Coronado Islands

{{Short description|Group of islands near Baja California, Mexico}} {{Other places|Coronado (disambiguation){{!}}Coronado}} {{Infobox islands | name = Coronado Islands | native_name = Islas Coronado | native_name_link = | native_name_lang = es | sobriquet =  | image_name = Las Coronado.jpg | image_size = | image_caption = North Coronado (right background), Central Coronado (left midground), and Pile of Sugar (right midground) viewed from South Coronado (foreground) | image_alt = | image_map = Coronado Islands Map.jpg | image_map_alt = | image_map_size = | image_map_caption = A map of the four Coronado Islands | pushpin_map = Mexico Baja California | pushpin_label = | pushpin_label_position = | pushpin_map_alt = | pushpin_relief = | pushpin_map_caption = | coordinates = {{coord|32|25.05|N|117|15.63|W|display=it|format=dms}} | location = Southern California Bight | archipelago = | waterbody = | total_islands = | major_islands = 4 | area_km2 =  | area_footnotes = | rank = | length_km =  | length_footnotes = | width_km =  | width_footnotes = | coastline_km =  | coastline_footnotes = | elevation_m = | elevation_footnotes = | highest_mount = | country = Mexico | country_admin_divisions_title = State | country_admin_divisions = Baja California | country_admin_divisions_title_1 = Municipality | country_admin_divisions_1 = Tijuana Municipality | population = | population_as_of = | population_footnotes = | population_rank = | population_rank_max = | density_km2 = | density_rank = | density_footnotes = | languages = | ethnic_groups = | timezone1 = | utc_offset1 = | timezone1_DST = | utc_offset1_DST = | website = | additional_info = | footnotes = }} The '''Coronado Islands''' (''Islas Coronado'' or ''Islas Coronados''; {{langx|en|Islands of the Coronation(s)}}; Kumeyaay: {{lang|dih|Mat hasil ewik kakap}}) are a group of islands located {{cvt|13|km|0}} off the northwest coast of the Mexican state of Baja California. Battered by the wind and waves, the rocky islands are mostly uninhabited except for a small military detachment and a lighthouse keeper. Despite their barren appearance, they serve as a refuge for seabirds and support a sizable number of plants, including 6 endemic taxa found only on the islands. The waters around the islands support a considerable amount of diverse marine life.<ref name="UNEPWorkshop" />

Used extensively and intermittently by the indigenous peoples for thousands of years, the first European explorers sighted them in 1542. Centuries later, they served as weekend getaway locations, secret gambling spots, and smuggling sites until the Mexican Navy clamped down on trespassing. The tied island city of Coronado, California, {{cvt|17|mi|disp=flip}} to the north, was named in honor of the islands after an 1886 naming competition.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012 |title=History of Coronado |url=https://web.coronadochamber.com/live_work/history_coronado.aspx |access-date=4 March 2022 |website=Coronado Chamber of Commerce |quote=Coronado was named for the Coronado Islands off the coast of San Diego. They were first sighted November 8, 1602 by Spanish navigator Vizcaino. He named them “Los Coronados” or “the crowned ones,” for four martyred saints of ancient Rome whose death had been on that day.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Letchworth |first=Dan |date=8 January 2020 |title=Why Do People Call It Coronado Island When It's a Peninsula? |work=San Diego Magazine |url=https://www.sandiegomagazine.com/neighborhoods/why-do-people-call-it-coronado-island-when-its-a-peninsula/article_e301fe3b-21c2-5b63-b110-25646f823788.html |access-date=4 March 2022}}</ref> During World War II, the islands were utilized in joint training exercises between Mexico and the United States, but gained notoriety when future founder of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard, shelled the inhabited island, earning the ire of the Mexican government. Today, the islands are a Mexican wildlife refuge; visitors may anchor, scuba, and snorkel, but setting foot on the islands is prohibited without special permission from the government.<ref name="Ellsberg1970" />

