im Himmel", IATA airport code : AVX; ICAO code : KAVX), was completed in 1946. The runway has a length of 900 meters (3,250 feet) and lies at an altitude of 488 m . Until then, the island could only be reached from the air by seaplane.
Philipp Wrigley transferred his shares in the Santa Catalina Island Company in 1975 to the Catalina Island Conservancy founded by Wrigley, which is committed to the preservation of the island's nature. Catalina Island Conservancy owns 86 percent of the island.
Economy and Infrastructure
tourism
The Mediterranean flair of the port town of Avalon has attracted tourists since 1930. However, most of the interior of the island and the coast remained undeveloped. Today about a million tourists visit the island every year.
Only the town of Avalon can be used by the public without restrictions. Access to the rest of the island is subject to certain regulations. Most of the island is controlled by the Catalina Island Conservancy, a private not-for-profit organization. Under an agreement with Los Angeles County, which includes Santa Catalina, the Catalina Island Conservancy allows daytime hiking and mountain biking with prior approval.
Glass bottom boats go to reefs and shipwrecks. Diving and snorkeling are very popular because of the clear water. The area's waters are known for their schools of flying fish and the bright orange Garibaldi fish . Bus tours are offered to the interior of the island.
After Avalon, the much smaller Two Harbors is the second largest resort on the island. Two Harbors is located northwest of Avalon, on a narrow part of the island, so it has a port on the north coast and one on the south coast. It is an ideal starting point for visitors to the western half of the island. There is a ferry service to San Pedro and Avalon.
The Boy Scouts of America have two campsites north of Two Harbors, Camp Cherry Valley and Camp Emerald Bay. Both camps can be reached via hiking trails or by water taxi from Two Harbors. Guided Discoveries, a nationwide US science education initiative for school children, also runs a camp on Santa Catalina. There, groups of schoolchildren are introduced to marine sciences and environmental studies in a practical way during their school days. In summer there are summer lake camps.
Various tours are offered for tourists, including Buffalo Safari, Kayak Fishing; Kayak and snorkel tour and jeep tours. There are six campsites.
traffic
Santa Catalina can be reached from the mainland by ferry. The journey takes one to two hours (catamaran speedboat or normal).
They operate from the following places on the mainland:
- San Pedro (Catalina Classic Cruises)
- Long Beach (Catalina Explorer)
- Long Beach, San Pedro, Dana Point (Catalina Express)
- Newport Beach ( Catalina Flyer )
Dolphins and whales can often be seen on the crossing . Since the terrorist attacks of September 11th, ferry journeys have been subject to special safety regulations.
The island can also be reached by helicopter. The Iceland Express Helicopters flying from Long Beach and San Pedro in 15 minutes to Pebble Beach, about 1.5 km from Avalon removed.
The registration of vehicles with internal combustion engines is severely restricted on the island. There is a long waiting list for people wanting to bring a car to the island as there is a hard limit of 700 vehicles for the total number of registrations. The average waiting time for approval is 14 years. However, this does not apply to cars that are shorter than 3.05 meters, which applies to the two-seater Smart Fortwo or the Mini , which drive around the island correspondingly frequently. Many residents also use electric golf carts to move around the island. Bicycles are the most common means of transportation.
education
There are four schools on Catalina Island: Avalon Elementary School, Two Harbors Elementary School, Avalon Middle School, and Avalon High School. The schools are part of the Long Beach School District. In addition, thousands of mainland students come each year to study at the Catalina Island Marine Institute.
The University of Southern California's Philip K. Wrigley Institute conducts research and teaching at Two Harbors. It has a laboratory building (3,000 m²), a boarding school, a hyperbaric chamber and a large facility by the sea with docks, piers, helicopter landing pad and diving base . The institute was made possible by a generous donation from the Wrigley family.
Trivia
- From 1894 to 1898 there was a pigeon mail service to the mainland.
- There are newspaper reports from 1919 to 1928 that the amateur archaeologist Ralph Glidden (1881–1968) unearthed countless older human skeletons on this island that were unusually large. They are said to have been exhibited in a museum in Avalon, which is now prohibited by legislation to protect the dead indigenous people. There is also information that these buried natives had light hair and allegedly six fingers (at least according to a photo). You could see these as fantastic stories, especially as this hobby archeology probably destroyed a lot. However, there is already a report in the Pittsburgh Press of July 20, 1913 and in the Daily Telegraph of July 26 of the same year that a German Dr. AW Furstenan had found an 8 foot skeleton there. There are also reports of similar finds on the neighboring islands, so that this part of prehistory has probably not yet been adequately processed.
- In the 1920s and 1930s, Hollywood film teams used the abandoned US Army shelters while turning Santa Catalina Island into a South Seas island for the film Mutiny on the Bounty .
- When Ronald Reagan was on Santa Catalina Island in 1936 as the baseball host of the radio station WHO from Des Moines , Iowa, he successfully took part in a casting for a film role with which the acting career of the future US president began.
- The flying boat Consolidated PBY is nicknamed Catalina, which refers to the Californian island.
- Santa Catalina served as the setting for the feature film Spy in Lace Panties with Doris Day . The port plays an important role in the opening sequence and can be seen again at the end of the film, along with other locations on Santa Catalina.
- Marilyn Monroe lived briefly as a young, married woman on Santa Catalina and worked as a babysitter for her neighbors.
- Several scenes from the movie Chinatown with Jack Nicholson were filmed in Santa Catalina, including a scene where the casino can be seen.
- The actress Natalie Wood died in 1981 during a boat tour off Santa Catalina with her husband Robert Wagner and the actor Christopher Walken .
- The Four Preps reached number 2 in the US with the single 26 Miles (Santa Catalina) in 1958.
- In 2011 the trash horror film Sand Sharks was shot in Santa Catalina.
- The stretch between Santa Catalina and the mainland is one of the Ocean's Seven .
- In 2019 Apple named the version 10.15 of its desktop operating system, released in autumn 2019, based on the name of the island " macOS Catalina ".
Web links
- Official website of the island (English)
- Catalina Guide (English)
- Catalina Island Conservancy (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-rare-deep-sea-oarfish-found-20150603-story.html
- ↑ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/03/oarfish-california-catalina-island_n_7501648.html
- ↑ Airport in the Sky ( Memento of the original from January 21, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Santa Catalina: Die Insel der Autozwerge in: Spiegel Online , online , accessed on January 19, 2014.
- ↑ macOS Catalina. Retrieved December 25, 2019 (German).
