Protection Island National Wildlife Refuge, Nature reserve in Jefferson County, United States

Protection Island National Wildlife Refuge is a 379-acre nature reserve in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, featuring sandy bluffs, grasslands, and coastal areas. The land provides habitat for a wide variety of seabirds and marine mammals that use the island's diverse landscape zones.

Spanish explorers first named the island Isla de Carrasco in 1790, until George Vancouver renamed it Protection Island in 1792. This change reflects early European exploration of the Pacific Northwest coast and how geographic names shifted through successive expeditions.

The island's name comes from George Vancouver's 1792 visit, replacing the Spanish name Isla de Carrasco given in 1790. Today the refuge is closed to visitors, but boat tours from Port Townsend let people watch rhinoceros auklets, tufted puffins and glaucous-winged gulls from the water. A volunteer caretaker lives on the island year-round.

The island is not open to the public, but visitors can observe wildlife from the water during organized boat tours that maintain a safe distance from the shore. Viewing from a boat is the best and only way to see the island and its inhabitants from an appropriate distance.

Marty Bluewater holds a lifetime-use inholding cabin on the island's southern bluffs, making him the only non-government resident. A volunteer caretaker hired by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also lives on the island to watch over its wildlife.