Channel islands kelp Forest Creatures

Franko's Map of Channel Islands National Park is a miniature of the same map on side 1 of Franko's Map of Channel Islands National Park & National Marine Sanctuary. It depicts the five islands, San Miguel Island, Santa Rosa Island, Santa Cruz Island, Anacapa Island, and Santa Barbara Island off the Santa Barbara and Ventura County coast in beautiful shaded relief.

The area's plentiful marine mammals are shown around the islands. These include whales, pinnipeds, and dolphins. A great white shark is also shown lurking beyond the rich pinniped rookeries. Descriptions of each of the islands educate the reader about what the island is like, especially in the underwater realm. The ocean depth contours are shown in fabulous shades of blues. One can envision that this used to be two large islands instead of five smaller ones just as the last great ice age ended, when the sea water levels were 200 to 300 feet lower. Side 2 shows Franko's Channel Islands Kelp Forest Creatures. The sun shines through the thick kelp forest canopy to illuminate over 50 different fish and invertebrates which inhabit the waters around these beautiful islands. The fish include everything from the tiny anchovy to the giant black sea bass. Sleek barracuda, bat rays that fly through the water, stunningly colorful sheephead and bright Garibaldi, hidden halibut, sneaky moray eels, darting blue banded and black-eye gobies, all kinds of rockfish and perch, chameleon-like giant kelpfish, great sculpin, and many more are artistically placed in and around the giant kelp. The Channel Islands represent just about every climate zone of California's kelp forests in one National Park and National Marine Sanctuary.