The Magic of Catalina and Its Unique Aspects

Have you ever been to Santa Catalina Island? It's one of the Channel Islands located off the coast of Southern California. Often simply called Catalina, the island is located about 22 miles southwest of San Pedro. Above we see Catalina's Avalon Bay.

Catalina is home to more than 20 endemic plants and animals. This means that some of its plants and animals are found only on the island and nowhere else in the world. Here are some of them.

The Catalina ironwood is a tree that used to be found on the mainland but has since disappeared.

The Catalina mahogany (also called Trask's mahogany) is a tree that was discovered by naturalist Blanche Trask. There are currently only seven of them growing in a remote part of the island.

St. Catherine's lace is a plant that has beautiful colors that change with the seasons.

The Avalon hairstreak is a wonderful little butterfly that feeds on the nectar of laurel sumac and St. Catherine's lace.

The Catalina or beechey ground squirrel can be seen just about everywhere. Catalina is the only Channel Island that has squirrels.

The Catalina Island fox is in the midst of a comeback. In 1999, there were 1,300 foxes on the island, but a bad disease killed all but about 100 of them. Through the work of animal doctors and other scientists, there are now about 400 of them on Catalina.

For more information about the endemic plants and animals of Catalina Island, you can call the Catalina Island Conservancy's education department at (310) 510-0954 or visit http://www.catalinaconservancy.org.