Prince Island

Lying some 300 meters (1,000 feet) offshore near the mouth of the Smith River and surrounded by smaller rocks, this is an important rookery for a number of sea birds. Colonies of double-crested, pelagic, and Brandt's cormorants, Phalacrocorax auritus, Phalacrocorax pelagicus and Phalacrocorax penicillatus, Western gull, Larus occidentalis, and pigeon guillemots, Cepphus columba, nest on the rock.

Vegetation on the island ranges from a fringe of a Dudleya association, which grows inland from the splash zone and includes Sedum sp. and Plantago sp., to a few grand firs, Abies grandis, and Sitka spruce, Picea sitchensis, in the center of the island. There is also a mixed grass and herb association which includes species of Ranunculus, Iris, Brodiaea, Castilleja, Lupinus, Trifolium, Poa, and Bromus.

The island is essentially round, sloping upward from the east to west, there being a nearly vertical cliff on the western side. It is composed of Franciscan formation rock of the Mesozoic era.

Integrity: Relatively undisturbed.

Use: Private

Ref: Osborne, Timothy, 1971. Survey of Seabird Use of the Coastal Rocks of Northern California from Cape Mendocino to the Oregon Line. Calif. Dept. of Fish and Game, Sacramento. Mimeo. 36 pp.

November 1975