==Geography== The Coronado Islands are located within the central portion of the Southern California Bight, on the continental margin within Mexico's exclusive economic zone. The islands are exposed continental blocks, produced by the shear zone of the Pacific and North American plates. To the west, underwater cliffs border a deep channel over {{Convert|1100|m|ft|abbr=on}} in depth. The largest and closest island, South Coronado, is located approximately {{cvt|13|km|0}} off the Mexican mainland and {{cvt|12|km|0}} south of the maritime border with the United States. The islands are under the jurisdiction of Mexico and Tijuana Municipality in the state of Baja California.<ref name="UNEPWorkshop" />

The archipelago is composed of four main islands spread out over {{cvt|8|km|0}}.

* '''Coronado Norte''' (''North Coronado'' or ''North Island'') is located at {{coord|32|26|N|117|18|W|type:isle}} and has a surface area of {{Convert|48|ha|acre|abbr=on}}.<ref name="UNEPWorkshop" /> It has no bay but boats can anchor on a jetty on the eastern side. It is large enough to support numerous microhabitats for plants, and has a climate similar to southern Point Loma.<ref name="Oberbauer2002">{{citation |last1=Oberbauer |first1=Thomas A. |title=California Island Plant Distribution Patterns: Proceedings of the Fifth California Islands Symposium: 29 March to 1 April 1999 |date=2002 |pages=212–223 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120722021744/http://science.nature.nps.gov/im/units/medn/symposia/5th%20California%20Islands%20Symposium%20(1999)/Botany/Oberbauer_Vegetation_Flora_Los_Coronados_Island_Baja.pdf |contribution=Vegetation and Flora of Islas Los Coronados, Baja California, Mexico |contribution-url=http://science.nature.nps.gov/im/units/medn/symposia/5th%20California%20Islands%20Symposium%20(1999)/Botany/Oberbauer_Vegetation_Flora_Los_Coronados_Island_Baja.pdf |place=Santa Barbara |publisher=Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History |archive-date=July 22, 2012}}</ref> * '''Pilón de Azúcar''' (''Pile of Sugar'' or ''Middle Rock'') is located at {{coord|32|25|N|117|16|W|type:isle}} and covers {{Convert|7|ha|acre|abbr=on}}.<ref name="UNEPWorkshop" /> The island has a rocky guano-washed hill on the southern side, and a smaller ridge on the north side, separated by a amphitheater-shaped depression between them. The island is composed of barren, infertile sandstone, with little vegetation. A few succulent plants, such as ''Opuntia'' spp. and ''Dudleya'' spp. are present on the southern hill, although the soil tends to slough off the slopes. In the basin, straddling both peaks, herbaceous and woody plants occur in the more soil-rich depression.<ref name="Oberbauer2002" /> * '''Coronado Centro''' (''Central Coronado'' or ''Middle Island'') is located at {{coord|32|25|N|117|16|W|type:isle}} and covers {{Convert|14|ha|acre|abbr=on}}.<ref name="UNEPWorkshop" /> This island forms a steep-hill with a peninsula-like structure on the northeast side, which creates a protected cove known as Moonlight Cove. This island is extensively weathered and beaten, with unstable material giving way in handful to slope-sized masses. The unstable and barren nature of this island is likely a result of the heavy use by breeding and roosting sea birds combined with unstable substrates. The only abundant plant community occurs on the southwest, windward side of the island.<ref name="Oberbauer2002" /> * '''Coronado Sur''' (''South Coronado'' or ''South Island'') is located at {{coord|32|25|N|117|15|W|type:isle}}, and covers {{Convert|183|ha|acre|abbr=on}}. It is {{cvt|3.2|km}} long and {{cvt|800|m|ft}} wide.<ref name="UNEPWorkshop" /> It has the only bay of the islands, called Puerto Cueva Cove, located one quarter the way down on the east side. The island has two main peaks, Middle Peak, located about one-third the way down the island with an elevation of about {{Convert|180|m|ft|abbr=on}}, and South Peak, approximately {{Convert|160|m|ft|abbr=on}} high. On the west side there is a cove known as Seal Cove. There are roughly a half dozen structures above Puerto Cueva, and two navigational lights at the northern and southern ends of the island.<ref name="Oberbauer2002" />thumb|South Island contains some of the only structures for the few inhabitants on the islands

