In the 1980s, the northern part of the landmass was cut off from Strawberry Spit on the directions of a Marin County supervisor to prevent housing from being constructed there, creating Aramburu Island.

The land that now constitutes Aramburu Island and Strawberry Spit was created between the late 1950s[4] and early 1960s, from large amounts of waste material being dumped into Richardson Bay.

[4] However, over the course of the next several decades, coastal erosion processes caused the eastern shore of the island to recede by more than 130 feet (40 m), reducing it to its present area of 17 acres (6.9 ha).

[11] Subsequently, the ship's owner and operator reached a settlement in which more than $32 million was to fund habitat restoration projects in the area.

[9] Then, a "ramp" was constructed using materials which "closely matched the Bay's natural beaches", including gravel, sand, ground oyster shells, and eucalyptus logs from local sources.

[15] In June 2020, an algae bloom "choked" miles of shoreline around Strawberry Point, and "carpeted" the shores of Aramburu Island.

Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Audubon Society found that there had also been black-necked stilts and killdeer raising chicks on the island.

[14] While previous work on the island's cliffs was unsuccessful in driving away the birds, a variety of other contraptions were used, including a grid of precisely-placed strings, and a sculpture of a coyote.

[19] The study was part of an effort to restore Olympia oysters to the region by halting the invasive snails' "rampage" through the bay.