In 2005 Guadalupe Island and its surrounding waters and islets were declared a biosphere reserve to restore its vegetation (decimated by feral goats) and to protect its population of marine mammals and birds.

The island was a popular destination for great white shark cage diving prior to a tourism ban was set in place in 2022.

Guadalupe Island is inhabited only by scientists, military personnel operating a weather station, and a small group of seasonal fishermen.

Campo Oeste ("West Camp", also called Campo Tepeyac, with 15 buildings) is a small community of abalone and lobster fishermen, located on the western coast,[6] specifically on the north side of West Anchorage, a bay that provides protection from the strong winds and swells that whip the islands during winter.

A series of very fresh-looking alkali basalt flows along with trachyte domes in the northern shield volcano caldera represent the most recently formed rocks on Guadalupe Island.

It features a chain of high volcanic mountain ridges which rises to a height of 1,298 metres (4,259 ft) at its northern end (Mount Augusta).

Northern elephant seals were thought to be extinct by 1884 until a remnant population of eight individuals was discovered on Guadalupe Island in 1892 by a Smithsonian expedition, which promptly killed several of them for their collections.

Originally brought to the island in the 19th century by European whalers and sealers for provisions when stopping over, the population eventually eliminated most vegetation; the number of feral goats declined to a few thousand.

Naturalist A. W. Anthony wrote in 1901: "It is directly due to the despised Billy-goat that many interesting species of plants formerly abundant are now extinct, and also that one or more of the birds peculiar to the island has disappeared, and others are following rapidly.

Extirpation of the feral goats was long envisioned, but logistical difficulties, such as island size and lack of suitable spots for landing and encamping hunters and material, prevented this.

[6] In June 2005, after many years of false starts, the Mexican government had almost completed a round-up and evacuation of the remaining feral goat population.

[6] French sea captain Auguste Duhaut-Cilly remarked on the tall trees on the north of Guadalupe Island as he sailed past on January 2, 1827.

Water, formerly plentiful as the common fogs condensed in the forests of the northern end of the island, today only occurs in a few scattered pools and springs.

Because the springs were a critical emergency water supply for the human inhabitants, protective measures including feral goat fences were installed beginning in 2000, allowing new seedlings of many species to survive for the first time in 150 years.

The movement of the cool, nutrient-rich water current promotes phytoplankton production and attracts both coastal and deep-water species, including spanish mackerel, yellowfin tuna and great white sharks.

[23] Guadalupe is considered one of the best spots in the world for sightings of the great white shark (Carcharhodon carcharias), because of its clear water and large population of pinnipeds, their primary prey.

In 2019 the Mexican Department SEMARNANT suspended cage diving and sport fishing between May and December to evaluate tourism’s impact on the several hundred protected white sharks congregating there.