== History ==

=== Indigenous peoples and Spanish exploration === The islands had been occupied by humans for over 1,000 years.<ref name="McCain2019">{{Cite journal |last1=McCain |first1=Joseph |last2=Braje |first2=Todd J. |last3=Hernández Estrada |first3=Raquel L. |last4=Michelini |first4=Antonio Porcayo |last5=Aguilar |first5=José |last6=Rick |first6=Torben C. |date=2019-10-02 |title=The Four Crowns of the Sea: Archaeological Reconnaissance of the Coronados Islands, Baja California, México |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/15564894.2018.1536901 |journal=The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology |volume=14 |issue=4 |pages=541–559 |doi=10.1080/15564894.2018.1536901 |s2cid=133969867 |issn=1556-4894|url-access=subscription }}</ref> As the islands lack any fresh water, permanent settlements would have not been feasible in the past. However, the islands were frequently visited by the local indigenous peoples (such as the Kumeyaay), who likely set up small and temporary encampments, possibly for retreats or other spiritual/sacred practices; ancient artifacts have been collected from both islands. North Island has artifacts that include teshoa flakes, and a midden on the saddle of the island. A small cave, dubbed Pirate's Cave, was reported to have had remains of ceramics. On South Island, numerous other middens exist. The artifacts may be from the La Jolla complex of peoples.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Darcy|first=Ike|date=1978|title=Archaeology|journal=Natural History of the Coronado Islands, Baja California, Mexico|publisher=San Diego Association of Geologists|pages=50–53}}</ref> Anthropologist J.P Harrington recorded the Luiseño word for the islands as "''mexéelam''".<ref name="McCain2019" /> The Kumeyaay called the islands ''mat hasil ewik kakap.''thumb|At the US-Mexico border. The visible islands are Islas Coronados

Subsequent archaeological expeditions have corroborated reports of ceramic artifacts on the islands, with ceramic fragments found also on South Island. These ceramic fragments appear to have been fired in an open oven, and were likely used as cooking pots. Analysis of the artifacts suggests their production techniques are consistent with those of Yuman ceramic manufacture. Radiocarbon dating of abalone shells within the vicinity of the ceramic artifacts suggest that site was occupied intermittently from at least 1390 to 820 calibrated years BP.<ref name="McCain2019" /> left|thumb|The archipelago was first noted by European explorers as "desert islands" thumb|The islands visible from the Mexican mainland In 1542, Portuguese explorer (later naturalized Castilian) Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo was the first European to notice the islands, describing them as ''Las Islas Desiertas'' (the desert islands) due to their barren lack of soil. In 1602 the priest for Sebastián Vizcaíno's expedition, Father Antonio de la Ascención, called them {{lang|es|Los Cuatro Coronados}} (the four crowned ones) to honor the four brothers who died for their Christian faith.<ref name="McCain2019" /> They are also known by a number of other names, with later fisherman, upon seeing floating coffins, ghostly faces and shrouded bodies amid the rocks dubbing them ''Old Stone Face'', ''The Sarcophagi'', ''Dead Man's Island'', and ''Corpus Christi.''<ref name="Ellsberg1970">{{Cite book|last=Ellsberg|first=Helen|title=Los Coronados Islands|publisher=La Siesta Press|year=1970|isbn=0910856370|location=Glendale, California}}</ref> They have also been referred to as ''the'' ''Sentinels of San Diego Bay''.<ref name="UNEPWorkshop">{{Cite journal |last=Escobar |first=Elva |date=2014 |title=Report of the North Pacific Regional Workshop to Facilitate the Description of Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas - Area No. 11: Coronado Islands, Mexico |url=https://www.cbd.int/doc/meetings/mar/ebsa-np-01/official/ebsa-np-01-04-en.pdf |journal=North Pacific Regional Workshop to Facilitate the Description of Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas |publisher=Convention on Biological Diversity (UNEP) |pages=106–118}}</ref>

