Point Lobos and the Point Lobos State Natural Reserve is a state park in Central California, on the Pacific coast between the Carmel highlands and Big Sur. Adjoining Point Lobos is "one of the richest marine habitats in California", which is safeguarded by two marine protected areas: Point Lobos State Marine Conservation Area and the Point Lobos State Marine Reserve. (See below) The sea near Point Lobos is considered one of the best locations for scuba diving on the Monterey Peninsula and along the California coast.
Point Lobos is just south of Carmel-by-the-Sea, and at the north end of the Big Sur coast of the Pacific Ocean. Point Lobos features a number of hiking trails, many alongside the ocean, and a smaller number of beaches. The historic Whalers Cabin, built by Chinese fishermen and later used by Japanese and Portuguese fishermen, is now a museum.
In 1896, the Carmelo Land and Coal Company subdivided the land into 1,000 lots and named the prospective development "Carmelito". Then-engineer Alexander Allan began purchasing the land and over many years bought back the lots that had been sold and eliminated the subdivision. Although Allen resisted the idea of turning the point into a public park, his family sold the vast majority of the land to the state of California in 1933, three years after his death. Two additional parcels have been added since.
, more than one million annual visitors from around the world visited Point Lobos, which is restricted by only 150 on-site parking spaces. The majority of visitors must park on the shoulder of Highway 1 and walk into the reserve.
Geography and natural features
The Point Lobos contains a rich and diverse plant and animal life both on shore and in the water. It was called the "greatest meeting of land and water in the world" by Australian-born landscape artist Francis McComas.
The Carmel submarine canyon lies just north of Point Lobos. Like Monterey Canyon to the north the canyon provides cold, nutrient-rich water to the surface during upwelling events. These nutrient-rich waters fuel the high primary productivity seen in Carmel and Monterey Bays, which in turn support the high diversity of life observed in the water and on land at Point Lobos.
Point Lobos is one of only two places where the Monterey Cypress are native.C.Michael Hogan and Michael P. Frankis. 2009. Monterey Cypress: Cupressus macrocarpa, GlobalTwitcher.com ed. N. Stromberg The waters around Point Lobos contain extensive kelp forests.
Recreation and visitor impact The reserve has several miles of trails. Visitors can view the coastal scenery, explore the coast, and picnic. California's marine protected areas encourage recreational and educational uses of the ocean. The quality of the underwater environment in the adjacent marine protected areas draws a large number of scuba divers. Whaler's Cove is often used by divers to begin their dives.Department of Fish and Game. California Fish and Game Code section 2853 (b)(3) Marine Life Protection Act. Retrieved December 18, 2008. Other activities include kayaking, snorkeling, and diving. The large number of visitors is causing erosion in some places. The Point Lobos Foundation has coordinated volunteer days with the goal of planting hundreds of native species to restore eroded areas. Point Lobos State Natural Reserve is planning to reduce overcrowding by requiring visitors to obtain reservations at peak times.Big Sur plea: Tourists, honor our home
Marine Protected Areas
The original Point Lobos Ecological Reserve was created in 1973. It has become "one of the richest marine habitats in California". Divers may not take any fish or mollusks within the reserve. The Point Lobos marine protected areas provide shelter to a wide range of fish, invertebrates, birds, and marine mammals, from those that rely on the near-shore kelp forest to those that inhabit the deep waters of the Carmel Submarine Canyon.Department of Fish and Game. "Appendix O. Regional MPA Management Plans". Master Plan for Marine Protected Areas (approved February 2008). Retrieved December 18, 2008.
In 2007, the California Department of Fish and Game expanded the ecological reserve and renamed it as the Point Lobos State Marine Reserve and Point Lobos State Marine Conservation Area. A no-take zone was extended from the east side of Monastery Beach to the mouth of MalPaso Creek. They were two of 29 marine protected areas adopted during the first phase of the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative, a collaborative public process to create a statewide network of marine protected areas along the California coastline.
State Marine Reserve Point Lobos SMR covers 5.36 square miles.California Department of Fish and Game. California Marine Life Protection Act Initiative Summary of Central Coast MPAs as Adopted by the California Fish and Game Commission Retrieved on December 22, 2008. The SMR protects all marine life within its boundaries. Fishing and take of all living marine resources is prohibited.California Department of Fish and Game".Online Guide to California’s Central Coast Marine Protected Areas Retrieved on December 18, 2008.
State Marine Conservation Area Point Lobos SMCA covers 8.83 square miles. Harvest of all living marine resources is prohibited in the conservation area except the recreational and commercial take of salmon, albacore, and the commercial take of spot prawn.
Scientific monitoring As specified by the Marine Life Protection Act, select marine protected areas along California's central coast are monitored by scientists to track their effectiveness and learn more about ocean health. Similar studies in marine protected areas located off of the Santa Barbara Channel Islands have already detected gradual improvements in fish size and number.Castell, Jenn, et al. How do patterns of abundance and size structure differ between fished and unfished waters in the Channel Islands? Results from SCUBA surveys. Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans (PISCO) at University of California, Santa Barbara and University of California, Santa Cruz; Channel Islands National Park. Retrieved December 18, 2008.
