precipitous islets and rocks 31 to 85 meters high, with an aggregate area of 28,270 m2 North Farallon Island, 31 meters high, about 150 meters long north-south, 9,260 m2 Island of St. James, 47 meters high, about 125 meters in diameter, 12,380 m2 unnamed rock, about 85 meters in diameter, and 5,640 m2 in area four smaller unnamed rocks, diameter 20 meters and less Some of those unnamed rocks, however, have Spanish names, such as Piedra Guadalupe, Peñasco Quebrado and Farallón Vizcaíno. Fanny Shoal 5 km WNW of the North Farallones is Fanny Shoal, a bank 3 km in extent, with depth less than 55 meters, marking the northernmost and westernmost feature of the group, albeit entirely submerged. Noonday Rock, which rises abruptly from a depth of 37 meters, with a least depth of over it at low tide, is the shallowest point of Fanny Shoal. There is a lighted bell buoy about 1 km west of Noonday Rock. Noonday Rock, formerly known as Fanny Rock, derives its name from that of the clipper ship that struck it on January 1, 1863, and sank within one hour. Banks northwest of Fanny Shoal The banks northwest of Fanny Shoal are not considered part of the Farallon Islands anymore, and they are outside of U.S. territorial waters. About 25 km northwest of Fanny Shoal is Cordell Bank, a significant marine habitat (). About halfway between Fanny Shoal and Cordell Bank is Rittenburg Bank, with depths of less than 80 meters (). Flora and fauna Seabirds The Farallon Islands are an important reserve protecting a huge seabird colony. The islands' position in the highly productive California Current and eastern Pacific upwelling region, as well as the absence of other large islands that would provide suitable nesting grounds, result in a seabird population of over 250,000. Twelve species of seabird and shorebird nest on the islands; western gull, Brandt's cormorant, pelagic cormorant, double-crested cormorant, pigeon guillemot, common murre, Cassin's auklet, tufted puffin, black oystercatcher, rhinoceros auklet, ashy storm-petrel, and Leach's storm-petrel. Since the islands were protected, common murres, which once numbered nearly 500,000 pairs but suffered from the egg collecting, oil spills and other disturbances that had greatly reduced their numbers, recovered and climbed from 6,000 birds to 160,000. Additionally, since protection, the locally extinct rhinoceros auklet has begun to breed on the islands again. The island has the world's largest colonies of western