=== Commercial ventures === Starting in the 1860s, advertisements for day trips to the islands began making appearances in local newspapers. At the same time, commercial fishing ventures also started, focusing mostly on rock cod.<ref name="McCain2019" /><ref name="Ellsberg1970" />

In 1872, the Mexican Navy began visiting the islands to prevent trespassing and reduce the damage from human impact, although business ventures still proceeded regardless. That same year, building stone of high quality was discovered on North Island. Colonel Manuel Ferrer and Tore Fidel Pujal, the editor of the newspaper ''La Baja California'', secured the North Island in 1873, planning to use the stone. The last newspaper report of this venture was in 1882. At one point, the islands were used as a way station in the smuggling of Chinese immigrants into California. This ended after a group of Chinese were found starving and abandoned on the island.<ref name="Ellsberg1970" />

In the 1920s and 1930s, during prohibition, the cove on the northeast side of South Coronado Island was used as a meeting place for alcohol smugglers. Since it was the time before radar, and as foggy nights are common on the islands, the large number of boats frequently resulted in collisions. There was so much traffic that a famous casino, an elaborately constructed two-story building known as the Coronado Islands Yacht Club, flourished well into the Depression. The casino was forced to change trajectory after the Mexican government made gambling illegal only eighteen months after it opened, re-opening the next year as a weekend getaway hotel. It later served as a garrison for Mexican soldiers who had their provisions shipped from the mainland.<ref name="Niemann2002">{{Cite book |last=Niemann |first=Greg |title=Baja Legends: The Historic Characters, Events, and Locations That Put Baja California on the Map |publisher=Sunbelt Publications |year=2002 |isbn=0-932653-47-2 |pages=106 |language=English}}</ref> The structure was ultimately destroyed in the high winds and waves of a storm in 1988.<ref name="Oberbauer2002" /> Only the stone foundation remains though the name Smugglers Cove, and more rarely Casino Cove, adorn modern maps.<ref name="Ellsberg1970" />

Around the same time that other boats visited the islands to escape prohibition, during the 1930s, the Star and Crescent Company also made frequent boat excursions to the islands. These were suspended for some time, before briefly starting back again in 1958, with the steamer ''Silver Gate'' towing a glass bottom boat to the cove on South Coronado.<ref name="Ellsberg1970"/>

=== World War II and after === left|thumb|L. Ron Hubbard, future founder of Scientology, bombarded South Island in 1943, despite it being inhabited by Mexican soldiers In 1942, Mexico entered the Second World War. Shortly after, the islands were utilized by Mexico and the United States as a site for military exercises. The island was garrisoned by a small detachment of the Mexican Navy,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Owen |first=Chris |date=1999 |title=Ron the "War Hero" - L. Ron Hubbard and the U.S. Navy, 1941-50 |url=https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Cowen/warhero/coronados.htm |access-date=3 March 2022 |website=CMU School of Computer Science}}</ref> and foxholes were excavated on South Island during this period.<ref name="McCain2019" />

In May 1943 the U.S. Navy's USS ''PC-815'', commanded by L. Ron Hubbard, the future founder of Scientology, conducted unauthorized gunnery exercises involving the shelling of the Coronado Islands, in the belief they were uninhabited and belonged to the United States. Unfortunately for Hubbard, the islands belonged to Mexico and were occupied by the Mexican Navy. The Mexican government complained and Hubbard was relieved of command.<ref>{{cite book | last = Miller | first = Russel | title = Bare-faced Messiah: The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard | url = https://archive.org/details/barefacedmessiah00mill_0 | url-access = registration | publisher = Henry Holt | year = 1988 | location = New York | pages = [https://archive.org/details/barefacedmessiah00mill_0/page/106 106–107] | isbn = 1-55013-027-7}}</ref>

