NW Talcott

Click here for Long-Term trends

Click here for Biodiversity Survey findings

NW Talcott is located in the Northern Channel Islands, within the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, on Santa Rosa Island, California. This site is located in an Area of Special Biological Significance (San Miguel, Santa Rosa, and Santa Cruz Islands ASBS) in Channel Islands National Park. The surf break here is popular with commercial divers who surf and good conditions will attract several boats. The rocks here are gray Monterey shale forming very flat reefs and rocky outcrops. Even in rough seas, most of this site is protected because of its extensive reef flat. A narrow sand beach above the reef flat is backed by a vertical cliff.  Surfaces tend to be close to horizontal or vertical here.

NW Talcott is dominated by a mixture of consolidated monterey shale bedrock and boulder fields, and the area surrounding the site is comprised of a mixture of consolidated bedrock, boulder fields, and sandy beach. The primary coastal orientation of this site is north.

Long-Term Monitoring Surveys at NW Talcott were established in 1986, and are done by Channel Islands National Park. Long-Term MARINe surveys currently target the following species: Chthamalus/Balanus (Acorn Barnacles), Mytilus (California Mussel), Silvetia (Golden Rockweed), Endocladia (Turfweed), and Phyllospadix (Surfgrass). In addition, motile invertebrates, mussel size structure, and water temperature are monitored at this site. Click here to view Long-Term trends at this site.

Biodiversity Surveys were done by University of California Santa Cruz in 2001 and 2004. The Biodiversity Survey grid encompasses one section that is approximately 30 meters (along shore) x 15 meters (seaward). This section does not overlap the Long-Term Monitoring Surveys at this site. Click here to view Biodiversity Survey findings at this site.

For more information about NW Talcott, please contact Stephen Whitaker (stephen_whitaker@nps.gov).