East Anacapa Island: Landing

The surface of the entire island at East Anacapa is situated atop a plateau well above the sea. To reach the surface of the island, visitors arriving at East Anacapa Island usually arrive via the island's landing and stairs which ascend to the surface of the island.

The surface of Anacapa Island is a plateau far above the surface of the channel. To get to the surface of the island from the landing, the visitor must climb onto a dock and a landing and navigate 154 concrete and metal steps to the top of the platform. These are shown below.

The Island Packer craft is seen below arriving at the dock in the harbor at Anacapa Island.

A view toward the top of the stairs at the landing is shown below.

The small harbor at the East Anacapa Landing has a small example of the kelp beds which surround the Channel Islands. Kelp--the plant known as macrocystis pyrifera is a very large type of alga which is nourished by the cold, nutrient rich water found in the island's marine environs. These giant plants, which may reach a height of 200 feet, may grow two feet a day, one of the fastest growing plants on earth. The plants are anchored to rocks on the bottom, but with no root system. The kelp's fronds rise to the surface where they are suspended by gas-filled floats which grow at the base of leafy buds.

The considerable size of the kelp plant provides protection and home for 1000 plant and animal organisms. The surface, or canopy, may serve as a perch for seabirds. Beneath the surface, the kelp hosts fish, sea slugs, brittle stars, lobsters, abalone, and sea urchins. Humans harvest the plants as well, as they provide algin which is used to make ice cream, shampoo, beer, paint, adhesives, and fertilizer.

Channel Island National Park provides significant protection for these plants. 40% of kelp beds which still remain in the Southern California area are now found in the national park. Kelp forests cover only 50% of the area off the coast of southern California as were covered at the turn of the twentieth century.

The landing above the dock, shown above, and the kelp beds in the small harbor, provide a special source of information for visitors. Rangers don scuba gear and carry video cameras and microphones underwater, exploring the kelp bed and the cliffs beneath the water. Visitors sit on the landing watching the camera feed on monitors, listening to divers below and above water rangers explaining the wonders of the bed.

The top of the stairway area is shown below from the surface of the island.