In October 1944, Lieutenant Robert D. Cullinane, flying a Consolidated PB2Y-3 Coronado, BuNo ''7051'' of the VPB-13 patrol bombing squadron, perished along with the 12 members of his crew in a crash on South Coronado.<ref name="DANAS2-4">{{cite book |last=Roberts |first=Michael D. |url=http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/naval-aviation-history/dictionary-of-american-naval-aviation-squadrons-volume-2/chapter-4-patrol-bombing-squadron-vpb-histories-vpb-1-to-vpb-16.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150123023655/http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/naval-aviation-history/dictionary-of-american-naval-aviation-squadrons-volume-2/chapter-4-patrol-bombing-squadron-vpb-histories-vpb-1-to-vpb-16.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 23, 2015 |title=Dictionary of American Naval Aviation Squadrons, Volume 2, Chapter 4 Patrol Bombing Squadron (VPB) Histories (VPB-1 to VPB-16) |publisher=Naval Historical Center, Department of the Navy |year=2000 |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=408–13 |accessdate=19 June 2016}}</ref><ref>Associated Press, "Crash Kills 13", ''The San Bernardino Daily Sun'', San Bernardino, California, 20 October 1944, Volume 51, p. 4.</ref> Wreckage belonging to the aircraft is located on the western-facing slope of South Island.<ref name="McCain2019" />

The Coronado Islands are under the jurisdiction of the municipality of Tijuana, Baja California, as ruled in the books of the Baja Californian Government, published on December 20, 1959.<ref name="UNEPWorkshop" /> Today, the only inhabitants of the island are Mexican Navy personnel and a lighthouse keeper on South Island. As the islands are a natural protected area, access to the islands is restricted to governmental personnel and permitted scientists.<ref name="McCain2019" /> thumb|Although landing on the islands is not permitted, divers, fishermen and tourists are free to visit the waters around them Although landing on the islands is prohibited, the waters around them are still a frequent destination for divers, snorkelers and fishermen.<ref name="Niemann2002" />

== Ecology ==

=== Flora ===

==== Plant communities ==== The topography, soil, and human impact each have effects on the vegetation of the islands, creating varying characteristics on each island. However, the vegetation of the Coronado Islands is mostly dominated by maritime succulent scrub, a plant community within the sage scrub ecosystem of North America, characterized a predominance of succulent plants and a dependence on ocean fog as a consistent source of moisture. It forms a transitional zone between the Mediterranean ecosystems of the California Floristic Province and the subtropical deserts of western North America. It includes a number of species characteristic of the coastal sage scrub, but is complemented by a wide assemblage of endemic species, giving it the greatest species richness of any of the sage scrub communities.<ref name="Rundel2007">{{Citation |last=Rundel |first=Philip |title=Sage Scrub |date=2007-07-17 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264040450 |work=Terrestrial Vegetation of California |isbn=978-0-520-24955-4 |access-date=2022-02-05}}</ref><ref name="rebman1">{{Cite book |last1=Rebman |first1=Jon P. |title=Baja California Plant Field Guide |last2=Roberts |first2=Norman C. |publisher=Sunbelt Publications |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-916251-18-5 |location=San Diego |pages=25–26}}</ref> Some taxa representative of this environment include succulents such as liveforevers (''Dudleya'' spp.), and cacti like the coastal cholla (''Cylindropuntia prolifera''), coastal prickly pear (''Opuntia littoralis'') and the golden-spined cereus (''Bergerocactus emoryi'').<ref name="Peinado1995">{{Cite journal |last1=Peinado |first1=M. |last2=Alcaraz |first2=F. |last3=Aguirre |first3=J. L. |last4=Delgadillo |first4=J. |last5=Aguado |first5=I. |date=1995 |title=Shrubland Formations and Associations in Mediterranean-Desert Transitional Zones of Northwestern Baja California |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20046579 |journal=Vegetatio |volume=117 |issue=2 |pages=165–179 |doi=10.1007/BF00045507 |jstor=20046579 |s2cid=33254787 |issn=0042-3106|url-access=subscription }}</ref> [[File:Dudleya candida 5.jpg|thumb|The endemic ''Dudleya candida'' in flower, with ''Bergerocactus emoryi'' visible around it]]

