San Juan Islands
The San Juan Islands is an archipelago in the Pacific Northwest of the United States between the U.S. state of Washington and Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The San Juan Islands are part of Washington state, and form the core of San Juan County.
In the archipelago, four islands are accessible to vehicular and foot traffic via the Washington State Ferries system.[1][2]
The San Juan Islands are most well known for being the stage of the Pig War of 1859.
History
The Gulf of Georgia Culture Area encompasses the San Juan and
The Spanish explorer
The Vancouver Expedition, led by George Vancouver, explored the area in 1792 while a Spanish expedition led by Dionisio Alcalá Galiano and Cayetano Valdés y Flores was also exploring. The British and Spanish ships met and cooperated in exploring the north. Vancouver encountered other Spanish ships and traded information, so he was aware of the names given by the Spanish expedition and kept them, although he renamed some features, such as the Strait of Georgia.
The United States Exploring Expedition, led by Charles Wilkes, explored the region in 1841. Wilkes named many coastal features after American heroes of the War of 1812 or members of his crew, possibly unaware of the already existing Spanish names and charts.
Henry Kellett led a project in 1847 to reorganize the official charts of the region for the British Admiralty. The project only applied to British territory, which at the time included the San Juan Islands but not Puget Sound. Kellett removed most of the names given by Wilkes and kept British and Spanish names, sometimes moving Spanish names to replace those given by Wilkes. As a result, Wilkes' names are common in Puget Sound and Spanish names are rare, while the opposite is true for the San Juan and Gulf Islands. Wilkes had named the San Juan Islands the Navy Archipelago and individual islands after U.S. naval officers, such as Rodgers Island for San Juan Island, "Chauncey" for Lopez Island, and Hull Island for Orcas Island. Some of Wilkes' names, such as Shaw, Decatur, Jones, Blakely, and Sinclair, named after American naval officers, survived Kellett's editing.[6]
Border dispute
In 1843, the
In 1855, Washington Territory levied a property tax on properties of the Hudson's Bay Company on San Juan Island, which the HBC refused to pay. This led to a dispute with the
Post-border dispute
The surrounding bodies of water, including Puget Sound and the Straits of Georgia and Juan de Fuca, were recognized collectively as the Salish Sea, by the United States in 2009 and by Canada in 2010.[9]
Ecology
The islands were heavily logged in the nineteenth century, but now have an extensive second-growth
The San Juan Islands host the greatest concentration of
The islands are famous for their resident pods of
Before 1850, most of the freshwater on the islands was held in beaver (Castor canadensis) ponds, although the aquatic mammal was extirpated by Hudson's Bay Company fur stations at Fort Langley and San Juan Island. Remnants of beaver dams number in the hundreds across the archipelago. Gnawed stumps and beaver sign are now seen on Orcas and other islands, and recolonization by this keystone species is likely to lead to increased abundance and diversity of birds, amphibians, reptiles and plants.[15] In spring 2011 a pair of beaver appeared at Killebrew Lake on Orcas Island, but were killed to avoid flooding a phone company switch box buried under Dolphin Bay Road. These beaver likely swam from the mainland and could have recolonized the islands.
In the 1890s non-native
On the islands is the San Juan Islands National Monument with 75 sections.[21]
Geography
The
At mean high tide, the San Juan Islands comprise over 400 islands and rocks, 128 of which are named, and over 478 miles (769 km) of shoreline.[24]
The majority of the San Juan Islands are quite hilly, with some flat areas and valleys in between, often quite fertile. The tallest peak is Mount Constitution, on Orcas Island, at an elevation of 2,407 feet (734 m).[25] The coastlines are a mix of sandy and rocky beaches, shallow inlets and deep harbors, placid coves and reef-studded bays. Gnarled, ochre-colored madrona trees[26] (Arbutus) grace much of the shorelines, while evergreen fir and pine forests cover large inland areas.[27][28]
The San Juan Islands get substantially less rainfall than Seattle, about 65 miles (105 km) to the south, due to their location in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains to the southwest.[29] Summertime high temperatures are around 70 °F (21 °C), while average wintertime lows are in the high 30s and low 40s Fahrenheit (around 5 degrees Celsius). Snow is infrequent in winter, except for the higher elevations, but the islands are subject to high winds at times; those from the northeast sometimes bring brief periods of freezing.[30][31]
Present
In the present, the San Juan Islands are an important tourist destination, with sea kayaking and orca whale-watching (by boat or air tours) being two of the primary attractions. San Juan Island's Lime Kiln Point State Park is a prime whale-watching site, with knowledgeable interpreters often on site.[32][33][34][35]
Politically, the San Juan Islands comprise by definition, San Juan County, Washington.[36][37][38]
Media based in and/or concerning the islands includes the Journal of the San Juan Islands and the Islands' Sounder.
