Cedros Island Totally Explained

Everything about Cedros Island totally explained

Cedros Island (Isla de Cedros, "island of cedars" in Spanish, also called in English Cerros Island in former times) is a Mexican island in the Pacific Ocean.
   It is located off the west coast of the Mexican state of Baja California from which it's separated by 100 km (62 mi)-wide Sebastián Vizcaíno Bay, 22 km (13.5 mi) northwest of Punta Eugenia in Mulegé municipality - the westernmost point of Baja California Sur mainland. It also lies 15 km (9.25 mi) north of Isla Natividad (off Punta Eugenia, and also part of Mulegé) from which it's separated by the Canal de Keller, and some 500 km (310 mi) from of San Diego. The island has an area of 348.295 km² (134.477 mi²), being the fourth-largest island in Mexico (following Tiburón Island, Isla Ángel de la Guarda, and Cozumel). It is part of the Municipality of Ensenada.
   Between Cedros Island and Isla Natividad runs the 28th parallel north, which defines the border between the Mexican states of Baja California and Baja California Sur. The Islas San Benito, about 25 km (16 mi) west and 3.899 km² (1.505 mi²) in area, are administratively part of Cedros Island.
   The Isla de Cedros was named by early Spanish explorers who mistakenly associated the large amounts of redwood and cedar driftwood arriving with the California current for local pines visible on the crest of the island.

Population

It constitutes one of the 24 subdivisions (delegaciones) of the municipio of Ensenada. The 2005 census showed a total population of 1,350 persons. The borough "seat" is Cedros town ("Pueblo Cedros"), on the southern east coast. The second town is Puerto Morro Redondo (short El Morro) (in the southeast corner), and smaller settlements are San Agustín (western south coast, about 20 buildings), and La Colorada (southern west coast, with about 10 buildings).
List of settlements and locations:

Cedros,
Puerto Morro Redondo,
San Agustín,
La Colorada,

Pueblo Cedros is largely associated with Pescadores Nacionales de Abulon, the lobster and abalone fishing cooperative based on the island. Puerto Morro Redondo is a "company town", built by the joint Mexican Government and Mitsubishi Corporation to house the workers of the salt-transshipment facility on the island. Salt from the salt evaporation ponds of Guerrero Negro on the Baja California peninsula is taken, by barge, to a deepwater salt dock near Puerto Morro Redondo, at the south end of Cedros Island, where it's loaded onto ships.
There is regularly scheduled air service to the island from Ensenada, departing every Monday and Wednesday, and landing at an airstrip at the south end, adjacent to the "company town," while a 10 km (6 mi) road leads to "Pueblo Cedros". Open launch rides across the channel between Cedros and the mainland can also be arranged at the Abarrotes Ramales store in Bahia Tortugas, but travellers opting for this transport should be prepared to have a flexible schedule with several extra days in case of inclement weather conditions in the Channel.

History

Isla Cedros was home to some of the earliest occupants of the Pacific Coast of North America, and its later indigenous inhabitants had developed a way of life finely attuned to the conditions of this arid but resource rich island, probably reaching an overall population around 1000-1200 inhabitants by the time of European contact. Currently, archaeological research into the indigenous history of the island is being conducted by researchers from California State University, Northridge and Pomona College, under the direction of Dr. Matthew Des Lauriers. More than 70 archaeological sites have been identified, with several dating in excess of 10,000 years old.
By 1539, when the Spanish expedition led by Francisco de Ulloa landed on the island, they encountered numerous villages with populations at each estimated in the hundreds. These native peoples possessed sophisticated maritime technology and watercraft and depended largely on ocean resources for their livelihood. These peoples were related to the Native American tribes of Southern California, the lower Colorado River, and Western Arizona. They fiercely resisted the Spanish and were never conquered by Europeans, succumbing instead to the introduced diseases brought by the invaders.
Some 300 to 350 years ago, pirates based at the island attacked treasure laden Manila galleons en route from the Philippines to New Spain. Finding it difficult to reach the remaining Indians on the island, Jesuit fathers brought them all to Mission San Ignacio on the Baja California mainland in 1732. Hunters seeking seals and sea otters worked out the island between 1790 and 1850. Gold and copper mining took place near Punta Norte between 1890 and 1917. The fishing village and cannery at Puerto Cedros were established in 1920. The fishing cooperative was founded in 1943, and the deepwater salt dock at the south end of the island was built in 1966. The island was mapped in detail by Mexican and U.S. geologists during the 1970s. For some time, the western side had some cattle ranching.

Natural history

Cedros Island is at most some 38 km (24 mi) long in N-S direction and 6.4-8 km (4-5 mi) wide in the northern half; the southern end is some 17 km (11 mi) wide in a NW-SE direction. The island is of volcanic origin; it rises to a highest elevation of 1,205 meters (3,949 feet) at Monte Cedros.
   The island is often shrouded in fog, so that some plants have adapted to receiving moisture from fog. The west side of the island is windswept and subject to heavy surf; Pacific hurricanes hit isn't unusual. The lower elevations, in particlular the south, receive very little rainfall, and desert vegetation prevails. At higher elevations and in the north, there are trees like Quercus cedrosensis live oaks, California Juniper, and Monterey Pines. Springs on the island are usually marked by groves of palm trees.
   Large sea lion colonies are found on the rocks on the west side as well as the anchorage on the north end.
   There are feral goats on Cedros. Unlike on other islands in the region (notably Guadalupe Island), they don't seem to have had a significant impact in the island ecosystem. This would be due to the fact that Cedros is on the continental shelf close to the coast, and at least temporarily, it must have been connected to the mainland during the last ice age when sea levels were lower than today. Then, and as a consequence of this, there are native to Cedros herbivores, which on one hand compete with the goat population for food and presumably have kept it from increasing beyond carrying capacity, and on the other hand forced the native plants to keep their defences against herbivores, unlike plants on megaherbivoreless islands which tend to lack those defences.

Endemism

Cedros Island is home to a number of taxa that are endemic to or occur in very few places outside the island. These include:
Animals:

Cedros Side-blotched Lizard, Uta stansburiana concinna - endemic

Cedros Island Bewick's Wren, Thryomanes bewickii cerroensis - near-endemic

Cedros Island Mule Deer, Odocoileus hemionus cerrosensis - endemic

Cedros Island Brush Rabbit, Sylvilagus bachmani cerrosensis - endemic

Cedros Island Cactus Mouse, Peromyscus eremicus cedrosensis - endemic
Plants:

Cryptantha maritima var. cedrosensis - endemic

Dudleya cedrosensis - endemic

Dudleya pachyphytum - endemic

Eriogonum molle - endemic

Harfordia macroptera ssp. fruticosa - endemic

Leptodactylon veatchii - endemic

Lotus cedrosensis - endemic

Mammillaria goodridgei var. goodridgei - endemic

Mammillaria goodridgei var. rectispina - endemic

Mimulus stellatus - endemic

Monardella thymifolia - endemic

Penstemon cedrosensis - endemic

Pinus radiata var. binata (Guadalupe Island Monterey Pine) - near-endemic; possibly separable as var./ssp. cedrosensis and in this case endemic

Porophyllum cedrense - endemic

Quercus cedrosensis (Cedros Island Oak) - near-endemic

Rhus integrifolia var. cedrosensis - endemic

Senecio cedrosensis - endemic

Verbesina hastata - endemic

Xylonagra arborea ssp. arborea - endemicFurther Information

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