This habitat is most typical of northwestern Baja California, ranging from the town of San Vicente to the vicinity of Punta San Carlos, a coastal swathe of about {{Convert|175|km|mi}}. It occurs farther north, but in a more fragmented pattern, occupying the fringe coastal bluffs and mesas up to the Mexico–United States border and sparsely north to Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve in San Diego County, California.<ref name="Riley2015">{{Cite book |last1=Riley |first1=Jim |title=Plant guide: Maritime Succulent Scrub Region, Northwest Baja California, Mexico |last2=Rebman |first2=Jon Paul |last3=Vanderplank |first3=Sula |last4=Simancas |first4=Jorge |last5=Pijoan |first5=Paula |last6=Botanical Research Institute of Texas |date=2015 |isbn=978-1-889878-44-7 |oclc=915358516}}</ref> It is also present on the other offshore islands of the region, including Isla San Martin and Todos Santos Island, but also portions of San Clemente and Santa Catalina Island in the southern Channel Islands of California.<ref name="Rundel2007" /><ref name="Peinado1995" /> thumb|''Bergerocactus emoryi'' on a ridge on the islands

On South Island the area at the extreme northern end, near the lighthouse, has diverging vegetation. Here, the vegetation takes on an aspect of coastal sage scrub. Coastal sage scrub consists of low-growing, aromatic and more herbaceous plants with soft, drought-deciduous leaves as opposed to those of the succulent scrub. The dominant plants found in this area include California sagebrush (''Artemisia californica''), lemonade berry (''Rhus integrifolia''), California buckwheat (''Eriogonum fasciculatum'') and toyon (''Heteromeles arbutifolia''). This area is the only location on South Island where ''Eriogonum fasciculatum'', ''Heteromeles arbutifolia'', and broom baccharis (''Baccharis sarothroides'') grow. Also present on the north end, but on the east slope, is the endemic ''Galium coronadoense'' and ''Galium angustifolium''.<ref name="Oberbauer2002" /> Non-native plants such as crystalline ice plant (''Mesembryanthemum crystallinum'') are present in disturbed areas, especially along trails. Interestingly, this non-native plant provides shelter for the commonly-occurring endemic rattlesnake.<ref name="Oberbauer2002" /> thumb|''Dudleya candida'' on Coronado Norte

==== Taxa ==== Despite the barren, rocky appearance of the islands, they support a large number of plant species. The following is a comprehensive, but not complete, list of the native plants present on the islands.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Vanderplank |first1=Sula |last2=Rebman |first2=Jon |last3=Ezcurra |first3=Exequiel |date=2018 |title=Revised and updated vascular plant checklists for the Baja California Northern Pacific Islands |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27102201 |journal=Western North American Naturalist |volume=78 |issue=4 |pages=674–698 |doi=10.3398/064.078.0410 |jstor=27102201 |s2cid=91327690 |issn=1527-0904|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="rebman">{{Cite journal |last1=Rebman |first1=J. P. |last2=Gibson |first2=J. |last3=Rich |first3=K. |date=2016 |title=Annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Baja California, Mexico |url=http://sdplantatlas.org/pdffiles/BajaChecklist2016.pdf |journal=San Diego Society of Natural History |volume=45}}</ref>

