A bird’s eye view of “Sand Island” from Google Earth.

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Have you ever noticed that little island out in the middle of Arcata Bay? At just 1.8 acres, it’s pretty easy to miss — only visible from the water’s edge when the sea lions sprawl on its shores. 

For decades, local fishermen and hunters have referred to the small swath of land as “Sand Island,” but no one ever bothered to have the name added to the national Geographic Names Information System. A proposal submitted to the U.S. Board on Geographic Names earlier this year seeks to replace the unofficial name with “Skate Island” after the “skates that reside in Humboldt Bay surrounding the island,” the proposal states. (In this case, “skate” refers to a flat-bodied, cartilaginous fish, similar to a ray.)

The proposal, submitted by Blue Lake resident Jack Malast, asserts that most Humboldt County residents are oblivious to the island’s existence. “I believe it requires a name because it is a relatively untainted area of wilderness on the Humboldt Bay,” Malast wrote in the proposal. “Having a name would give people a little bit more of a reason to remember it, and to consider its existence.”

Renaming a geographical feature is a lengthy process. Before the proposal is submitted to the U.S. Board on Geographic Names for review, a federal employee has to get feedback from local stakeholders.

“Basically everyone I received feedback from thought the naming proposal should be denied,” Jeffrey Ferguson, a navigation manager with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Coast Survey, wrote in an email to the Outpost. “That is the recommendation I made to the NOAA rep to the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.”

As you might guess, most of the people Ferguson spoke with said the little patch of land has always been referred to as Sand Island and felt it should stay that way. 

“I’m not particularly supportive of the idea,” longtime fisherman Ken Bates wrote in an emailed statement to Ferguson. “The Sand Island that we are referring to in North Humboldt Bay, is a human-constructed artifact of sand and small gravels dredged from the channel adjacent to the Arcata Long Wharf back in the 1800s. … All of the oyster companies have referred to this artifact as ‘Sand Island’ and … [it] is also the name used by the duck hunting community.”

Bates added that “skates are a rarity” in Humboldt Bay, noting, “I don’t see how the name ‘Skate Island’ would be particularly descriptive of this place … why don’t we just keep the local name and call it Sand Island?”

Humboldt Harbor Safety Committee Chair Leroy Zerlang agreed, adding that fishermen, oystermen, hunters, bird watchers and even the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office have called the bit of land Sand Island “for a very long time.”

“The little island is known as Sand Island and has been … as long as I can remember, and I’m old,” Zerlang wrote in an emailed statement to NOAA. “I would say it is Sand Island and should remain Sand Island.”

Ferguson made a recommendation to deny the proposal to the California Advisory Committee on Geographic Names, which met for its quarterly meeting on Dec. 13. The committee agreed to forward Ferguson’s recommendation to the U.S. Board on Geographic Names for a final decision, though it’s not likely to pass.

“[H]owever, the official board could decide not to take my recommendation,” Ferguson noted. “I believe at this point, it still sits at the national level, and would be passed to the California Advisory Committee on Geographic Names for agreement or for the CA Board to argue they want to override the National recommendation.”

I know what you’re thinking. Who cares about naming a patch of sand in the middle of the bay? Most people don’t even know it’s there! I can’t even see it from the shore! Well, it’s mostly for the seafaring folk.

“NOAA typically cares most about names that appear on our nautical charts,” Ferguson said. “We want to avoid a name change causing confusion to mariners.”

The proposal is en route to the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, though it’s not clear when the board will make a decision. We’ll report back when we know more.

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