The study, as well as this field trip, are part of a binational effort to save this and other declining island species from extinction. The children were learning about native creatures with which they share the island, and the threats these creatures face. For the black-vented shearwaters, the main threat is feral cats. Natividad Island is 3.6 miles long and only 1.5 miles wide at its broadest point. Significant rain falls only every three to five years, brought by hurricanes that drift up from the south or by storms from the north.
Persistent winds sweep the island year round, driven by the desert heat on the adjacent peninsula.
While the winds make the water around Natividad productive through the process of upwelling, the large wind-driven seas make fishing difficult. Their catch is processed at the island fishing cooperative's canning plant and then sold to Japan. All the islanders are associated with the cooperative, which has exclusive fishing rights to the island, recognized by the federal government. It is not uncommon for fishermen to bring domestic cats to Natividad Island as a way to control the native mice that are attracted to their houses. Unfortunately, when the cats prove to be poor mouse hunters, fishermen usually abandon them.