{{div col|colwidth=23em}} '''Anacardiaceae''' * ''Rhus integrifolia'' '''Apiaceae''' * ''Apiastrum angustifolium'' * ''Daucus pusillus'' '''Asteraceae''' * ''Amblyopappus pusillus'' * ''Artemisia californica'' * ''Baccharis sarothroides'' * ''Chaenactis glabriuscula'' var.'' glabriuscula'' * ''Encelia californica'' * ''Eriophyllum confertiflorum'' * ''Hazardia berberidis'' * ''Hazardia orcuttii'' * ''Lasthenia coronaria'' * ''Lasthenia gracilis'' * ''Leptosyne maritima'' * ''Logfia filaginoides'' * ''Malacothrix foliosa'' * ''Malacothrix insularis'' * ''Malacothrix similis'' * ''Perityle emoryi'' * ''Pseudognaphalium biolettii'' * ''Pseudognaphalium microcephalum'' * ''Pseudognaphalium ramosissimum'' * ''Rafinesquia californica'' * ''Stephanomeria diegensis'' * ''Uropappus lindleyi'' '''Boraginaceae''' * ''Cryptantha intermedia'' ** var. ''intermedia'' ** var. ''johnstonii'' * ''Cryptantha maritima'' var. ''maritima'' '''Brassicaceae''' * ''Descurainia pinnata'' ** var. ''brachycarpa'' ** var. ''glabra'' * ''Lepidium oblongum'' var. ''insulare'' '''Cactaceae''' * ''Bergerocactus emoryi'' * ''Cylindropuntia prolifera'' * ''Mammillaria dioica'' * ''Opuntia littoralis'' * ''Opuntia oricola'' '''Caryophyllaceae''' * ''Silene laciniata'' ssp. ''laciniata'' * ''Spergularia macrotheca'' var. ''macrotheca'' '''Chenopodiaceae''' * ''Aphanisma blitoides'' * ''Atriplex canescens'' ssp. ''canescens'' * ''Atriplex pacifica'' * ''Atriplex serenana'' var. ''davidsonii'' * ''Chenopodium californicum'' * ''Extriplex californica'' * ''Suaeda taxifolia'' '''Cleomaceae''' * ''Peritoma arborea'' var. ''globosa'' '''Convolvulaceae''' * ''Calystegia macrostegia'' ** ssp. ''cyclostegia'' ** ssp. ''intermedia'' * ''Dichondra occidentalis'' '''Crassulaceae''' * ''Crassula connata'' * ''Dudleya anomala'' * ''Dudleya attenuata'' ssp. ''attenuata'' * ''Dudleya candida'' * ''Dudleya lanceolata'' * ''Dudleya'' × ''semiteres'' '''Cucurbitaceae''' * ''Marah macrocarpa'' var. ''macrocarpa'' '''Euphorbiaceae''' * ''Euphorbia misera'' '''Fabaceae''' * ''Acmispon glaber'' * ''Acmispon maritimus'' ssp. ''brevivexillus'' * ''Acmispon watsonii'' * ''Astragalus trichopodus'' var. ''lonchus'' * ''Lupinus succulentus'' * ''Lupinus truncatus'' * ''Trifolium willdenovii'' * ''Vicia hassei'' '''Hydrophyllaceae''' * ''Eucrypta chrysanthemifolia'' var. ''chrysanthemifolia'' * ''Phacelia distans'' * ''Phacelia ixodes'' var. ''plumosa'' * ''Pholistoma auritum'' * ''Pholistoma racemosum'' '''Liliaceae''' * ''Calochortus splendens'' '''Malvaceae''' * ''Malva occidentalis'' '''Montiaceae''' * ''Cistanthe maritima'' * ''Claytonia perfoliata'' ssp. ''mexicana'' '''Nyctaginaceae''' * ''Mirabilis laevis'' var. ''crassifolia'' '''Orchidaceae''' * ''Piperia cooperi'' '''Papaveraceae''' * ''Eschscholzia californica'' * ''Eschscholzia ramosa'' * ''Papaver heterophyllum'' '''Plantaginaceae''' * ''Antirrhinum nuttallianum'' ssp. ''subsessile'' * ''Collinsia heterophylla'' var. ''heterophylla'' * ''Nuttallanthus texanus'' '''Poaceae''' * ''Achnatherum diegoense'' * ''Agrostis pallens'' * ''Bromus arizonicus'' * ''Bromus carinatus'' * ''Distichlis spicata'' * ''Elymus condensatus'' * ''Elymus triticoides'' * ''Melica imperfecta'' * ''Muhlenbergia microsperma'' * ''Nassella pulchra'' '''Polemoniaceae''' * ''Gilia achilleifolia'' ssp. ''abrotanifolia'' * ''Linanthus dianthiflorus'' '''Polygonaceae''' * ''Eriogonum fasciculatum'' * ''Pterostegia drymarioides'' '''Polypodiaceae''' * ''Polypodium californicum'' '''Pteridaceae''' * ''Pellaea andromedifolia'' var. ''pubescens'' * ''Pentagramma triangularis'' '''Ranunculaceae''' * ''Clematis pauciflora'' * ''Delphinium parryi'' ssp. ''maritimum'' '''Resedaceae''' * ''Oligomeris linifolia'' '''Rhamnaceae''' * ''Rhamnus insula'' '''Rosaceae''' * ''Heteromeles arbutifolia'' '''Rubiaceae''' * ''Galium angustifolium'' ssp. ''angustifolium'' * ''Galium aparine'' * ''Galium coronadoense'' '''Sapindaceae''' * ''Aesculus parryi'' '''Saxifragaceae''' * ''Jepsonia parryi'' '''Solanaceae''' * ''Lycium californicum'' * ''Nicotiana clevelandii'' * ''Solanum americanum'' '''Themidaceae''' * ''Dichelostemma capitatum'' ssp. ''capitatum'' '''Urticaceae''' * ''Parietaria hespera'' var. ''californica'' '''Zosteraceae''' * ''Phyllospadix scouleri''

