CHANNEL ISLANDS : Marine Sanctuary to Mark 10th Year
The Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary will celebrate its 10th anniversary Saturday and Sunday with Chumash Indian Dolphin Dancers, drawings for sanctuary cruises and free admission to Sea Center, Manager Stephen C. Jameson said.
The Santa Barbara Channel surrounding the Channel Islands was designated a sanctuary by former President Jimmy Carter on Sept. 22, 1980.
Sea Center, a marine museum on Stearns Wharf in Santa Barbara, will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. It has full-scale replicas of a whale, sea creatures including sea horses and starfish to touch and an octopus tank.
The sanctuary patrol vessel XANTU will shuttle people between the Sea Center and the new sanctuary headquarters at the Naval Reserve building in the Santa Barbara harbor.
Jameson said the sanctuary marks the meeting place of a cold current from the north and a warm current from the south, which lures temperate and warm water species to the islands.
The region is rich in nutrients as a result of up-swelling, or deep water rising to the surface, Jameson said. The nutrients attract fish, which in turn attract birds and marine mammals.
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