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Santa Barbara Channel
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{{Short description|Pacific Ocean separating California from northern Channel Islands}} [[Image:santa barbara channel.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Looking south-southwest, across the Santa Barbara Channel; the city of Santa Barbara, California is below, and [[Santa Cruz Island]] is in the distance.]] The '''Santa Barbara Channel''' is a portion of the [[Southern California Bight]] and separates the [[mainland]] of [[California]] from the northern [[Channel Islands of California|Channel Islands]]. It is generally south of the city of [[Santa Barbara, California|Santa Barbara]], and west of the [[Oxnard Plain]] in [[Ventura County, California|Ventura County]]. It trends east–west, is approximately {{convert|130|km|nmi}} long and averages about {{convert|45|km|nmi}} across, becoming narrowest at its easternmost extremity where [[Anacapa Island]] is about {{convert|30|km|nmi}} from the mainland. During the last ice age, the four northern Channel Islands, including Santa Rosa Island, were conjoined into [[Santa Rosae]], a single island that was only five miles (8 km) off the coast. The islands are visible from the mainland on clear days. Excursion boats cross the channel, taking visitors to watch [[whale]]s and visit the islands. In the perpendicular (east-west) direction, huge cargo ships and tankers occupy a major shipping lane on their way to or from the ports of [[Port of Los Angeles|Los Angeles]] and [[Port of Long Beach|Long Beach]]. The Channel is the location of numerous oil fields, some of which have substantial reserves. These include the [[Ellwood Oil Field|Ellwood]], [[Summerland Oil Field|Summerland]], [[Carpinteria Offshore Oil Field|Carpinteria offshore]] and [[Dos Cuadras Offshore Oil Field|Dos Cuadras]] fields. In 1969, the Dos Cuadras was the point of origin of a major [[1969 Santa Barbara oil spill|oil spill]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.geog.ucsb.edu/~jeff/sb_69oilspill/69oilspill_articles2.html |title=A history of the 1969 oil spill event |publisher=Geog.ucsb.edu |date=1969-01-29 |accessdate=2011-07-03 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161107071114/http://www.geog.ucsb.edu/~jeff/sb_69oilspill/69oilspill_articles2.html |archivedate=2016-11-07 }}</ref> which came about when oil spurted at high pressure through faults and cracks around a zone which had recently been drilled for the first time. Public outrage over the massive environmental damage inflicted by this spill, which covered hundreds of square miles of the channel and fouled beaches from Ventura to Goleta, was a major spur to the budding [[environmental movement]]. The Santa Barbara Channel contains the world's largest natural oil seepage – [[Coal Oil Point seep field|Coal Oil Point]]. [[Goleta Point]] is a nearby extension into the channel. [[Point Arguello]], a headland near the city of [[Lompoc]], was the site of the [[Honda Point disaster]] in 1923, in which seven US Navy destroyers ran aground, in the largest peacetime loss of US Navy ships.
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