thelog.com


The Log • August 15 - 28, 2014 • 23


Catalina Island Museum construction project requires innovative thinking


Water to be shipped from the main land to the Island to lessen the burden of declining water supply.


AVALON — The construction crew working on Catalina Island Museum’s Ada Blanche Wrigley Schreiner Building hit a hurdle due to the Island’s Stage 2 drought status. The museum’s construction team,


Christopherhill Development, proac- tively set out to look for a solution that would lessen the burden of construction on the island’s dwindling water supply. Catalina Island faces one of the most severe droughts in more than 100 years. “We are keenly aware of the water


crisis this community is facing,” said Mike Flynn, owner of Christopherhill Development. “We have worked out an arrangement with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to pur- chase water on the mainland and ship it to the Island. A meter has been added to a hydrant located near Catalina Freight Line in Wilmington. 120 water totes have been obtained for transport. Each tote holds approximately 275 gal- lons of water and will be barged back and forth as needed. With the use of these totes, not one drop of potable water from Avalon will be used for the remainder of the museum’s construc- tion project.”


The solution will save the island 33,000 gallons of water needed to mix the rest of the concrete for the muse- um’s new building. With Flynn’s help, other local companies have followed suit. The Santa Catalina Island Company has also purchased 120 totes to supply water for their current con- struction projects happening through- out Avalon. “The Ada Blanche Wrigley Schreiner Building is already considered unique


for a museum building due to the use of prefabricated materials in its design,” said Michael De Marsche, the museum’s executive director. “We are proud to be a leading example of innovative solutions for our community as we face additional water rationing and restrictions in the coming months.” Designed by the architectural firm of


Marengo Morton Architects of La Jolla, the construction of the Ada Blanche Wrigley Schreiner Building will expand


the present muse- um’s space by more than 8,000 square feet. Exhibition space will more than double with spaces dedi- cated to plein air painting, Catalina Island history and special exhibitions traveling to the museum from around the world. Amenities in the new build- ing will include a spacious entrance lobby and visitor center, a digital the-


In an effort to lessen the use of Island water, the construction team working on Catalina Island Museum’s Ada Blanche Wrigley Schreiner Building, Christopherhill Development, has arranged to import water from the mainland to complete the project.


ater, an atrium and sculpture garden, an expansive museum store, and a vault area dedicated to staff offices, storage and research.


The building is slated to open in early 2015. For more information, visit Catalinamuseum.org.


Catalina home to another rare species Researchers determine uncommon seabird breeding on Ship Rock.


near Catalina’s Two Harbors. Carter explained


CATALINA ISLAND — The Catalina Island Conservancy’s seabird research team and the California Institute of Environmental Studies (CIES) recently discovered a rare noc- turnal seabird breeding on the island’s Ship Rock. The Ashy Storm-Petrel, has been listed


by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife as a “California Bird Species of Special Concern,” or at risk of becoming threatened or endangered since 1978. “This is a rare seabird, with roughly about 10,000 estimated worldwide, that is mostly found in southern and central California,” said Harry Carter, the team leader with CIES. “A small population of less than 50 nests likely occurs at Catalina. Now that breeding is known, efforts can be taken to provide protection.” There were some early, unconfirmed


reports of naturalists finding the small seabird’s eggs at Catalina in 1903 and 1937. Harry Carter, along with, Darrell


Whitworth also with the CIES in Davis, California, and Tyler Dvorak, a Conservancy wildlife technician, found six Ashy Storm- Petrel nests on the rock formation located


that the Ashy Storm-Petrel also breeds just south of the U.S.-Mexico border, but its pop- ulation has been greatly impacted by human-caused changes in breeding habitats, as well as by predators, and it has lower reproductive success because of the pesticide, DDT, in the marine food web. In the 1990s, Humboldt State


University’s researchers, which included Carter, Whitworth and others, first noted many potential nest crevices of storm- petrels at Ship Rock. In 2008, CIES noted an adult Ashy Storm-Petrel in a potential nest crevice but no egg was found. The clues led to a special survey to final- ly document breeding. In July 2014, CIES and the Conservancy teamed up to re- examine Ship Rock at the time of year when most adult Ashy Storm-Petrels should be incubating eggs. Adult storm-petrels visit their nests only at night when the birds are difficult to detect, Dvorak said. Carter piloted an inflatable boat and dropped off Whitworth and Dvorak at Ship


The rare Ashy Storm-Petrel nests in rock crevices, returns to breeding islands at night, and feeds far out to sea during the day.


Rock, which is privately owned and managed by the Conservancy. As one of the largest rocks found


along the Catalina Island coast, it provides many potential rock crevices for breeding by Ashy Storm-Petrels. Whitworth and Dvorak climbed the rock


and found six nests near the top of the rock. In four of the nests, they could see an adult with an egg or a chick in each crevice. Only an adult could be seen in the other two crevices. At this time of year, Carter said eggs or chicks likely were present because an adult was present. Some management actions already are


underway to help restore Ashy Storm-Petrel populations at other California islands - even without ESA listing. The Montrose Settlements Restoration Program and Channel Islands National Park have been restoring Ashy Storm-Petrels at Santa Cruz Island since 2008. The Luckenbach Trustee Council and USFWS also are planning to restore Ashy Storm-Petrels at the South Farallon Islands in the near future.


Photo by Darrell Whitworth.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56