Channel Islands National Park, California

Channel Islands National Park stretches across 2,500 miles of the North American Pacific coast, encompassing five of the eight California Channel Islands. The park bridges two biogeographical provinces, resulting in high plant and animal diversity in a concentrated area. From microscopic plankton to the largest animal in the world, the blue whale, thousands of species can be found here, including 145 existing nowhere else.

—Prepared by the World Tribune staff