Precipitating Growth: Catalina,s rainy days are welcome
Islands in dry areas
like the Channel
Islands are susecep-
tible to drought and
the •challenges
it brings
BY FRANK HEIN
It's human nature togrumble
when it rains. But anyone who's
lived through a drought season on
Catalina knows that rain is some-
thing to be celebrated here.
While all dry climates rely on
rain, islands are more vulnerable to
shifts in weather. A couple of dry
seasons in a row can really impact
the Island and, unlike mainland
communities, we can't look fur-
ther upstream or a hundred miles
away for another supply of water.
If rain doesn't fall from the sky,
we get pretty thirsty pretty fast.
Of course, every living thing on
this Island is affected by rain. And
December is a great time to see
how true this is. If we receive just
a few good rainfalls, the Island
will green up at an amazing rate.
Plants that went dormant in the
heat of the summer will suddenly
be triggered by moisture, and the
greening begins. But of course you
need rain and light to really get
things going and by early spring
plants respond to the one two
punch with an explosion of life.
When that explosion happens,
all of the birds, insects and ani-
mals living in that habitat come
along for the ride.
But what happens when the
rains don't come?
Catalina's plants and animals
have developed mechanisms and
behaviors to get them through
dry times. Some plants devel-
oped waxy or hairy leaves that
reduce evaporation.
Others can just go dormant and
wait things out. For example, if a
drought gets severe enough, Cata-
lina's oaks can drop all of their
leaves to prevent water from evap-
Orating and then grow new leaves
when the rains return. Plants with
this adaptation are referred to as
"drought deciduous"
Some of our animals can even
get through lean water times on
what's called "metabolic water."
That means they can get much
(and in some cases, all) of the wa-
ter they need from just the food
they eat. Our Catalina Island foxes
will switch their diet in the dry
Bush sun-
flowers seen
from a view
ovedooking
Uttle Harbor
and Shark.
Harbor.
The vitality
of Catalina's
flower and
plant life
blooms into
view follow-
ing rains that
sustain the
Island's eco-
systems.
Photo
courtesy
of the
Catalina
Island -
Conservancy
season and eat more
moisture-rich cactus fruits until
the rains bring relief.
Frank Hein is director of edu-
cation for the Catalina Island
Conservancy.
Three ocean earthquakes rattle Catalina Island
BY CHARLES M. KELLY
Three earthquakes off the Cali-
fornia coast shook Catalina Island
in a 24-hour period last week.
The most recent was reported
as a 3.5 quake which struck the
ocean floor 163 miles southwest of
the Island "at approximately 9:39
a.m., Friday, Dec. 14, according to
the US Geological Survey.
An earlier pair of quakes,
which struck about 14 minutes
apart, measured 4.7 and a whop-
ping 63 magnitude.
The epicenter of this cluster of
quakes was about 163 miles south-
west of Avalon.
"The December 14, 2012 M 6.3
• earthquake 250 km southwest of
"Avalon, California, oCcurred as a
result of shallow normal faulting
within the oceanic lithosphere of
the Pacific Plate," said the Geo-
logical Survey website.
The term plate refers to "tech-.
tonic" plates, meaning large seg,
ments of the Earth's crust.
"While the broad region sur-
rounding the December 14, 2012
event experiences frequent earth-
quakes along the San Andreas
and associated faults in southern
California, the area offshore and
within 250 km of this earthquake
has not hosted any events greater
than M 6 over the past 40 years,"
the website said.
"The largest nearby earth-
quake was a M 5.1 event 200 km
to the northeast in June of 2004,
80 km west of the border between
the US and Baja California," the
website said.
"This event is located some
400-450 km west-southwest of
the plate boundary between the
Pacific and North America plates
- the San Andreas fault system
in southern California - and is
not associated with that fault sys-
tem" the US Geological Survey
website said.
None of the quakes causec any
serious damage. In fact, nany
people were apparently unaware
of them.
Fire Chief/City Manager Steve
Hoefs said there was zero impact
on the community.
"I think about only, from what
I can gather, maybe 20 percent of
the people felt it," Hoefs said.
He said most people slept right
through the quakes.
Hoefs said if the quakes had
struck at about 3 p.m., a lot of peo-
ple who have felt them.
Early earthquake magnitude re-
ports are preliminary and subject
Earthquakes, Page 9
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2 i Friday, December 21, 2012 me
