Southeast Farallon Island looking toward San Francisco Photo by Jesse Irwin/USFW

Remote and rugged, the the Farallon Islands protect an incredible bounty of avian and mammalian wildlife. These rocky islands, located 28 miles west of the Golden Gate Bridge in California, can be described through numerous superlatives. They contain the largest seabird nesting colony south of Alaska; they hold the largest colony of western gulls in the world; and they support half the world's population of Ashy storm-petrels.

Created in 1909 by President Theodore Roosevelt, the Farallon National Wildlife Refuge was established to protect seabirds and marine mammals. The Refuge is comprised of three groups of small islands. Southeast Farallon Island is the largest island at, 70 acres, and was added to the refuge in 1969.

The Farallon National Wildlife Refuge is one of seven National Wildlife Refuges in the San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge Complex, and is just one of 550 refuges in the National Wildlife Refuge System.

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For more information contact:
Farallon National We
c/o San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge Complex
1 Marshlands Rd
Fremont, CA 94555

Phone: 510-792-0222
or e-mail us at San Francisco Bay NWRC

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