Brooks Island

Brooks Island is a 65-acre [http://www.ebparks.org/parks/brooks_island Brooks Island profile] , East Bay Regional Parks District website, retrieved August 3, 2007] (26.3 ha), mostly flat strip of land extending from a round hill which peaks at convert|163|ft|m. (49.7 m) in San Francisco Bay, located just south of the Richmond Inner Harbor in Richmond, California.

Native American Ohlones lived on the island for over 2,000 years living off the abundant sea creatures. The Europeans conquerors, first the Spaniards and Mexicans and later the Americans used the island as a quarry, sheep farm and even a shrimp factory.

It is now part of the East Bay Regional Park District, Brooks Island Regional Shoreline. The islands hosts salt marshes, tidal flats and has a rise of 163 feet (49.7 m). It is also a home to many bird species, including herons and egrets and their nesting sites. Some parts of the islands are off limits to visitors seasonal or ever to protect nesting sites. Other names for the island include: Isla de Cármen, Rocky Island, Bird Island, and Sheep Island.

Brooks Island is also a habitat for harbor seals that stop at the island from their nearby rookery on the Castro Rocks. [http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~halmark/vhfmap.htm vhfmapweb.jpg] , Radio tagging map, SFSU, February 2004, retrieved August 4, 2007]

See also

* Islands of San Francisco Bay
* San Francisco Bay Area

Notes

External links

* [http://www.ebparks.org/parks/brooks_island Brooks Island Regional Shoreline] at the East Bay Regional parks District website