This episode features an ecosystem like no other. Off the Southern California coast, these islands teem with over 2000 species, 145 of which are found nowhere else on earth. I'll discuss the islands' dramatic formation, and you'll discover the bizarre natural contradictions responsible for the ecological diversity. I recount the unsettling history of the native island people, and the long term cultural and environmental scars left by Europeans. Plus, climate change, DDT, and a hike review!