The common murre never stood a chance. The steely gaze of a bald eagle zeroed in on the unsuspecting seabird from the honeycombed cliffs fortifying Scorpion Anchorage on the southeast fringe of Santa Cruz Island. Within seconds, the baldie took flight and snatched the murre effortlessly from the choppy seas before returning to a craggy boulder to feast.
In recent years, this has become a more regular scene from the seat of a kayak at the largest isle in the Channel Islands National Park. Long-running restoration efforts ― coupled with pier reconstruction and a silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic, which temporarily halted visitation ― opened the door for these iconic raptors to reclaim historic habitat.
Virtually every day, a majestic 4-year-old male bald eagle, fitted with blue shoulder tags, can be seen antagonizing flocks of western gulls over Scorpion Rock, plucking fish from the cobalt seas, and preening his brilliant feathers. He’s known as A-03, and he’s a prime example of bringing the Northern Channel Islands, or NCI (Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, Anacapa, and San Miguel) back to a natural balance.