=== Fauna === {{More citations needed|date=March 2022}} There are colonies of birds that nest on the islands and can be spotted in the nearby waters like gulls, cormorants, pelicans, storm-petrels, and alcids. The Coronado Islands have the largest known colony of the rare Scripps's murrelet.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.ucsc.edu/2007/04/1153.html |title=UCSC graduate student's research leads to environmental victory in Coronado Islands |publisher=Ucsc.edu |date=2008-12-18 |accessdate=2021-01-15}}</ref> Pilón de Azúcar, better known as Middle Rock, is host to the northernmost nesting colony of brown boobies on the west coast of North America.

Ten species of reptiles and amphibians are also found on the islands. The best known is the Coronado rattlesnake (''Crotalus oreganus caliginis''), which is a smaller subspecies than the one found on the mainland. There is also the Coronado Island gopher snake, which feeds off birds' eggs, the Coronado skink, which is found on all four islands, and the arboreal salamanders which live on the three biggest islands. Southern alligator lizards are found on the north, south and central islands.<ref>{{cite journal |jstor=3889775|title=Food Habits of the San Diego Alligator Lizard |first=John D. |last=Cunningham |journal=Herpetologica |volume=12 |issue=3 |date=1956-09-01 |pages=225–230}}</ref>

There are two types of land mammals on the islands: rabbits and mice. How they reached the islands is currently unknown.

Sea mammals are plentiful and it is not uncommon to see groups of California sea lions and seals. Middle Island is home to a small colony of northern elephant seals.

== References == {{Portal|Islands}} {{reflist|30em}}

==External links== * [http://www.oceanlight.com/islas_coronado_mexico_photo.html Islas Coronado Mexico Photo Gallery] * https://web.archive.org/web/20120722175550/http://diver.net/seahunt/maps/coronodos.htm This links to a news article about the use of one of the islands as a waypoint for illegal migration to the United States. November 2010 [http://www.10news.com/news/25680019/detail.html]

Category:Islands of Tijuana Municipality Category:California chaparral and woodlands Category:Uninhabited islands of Mexico