The U.S. Coast Guard continues the hunt today for the last of four men believed to have drowned after their boat capsized off one of the Channel Islands. A Coast Guard helicopter crew discovered three bodies near Platts Harbor of Santa Cruz Island Sunday, which were recovered between 12:30pm and 3pm. more ›

A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows estimates on how much park visitors spent in 2010 along with how many local jobs were sustained in the process. The numbers are quite astounding and prove that our parks serve not just a crucial recreational purpose, but a vital economic function, too. more ›

While Anacapa may cut a harsh profile, it’s also a great place to see flora and fauna in the springtime. The coreopsis flowers that bloom in March and April are so bright that they can be seen from the mainland. more ›

When Tom Gregg went surfing off the coast of France in 2009, he wiped out. But the real bummer was that the fin on his Channel Islands surf board cut a deep gash on his right leg, severing his muscles and causing him permanent damage. Now Gregg is doing something unusual in the world of surfing: he's suing the board manufacturer. more ›

How many fisherman does it take to reel in an 11-foot shortfin mako shark? Four. This mammoth sea beast met its fate during this weekend's shark tournament out of Channel Islands Harbor, as reported by myFox LA. more ›

A small plane crash on Santa Catalina Island Sunday afternoon left three people injured and ignited a brush fire. The incident occurred around 3:40 p.m. when a twin-engine Cessna 310 experienced a failed engine as it left the the island's "Airport in the Sky," crashing about a half-mile away, according to the Associated Press. more ›

There was a few of us who decided to get as close as we could to Arch Rock, one of the symbols of Channel Islands National Park. The waves were breaking dangerously under the 40-foot gateway, but from a couple hundred yards away, it was still a spectacle to watch. Paddling back to the dock at Anacapa Island, I got ahead of our kayking group, but I didn't know how far ahead I was until I heard breathing behind me. And it didn't sound human. more ›

Despite its name, Santa Barbara Island is located off the coast of Los Angeles. At one square mile, it's the smallest of the eight Channel Islands and is one of five included in the National Park. Today, rangers are warning island visitors to swim at their own risk. more ›

Bad news for anyone wanting to see the height of bird season this year on Anacapa Island. The National Park Service yesterday closed Anacapa Island because the staircase, which climbs over 150 steps to access 200-foot high cliffs, has deteriorated into a condition that is no longer safe for the public. more ›

It's just about 11 a.m. and scientists are expected to band two baby bald eagles on Santa Cruz Island, which is 20 miles off the Ventura coast. The event is being broadcast live from the island online here. The bald eagle population within Channel Islands National Park suffered a blow in the 1960s, but recent efforts by the National Park Service and Nature Conservancy have helped bring them back. Today, biologists are banding the chicks by attaching radio and satellite transmitters. Health checks will also be conducted. Background on the chicks can be read here and here. more ›

If you don't mind the wind, it is a vacation paradise. Santa Rosa Island boasts miles of white sand beaches, rare torrey pine forests and beautiful scenery throughout. It's the second largest island off California's coast and is one of the five within Channel Islands National Park. (if you've got 3 minutes and 30 seconds, check out this amazing photo slideshow of the island). more ›

Of the five islands that make up Channel Islands National Park, it's one of the smallest that has some of the biggest problems. 17 miles off the coast of Oxnard is Anacapa Island. The 1.1 square-mile series of three large volcanic rocks that shoot out of the ocean is the birthplace to most all seagulls you see on Southern California beaches and many of the pelicans found throughout the West Coast, as far as Alaska. more ›

Last month, LAist told you that two bald eagles had mated and laid eggs on Santa Cruz Island, one of the five islands in Channel Islands National Park. "Great news," Yvonne Menard, spokesperson for park, exclaimed this afternoon. "We have just had two new chicks hatch at the Pelican Harbor nest on Santa Cruz Island." Thankfully, the eagle nest is under the eye of a live webcam. If you're lucky, you might see the two chicks make an appearance. The re-burgeoning Bald Eagle island population was wiped out when the chemical DDT entered the ocean ecosystem. Santa Cruz Island is located about 20 miles from Ventura Harbor. more ›

The large Dr. Seuss-looking Giant Coreopsis plants only bloom a couple months of the year. That part of the year is now, but these rare plants are not exactly local to everywhere in Southern California. In fact, there are only a handful of places where you can find them in big numbers. One such place is in Malibu at the Point Dume State Preserve, which we showed you last week. But one of the most popular places to view these flowers is on Anacapa Island, one of the five islands within Channel Islands National Park. more ›

Once ousted from Southern California's existence, thanks to the harmful chemical DDT, bald eagles have been making a comeback in Channel Islands National Park since 2002. On the largest island, Santa Cruz, which is about one hours... more ›