Generally speaking, the resident population of San Juan County is well educated. In the period 2016 to 2020, 51.7 percent of the resident population aged 25 and up have earned a bachelor’s degree or attained a higher level of formal education. Statewide, 36.7 percent of the adult population have a bachelor’s degree or higher.[39]
Transportation
There are no bridges to the San Juan Islands; therefore, all travel from the mainland is either by water or by air.[40]
Water
Four ferry systems serve some of the San Juan Islands.
- Washington State Ferries serves Lopez Island, Shaw Island, Orcas Island, and San Juan Island from terminals in Anacortes, Washington, and Sidney, British Columbia.[2]
- Puget Sound Express provides passenger-only service from Port Townsend, on the northeast corner of the Olympic Peninsula, to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island.
- M/V San Juan Clipper of Seattle, Washington.[41]
Passenger-only ferries serve more islands. Passenger-only ferry service is usually seasonal and offered by private business.
- San Juan Cruises offers charter service to Blakely Island, Orcas Island, Lopez Island and daily seasonal service to San Juan Island from the Bellingham Cruise Terminal in Bellingham, Washington.
- North Shore Charters provides high-speed water taxi service to all of the main San Juan Islands.
Air
Air service to the San Juan Islands is provided by the following:
- Kenmore Air (to and from Roche Harbor, Orcas Island, Seattle/Boeing Field, Seattle/Lake Union)
- San Juan Airlines (to and from Anacortes, Bellingham, Eastsound (Orcas Island), Lopez Island, Blakely, Decatur). They merged with Northwest Sky Ferry,[42] an inter-island carrier serving Bellingham, Anacortes, Friday and Roche Harbors (San Juan Island), Eastsound (Orcas Island) and Lopez, Waldron, Shaw, Stuart, Blakely, Center, Crane, Decatur and Eliza Islands, as well as Seattle.
- Friday Harbor Seaplanes (to and from Renton Municipal Airport/Lake Washington, Friday Harbor and Roche Harbor)
Shipping
The San Juan Islands are surrounded by major shipping channels. Haro Strait, along with Boundary Pass, is the westernmost and most heavily used channel connecting the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Strait of Georgia. It is the main route connecting the
Rosario Strait is also a major shipping channel. More than 500 oil tankers pass through the strait each year, to and from the Cherry Point Refinery and refineries near Anacortes.[44] The strait is in constant use by vessels bound for Cherry Point, Bellingham, Anacortes, and the San Juan Islands. Vessels bound for British Columbia or Alaska also frequently use it in preference to the passages farther west, when greater advantage can be taken of the tidal currents.[43]
List of islands
This list includes only those islands that are part of San Juan County as defined by the USGS, bounded by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Haro Strait, Rosario Strait, Boundary Pass, and the Strait of Georgia.[22] 2016 populations estimates for inhabited islands are in parentheses, though some have major seasonal changes.[45] Islands protected as state parks are marked with an asterisk. Additional small rocks are listed at San Juan Islands National Monument.
- Aleck Rocks
- Alegria Island (aka Little Double Island)
- Armitage Island
- Bare Island
- Barnes Island
- Barren Island
- Battleship Island
- Bell Island
- Big Rock
- Bird Rock
- Bird Rocks
- Black Rock
- Blakely Island(42)
- Blind Island (Lopez)
- Blind Island *
- Boulder Island
- Brown Island (21)
- Buck Island
- Cactus Islands
- Canoe Island
- Castle Island
- Cayou Island (aka Rum Island)
- Cemetery Island
- Center Island (20)
- Charles Island
- Clark Island *
- Cliff Island
- Cluster Islands
- Colville Island
- Coon Island
- Crab Island
- Crane Island (10)
- Deadman Island
- Decatur Island (89)
- Dinner Island
- Doe Island*
- Double Island
- Ewing Island
- Fawn Island
- Flattop Island
- Flower Island
- Fortress Island
- Freeman Island
- Frost Island
- Geese Islets
- Giffin Rocks
- Goose Island
- Gossip Island
- Gull Rock
- Guss Island
- Hall Island
- Harnden Island
- Henry Island (27)
- Iceberg Island
- Iowa Rock
- James Island *
- Johns Island (5)
- Jones Island *
- Justice Island
- Little Patos Island
- Little Sister Island
- Little Sucia Island
- Lone Tree Island
- Long Island
- Lopez Island (2,466)
- Low Island
- Matia Island *
- McConnell Island
- Mummy Rocks
- Nob Island
- North Finger Island
- North Peapod Island
- O'Neal Island
- Oak Island
- Obstruction Island(14)
- Orcas Island (5,395)
- Patos Island *
- Peapod Rocks
- Pearl Island (11)
- Picnic Island (aka Sheep Island)
- Pointer Island
- Pole Island
- Posey Island *
- Puffin Island
- Ram Island
- Reads Bay Island
- Reef Island
- Reef Point Island
- Richardson Rock
- Rim Island
- Ripple Island
- Saddlebag Island*
- San Juan Island (7,810)
- Satellite Island
- Secar Rock
- Sentinel Island
- Shag Rock
- Shaw Island (241)
- Skipjack Island
- Skull Island (Lopez)
- Skull Island
- Small Island
- South Finger Island
- South Peapod Island
- Spieden Island
- Stuart Island (11) *
- Sucia Island (4) *
- Swirl Island
- The Sisters
- Tift Rocks
- Trump Island
- Turn Island *
- Twin Rocks
- Vendovi Island
- Victim Island
- Waldron Island (109)
- Wasp Islands
- Whale Rocks
- White Rocks
- Willow Island
- Yellow Island
See also
- List of islands of Washington (state)
- Islands portal
- Pacific Northwest portal
References
- ^ "WSDOT – Ferries".
