The name, age, origin, and current location of the Farallon Islands derive from an ancient and now extinct tectonic plate. One hundred million years ago, shortly following the evolution of flowering plants and prior to the extinction of the dinosaurs, the Farallon Plate underwent a subduction event. Through a process not entirely understood, this plate slid in an easterly direction beneath the massive North American Plate, upwelling super heating minerals which then cooled and solidified into a batholith of granite; a massive string of formations that have since eroded into the Sierra Nevada Range. Around 20 million years ago, after a prolonged period of subduction, the Farallon Plate split along the convergent boundary of the North American Plate, forming the Juan de Fuca Plate to the north (which is still subducting and fueling volcanism below Washington State) and what was then the Cocos Plate to the south. This split also initiated the northern movement of the Pacific Plate along the North American Plate, a right lateral strike-slip boundary referred to as the San Andreas Fault, providing current day residents of central and southern California with frequent and often dramatic earthquakes. Fast forward another 10 million years, still well before the emergence of our genus Homo, some granitic material of the southern Sierra Nevada began to drift in a northerly direction, carried by the movement of the Pacific Plate along the San Andreas Fault. This northerly movement continued for a final 10 million years bringing us to the present, where spires of 100 million year old granite rock, the Farallon Islands, now rise from the depths of the Pacific 28 miles offshore of San Francisco; continuing on a slow migration north at a rate on average of 35 centimeters annually. 
Aside from its unique geologic origins, the Farallones reside in a biologically significant location. The islands are situated just six miles east of the continental slope; a distinct bathymetrical feature where the relatively shallow 500 foot continental shelf drops dramatically and abruptly into the 6,000 plus foot abyssal plain. As you can watch in a glass of fine silt, particles denser than water eventually settle on the bottom, including biologically important nutrients such as phosphates and nitrates in the ocean which settle on the seafloor. The California coast is renowned for its strong northwesterly winds that occur predominately in the months of spring; winds that drive a phenomenon along the continental slope known as upwelling. Upwelling essentially is a horizontal bottom up current that drawls deep nutrient rich water up to the photic zone near the surface, in reach of tiny single celled algae and other phytoplankton which use these nutrients to drive photosynthesis. Phytoplankton are the basis of the marine food web (aside from deep dwelling extremophiles which rely on chemosynthesis of methane gas expelled from ocean vents), and just like gazelles grazing on the grasslands of Africa, small zooplankton (copepods, larval stages of vertebrates and invertebrates, and jellies to name a few) graze on phytoplankton as they comb through sunlit surface waters of the temperate oceans. Thus the close proximity of the Farallones to the productive phytoplankton enriched currents welling up from the continental slope, provide an important habitat for open ocean travelers like seabirds to rest, feed, and rear their young.
The transfer of energy from phytoplankton, through the food chain to the larger prey items of seabirds such as schooling fish and squid, takes time. Given that the biologically important nutrients previously mentioned typically don’t become available until the spring winds kick in; productivity around the Farallones doesn’t occur in full force until summer. Seabirds seem well aware of this reality, and coupled with the generally mild summer weather of coastal California, May through August is a great time on the Farallones to find a mate, build a nest, and lay an egg. Twelve species of seabirds, as far as I know, find the Farallon Islands to be a nice place to rear a chick (or several chicks); Western Gulls, Common Murres, Pigeon Guillemots, Tufted Puffins, Rhinoceros Auklets, Cassin’s Auklets, Ashy Storm Petrels, Wilson’s Storm Petrels ?, Pelagic Cormorants, Brandt’s Cormorants, and Double-crested Cormorants. Some species are more coastal than others, however the Storm Petrels in particular likely spent and extended period of time (years possibly) well offshore without ever touching their webbed feet on solid ground. The islands are also an important stopover for migrating shorebirds and passerines, and a haul out and breeding site for Northern Fur Seals, Northern Elephant Seals, Steller Sea Lions, California Sea Lions, and Harbor Seals; as well as a destination for the infamous white shark for reasons I just listed. 
Although well known by the wildlife for millions of years, the Farallon Islands were only occasionally visible to native North American peoples. Cloaked in fog and mystery they remained untouched up until the 16th century, when they were eventually ‘discovered’ by Sir Francis Drake in 1579 (then just Francis Drake as he was knighted in 1581), during his second circumnavigation of the globe. It didn’t take long for Europeans and the subsequent rebels of the infant American colonies to realize the potential for economic exploitation of the islands natural resources. Russians established a sealing station on Southeast Farallon Island in 1812, harvesting 1,200 to 1,500 fur seals annually for 30 years, until the operation was eventually abandoned due to a declining yield and pressure from the Americans who eventually conquered the land of California from the Spanish in 1846. California became a state of the union in 1850, with the Farallon Islands included within the city boundaries of San Francisco. Although the seal populations were virtually exterminated, many nesting seabirds persisted; in particular the Common Murre, which proved to be of important economic value to the booming population of the egg-deprived citizens of San Fran following the gold rush. Apparently there was a shortage of chickens in those days, with the Common Murre and its single rich-orange yolk filled egg supplying the demand for omelets, cakes, and overall protein.
The extensive egg harvesting and general occupation of the Farallones by a select group of San Franciscan’s had a massively negative impact on the islands nesting seabird populations. Along with the current modern impacts of overfishing, global fluctuations in climate, and increased ocean temperatures, seabird populations not just on the Farallones but worldwide are experiencing the strain of human influences on the environment. It is for these and other factors that in 1968, Point Reyes Bird Observatory (PRBO) biologists first began monitoring the recovery and in some cases seasonal decline of the 12 species of nesting seabirds on the Farallones. This ultimately brings us to the immediate present, where in a few days, I along with a few other PRBO volunteers will carry on the traditions and legacy of this unique history of the Farallon Islands…and likely cake our fowl weather gear with many depositional layers of bird droppings.
More to come on the research ahead, I’ll wait until I experience the island for myself before I write any further.
I'm looking forward to reading your posts and learning about the island--what an experience!
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