A 2.5 microquake struck the seas yesterday morning. It's doubtful that anyone felt it because it was in the middle of the ocean, 81 miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles. But what's fun about its location is its proximity to the four southern Channel Islands. Since the mere presence of islands off the coast of Southern California seems to perplex a lot of people, we thought it was a good moment to at least identify them. more ›

One of the perks of visiting two of the outer islands in Channel Islands National Park is a trip to Painted Cave along the northwest coastline of Santa Cruz Island. The park's main transit vendor, Island Packers, makes a point of doing frequent stops during travels because the park is not just land based, but also miles of protected water in the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. Whales, dolphins and other sea life are often spotted, but one of the most popular attractions from a boaters perspective is Painted Cave. more ›

Yosemite, Sequoia, Joshua Tree. They all win the popularity contests with folks around here. There's good reason for that, but the closest traditional National Park to Los Angeles goes without much notice. That's too bad considering the striking beauty found in Channel Islands National Park. more ›

Thousands may see it from the beaches of Zuma and Malibu, but the experience of the isolated Anacapa Island is a world away, chock full of dramatic views, beautiful sunsets and sunrises and a fascinating history from the Chumash Indians to failed attempts at farming. more ›

The close of summer means more opportunities at California's desert National Parks like Joshua Tree and Mojave (though you might want to wait a few more weeks for Death Valley). But these colder weather months mean limited options at Channel Islands National Park, just off the coast of Ventura and Santa Barbara. more ›

After eight and a half years of nine-to-five work and three Spiderman franchises, Ian Shive had enough. Like most us, we all wish we could just grab a camera and travel to earn a living. But like most of us, we don't. Shive is the exception. more ›

On a recent journey to Channel Islands National Park, just off the coast of Ventura and Santa Barbara, it was a stormy day limiting the accessibility of some sea caves for safety reasons. Of course, we had to go back and pray it was a calm sunny day and this weekend proved to be as such in the caves surrounding Scorpion Anchorage on Santa Cruz Island. more ›

A visit to Channel Islands National Park means an hour or longer boat ride across the Santa Barbara Channel. Your travel takes you over the National Marine Sanctuary where without a doubt--unless the weather is treacherous--you're bound to see some amazing ocean wonders. In two recent trips, we've seen hundreds of dolphins, seals, birds, a whale, a sun fish and last weekend, something very unusual, a feeding frenzy. more ›

The Los Angeles region has many secrets and Channel Islands National Park is one of them. The group of islands off the coast of Ventura and Santa Barbara are easily seen from the crowded beaches of Malibu, but most of those beach goers have never been on the other side. And while it is one of the closest National Parks to the millions who live here, it is also one of the less accessible ones. Boats don't run as consistent as the ferry's to Catalina Island and the sometimes the costs (around $50 roundtrip and up, depending on which island you visit) stop many. more ›

If you didn't know, Los Angeles is placed within quite a rare landscape, biologically speaking that is. There are only six Mediterranean Biomes in the world making up 2% of the world's land area and Southern California's coast and surrounding mountains are part of that. This is one of the reasons why congress in 1978 decided bring in the Santa Monica Mountains and the five northern Channel Islands into the Department of the Interior under the National Park Service. They were named the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and Channel Islands National Park. more ›

As part of the stimulus bill, $750 million was committed to National Parks across the country and California gets 13% of those funds, $10 million of which that will go locally for the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, which extends from Runyon Canyon in Hollywood to the Pacific Ocean in Malibu (read LAist's dossier of the area here). more ›

By the 1960s, America's bird and national symbol could not be found on any of the eight Channel Islands where it had made home before the arrival of humans. Twenty years before, the practice of pouring DDT into the ocean off Palos Verdes Peninsula, mostly at the hands of the Montrose Chemical Corporation, became a 30 year practice resulting in those chemicals going up the marine food chain into Bald Eagles, whose main diet consist of fish. No, it didn't kill the bald eagles, but it was to their eggs--too thin and fragile due to the chemical intrusion, they were easily crushed before the chicks would hatch. Eventually, with no birth cycle, Bald Eagles were gone. more ›

It takes about an hour from the nation's second largest city to drive the 101 Freeway to the Ventura Harbor. With another hour by boat and you're inside one of the less visited National Parks in the country. Welcome to Channel Islands National Park, a group of five protected islands that represent what California looked like before modern humans developed the land, although some of the islands are in recovery after early century farming and other harms to the ecosystem. more ›

Now with President Barack Obama talking about reinvigorating the econony and the job market, there's been a resurgance of an idea of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's: bringing back the Civilian Conservation Corps, the first "emergency agency" that he established. Now there's talk in Congress of bringing it back as part of Obama's economic stimulus plan, according to the LA Times. more ›

Earlier this month, a photograph by a UC Santa Barbara graduate student showed what may have been a very exciting discovery on Santa Cruz Island off the coasts of Ventura and Santa Barbara: a complete tusk of a prehistoric pygmy mammoth. more ›