Point Bennett Research Station

Point Bennett Research Station, 1999

Quick Facts

OPEN TO PUBLIC:

No

Due to unexploded ordnance, visitors must be accompanied by a ranger to this location. Entering this area without a ranger is a violation of federal law.

Near the very tip of Point Bennett but at an elevation sufficient to be unobtrusive to marine mammals sits the tiny outpost research station developed beginning in 1969 by the National Marine Fisheries Service under the leadership of marine biologist Robert L. DeLong of the Seattle, Washington, office. The station originally comprised three small modular buildings or Conex boxes (brought in by helicopter) set in a C shape to form a protected "patio."

A new frame station was constructed in the same orientation and configuration in 2004 immediately adjacent to old structure, which was then removed. An outhouse stands above and to the rear, connected by a well-worn path. The research station is reached by the former Navy road, now a trail, from the ranger station via San Miguel Hill. The lakebed landing strip is closer to the station and is the usual site for researchers to be dropped off.

Robert DeLong of the National Marine Fisheries Service has been studying pinniped populations on San Miguel Island for more than 30 years. He and various associates have published numerous articles on elephant seals, sea lions and marine life around San Miguel Island and its neighbors.