Whaling Station Museum
The historic Whalers Cabin at Whaler's Cove was constructed in the 1850s to house Chinese and later Japanese fishermen. The Chinese used locally sourced pine and redwood for siding. The floor was originally dirt. The floor joists are supported by six whale vertebrae that rest on granite blocks quarried nearby. Originally, the floor was packed earth. There were originally about 10 cabins around the cove. The cabin may have been used by Portuguese whalers from the Azores, who harpooned whales off the coast and hauled their carcasses onshore at the cove. The Carmel Whaling Company operated from 1862 to 1879. From 1854 to the end of shore-based whaling in about 1900, there were only 16 shore whaling stations in California, with about 300 men involved. When less expensive kerosene oil was introduced in about 1880, whaling fell off. Whaling was briefly reintroduced by the Japanese Whaling Company from 1898 to 1900.
When the last resident moved out of the cabin in 1983, a park docent suggested turning the cabin into a museum. Improvements added after the Chinese era, like fiberboard walls and ceiling, wiring, and pipes were removed. Docents contacted descendants of the families who lived and worked at the cove to solicit artifact contributions. California state parks exhibit specialists built displays around the donations. It is the only building of this era that has been preserved. It houses the Whaling Station Museum dedicated to the cultural history of the point. The museum also highlights the history of Point Lobos, including plans at the turn of the 20th century to develop the area for densely packed residences and its appearances in cinema.Bertao, David. The Portuguese Shore Whalers of California, 1854-1904. San Jose, CA: Portuguese Heritage Publications, 2006. Page 106.
History
The Ohlone people harvested shellfish including abalone from the waters around Point Lobos. Evidence has been found of a long-term village named Ichxenta, in a meadow near San Jose Creek adjacent to Point Lobos, that indicates the natives inhabited the area for about 2,500 years. The village meadow is currently known as the Polo Field. There are 19 midden sites within Point Lobos and five sites containing mortar holes used by the natives for grinding acorns and seeds.
It is likely that Sebastián Vizcaíno or some of his soldiers, who camped near the mouth of the Carmel River in 1602–03, may have visited the area to the south. Gaspar de Portolà and his exploring party camped at San Jose Creek in October 1769. Sergeant Jose Francisco Ortega conducted a study of the coast south of the Carmel River. In about 1770, Spanish vaqueros from nearby Carmel Mission ran large herds of cattle in the area near Point Lobos.
Ichxenta was likely occupied until near the end of the Carmel Mission era, when the native population was decimated by disease, starvation, overwork, torture, and forced assimilation.
Spanish and Mexican era Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado granted Rancho San Jose y Sur Chiquito, two square leagues of land, in 1839 to Marcelino Escobar, Alcalde of Monterey, Alta California. The grant was from the south side of Carmel River, including Point Lobos, south to Palo Colorado Canyon.
Two of Escobar's sons, Juan and Agustin, obtained possession of the rancho shortly afterward, and sold it on August 26, 1841, to Doňa Maria Josefa de Abrego, who held power of attorney for her husband José Abrego to buy and sell land. She paid $250, one-half in silver, and one-half in gold, or about three cents per acre.
Ownership of Point Lobos was later complicated by the fact that when Juan and Augustin Escobar sold the rancho to Josefa de Abrego in 1841, they did not obtain permission from their multiple brothers and sisters. The siblings later contested the sale.Aubrey Drury, 1954, Point Lobos Reserve, California State Park, Department of Natural Resources, Sacramento, p. 78–85
Under somewhat mysterious circumstances, on January 16, 1843, Maria Abrego deeded the rancho to a group of about 10 soldiers from the Monterey Presidio. Records confirm the soldiers paid nothing, and a legend attached to the transfer says a gambler lost a rancho in a card game. Her husband was known for his gambling habit. On June 7, 1844, the soldiers turned the Rancho over to their superior officer, Colonel José Castro, former Governor Alvarado's brother-in-law.
After the Mexican–American War, Mexico ceded California to the United States. The 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo provided that the land grants would be honored. But the Land Act of 1851 required owners to prove their ownership. Castro filed a claim on February 2, 1853, but grew impatient with the outcome and sold the land in 1854 to Joseph S. Emery and Abner Bassett for $700, leaving to them the legal fight for ownership. The commission denied Castro's claim on August 28, 1855. Castro died in 1860. Emery and Bassett appealed the court's ruling. Bassett died in 1874, leaving his undivided one-half interest to his wife and eight children. Their half of the rancho was appraised at $15,000.
In 1880, a lawsuit was filed in United States District Court to resolve the conflicting claims of more than two dozen putative property owners and squatters. On June 5, 1882, subject to confirmation of the original claim by Castro, the judges divided Escobar's original land grant into 34 parcels. Later that year, Castro's original claim was validated by the court. The title was confirmed on December 24, 1885, and President Grover Cleveland signed the land patent on May 4, 1888, 35 years after Castro's initial filing. All of the 34 claims from the 1880 lawsuit were invalidated as a result.
Industrial period