- ^ a b San Juan Islands Route Map Archived October 11, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Washington State Ferries
- ISBN 978-0-295-97957-1. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
- ^ "Lime Kiln and Cattle Point Lighthouses (San Juan Island)", HistoryLink, Seattle: History Ink
- ISBN 0-295-95158-3.
- ISBN 0-295-95158-3.
- OCLC 697901687. Archived from the originalon May 27, 2011. Retrieved June 22, 2011.
- ^ The northwest boundary: discussion of the water boundary question : geographical memoir of the islands in dispute and history of the military occupation of San Juan Island, accompanied by map and cross-sections of channels ..., pp. 3–5, United States Dept. of State, Northwest Boundary Commission, 1868
- ^ "Salish Sea". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
- ^ Rebecca Smith (March 30, 2015). "Bald Eagles". San Juan Island National Historical Park Washington. National Park Service.
- ISBN 978-0-9753068-1-9.
- ^ Mapes, Lynda V. (March 14, 2007). "Volunteers returning bluebirds to old nesting grounds". Seattle Times. Retrieved July 3, 2011.
- ^ "Biodiversity and the Salish Sea". Archived from the original on February 23, 2010. Retrieved July 3, 2011.
- ^ "Canis lupus, Specimen #A3438". Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
- ^ Barsh, Russel; Murphy, Madrona (2008). "Wetland engineers" (PDF). Islands Weekly. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 9, 2022. Retrieved July 3, 2011.[permanent dead link]
- ^ .
- ^ "Enhydra lutis Specimen #188633". Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Retrieved July 9, 2011.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Scott Richardson; Harriet Allen (2000). Washington State Recovery Plan for the Sea Otter (PDF) (Report). Olympia, Washington: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 23, 2012. Retrieved July 3, 2011.
- ^ Daniel Pauly; Tony J. Pitcher; David Preikshot (1998). "Back to the Future: Reconstructing the Strait of Georgia Ecosystem" (PDF). Fisheries Centre Research Reports. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 9, 2022. Retrieved July 3, 2011.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Nonnative Species". Kwiaht Center for the Historical Ecology of the Salish Sea. Retrieved July 3, 2011.
- ^ Presidential Proclamation – San Juan Islands National Monument
- ^ a b "San Juan Islands". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved January 31, 2011.
- ^ NOAA. "What is an archipelago?". National Ocean Service. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
- ISBN 978-0-07-142039-6. Retrieved June 23, 2011.
- ^ "Mt. Constitution – Moran State Park".
- ^ "Obstruction Pass Park – Moran State Park".
- ^ "Environmental Factors - San Juan Island National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service)".
- ^ "San Juan Islands Habitat Oregon/Washington BLM". Archived from the original on April 8, 2019. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
- ^ "Olympic Rain Shadow Map and Location".
- ^ "Average Weather at Orcas Island Airport, Washington, United States, Year Round - Weather Spark".
- ^ "Weather - San Juan Island National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service)".
- ^ "Home". visitsanjuans.com.
- ^ "Home". Archived from the original on November 28, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
- ^ "What to See in Washington's San Juan Islands".
- ^ Lime Kiln Point State Park
- ^ "GNIS Detail - San Juan Islands". Archived from the original on April 27, 2020. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
- ^ "Home". sanjuanco.com.
- ^ "Maps | San Juan County, WA".
- ^ "ESDWAGOV - San Juan County profile". esd.wa.gov. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
- ^ "10 Most Frequently Asked Questions about San Juan Island".
- ^ "San Juan Islands Vacation".
- ^ "San Juan Airlines". San Juan Islands.
- ^ a b Strait of Juan De Fuca and Georgia, Washington; Chapter 12 - Coast Pilot 7 - Edition 43, 2011 Archived November 27, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, NOAA
- ISBN 978-0-07-142039-6. Retrieved June 23, 2011.
- ^ "San Juan County Population Forecast". San Juan County. April 11, 2017. Archived from the original on August 6, 2020. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
External links
- Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 24 (11th ed.). 1911. .
- San Juan Islands travel guide from Wikivoyage
- Kwiaht Center for the Historical Ecology of the Salish Sea
- SeaDoc Society, University of California Davis scientific organization doing marine ecosystem research and education in the Salish Sea
- Friday Harbor Laboratories of the University of Washington
- The San Juan Preservation Trust is a private, non-profit and membership-based land trust dedicated to helping people and communities conserve land in the San Juan Islands.