The farallon islands support the largest seabird nesting colony in the united states south of alaska and contain greater than 30% of the breeding seabirds in california

Thirteen species of marine birds currently breed on the refuge including globally significant populations of several species and hundreds of species of migratory birds. The islands also provide important breeding and resting habitat for five species of seals and FUR seals and sea lions. The refuge hosts the endemic farallon arboreal salamander as well as the endemic farallon camel cricket and a unique plant community. One of the largest concentrations of white sharks visit the surrounding waters within the greater farallones national marine sanctuary to feed on the marine mammals of the islands and globally important populations of several whale species feed and migrate just offshore. In addition to providing information for refuge management the vigor and productivity of farallon seabird populations is used as a barometer to help assess the health of the pacific ocean food webs and impacts of climate change. The scientific public purpose of conserving the natural resources of the islands and sharing wildlife information serves a broader public purpose as well since a large percentage of the american public considers themselves to be conservationists. Point reyes bird observatory DBA point blue conservation science has been studying wildlife populations and staffing a small research station on southeast farallon island (SEFI) uninterrupted since 1968. The farallon islands stewardship and ecosystem monitoring project will continue the long term partnership between point blue and the united states fish and wildlife service (USFWS) and farallon islands national wildlife refuge to provide stewardship and monitoring of the refuge wildlife as well as its ecosystem and facilities. The objective is to protect and conserve and monitor the farallon islands ecosystem including wildlife and plants. The project will benefit the refuge and the public by maintaining facilities on the farallon islands and by collecting data to help guide management actions and to promote public awareness.