Kure atoll

Kure atoll
Satellite image of the Kure Atoll
Waters	Pacific Ocean
archipelago	Northwest Hawaii Islands
Geographical location	28 ° 25 ′  N , 178 ° 20 ′  W Coordinates: 28 ° 25 ′  N , 178 ° 20 ′  W
Number of islands	2
Main island	Green Island
length	9.3 km
width	7.7 km
Land area	86 ha
total area	58 km²
Residents	uninhabited
Map of the Kure Atoll

The Kure Island or the Kure Atoll ( Hawaiian : Mokupāpapa , also referred to as Ocean Island ) is located in the northern Pacific and belongs politically to the US state of Hawaii and geographically to the Northwest Hawaiian Islands . It is the westernmost island in this archipelago.

geography

Kure is almost 2,000 km from Honolulu , 80 km from neighboring Atoll Midway and 150 km from the date line . Kure is the northernmost of all coral atolls in the world. It is an atoll with a diameter of about 9 and a circumference of about 25 km and contains several small islands. The largest of these islands, Green Island , has an area of ​​only 0.78 km², the total land area of ​​the archipelago is 0.86 km². The fringing reef of the atoll is only open at one point and thus allows smaller ships to enter the lagoon . Kure has no permanent residents but is visited regularly by US Fish & Wildlife Service personnel .

The total area of ​​the atoll is 58 km². The lagoon is up to 15 meters deep.

history

The atoll was probably discovered in 1820 by the Russian captain Kure , but this has not been proven for certain. It may not have been discovered until 1823 by Captain Benjamin Morrell . What is certain is, however, that in the aftermath repeatedly ships on the reef wrecked , among others, on 9 July 1837, the British ship Gledstanes or on 29 October 1870, the USS Saginaw . Due to the remote location of the island, it sometimes took many months before the castaways could be rescued.

Until 1992 there was a LORAN station of the United States Coast Guard on Kure , and there is also a small, fortified airfield .

Animal world (fauna)

Masked boobies on Green Island

The atoll is an important breeding area for sea ​​birds . The brown booby ( Sula leucogaster ), the laysanalbatros ( Phoebastria immutabilis ) and the banded frigate bird ( Fregata minor ) are found here. Kure is also home to a significant population of the Hawaiian monk seal , with an estimated current population of around 100 to 125.

The entire atoll is a bird sanctuary and part of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument and may not be entered without the approval of the US Fish & Wildlife Service, and usually for research purposes only.

literature

• Edwin H. Bryan, Jr .: American Polynesia and the Hawaiian Chain; Honolulu. Hawaii 1942 (Rev. ed.)

Web links

Commons : Kure Atoll  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Information about Kure (English)
• About an expedition to the wreck of the USS Saginaw in 2006 (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ United States Census Bureau, Kure Atoll including Green Island: Blocks 1023 and 1024, Census Tract 114.98, Honolulu County, Hawaii (English)
2. ↑ Atoll Area, Depth and Rainfall  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ↑ Jane's Oceania Page - Kure Island (English)
4. ↑ Bishop Museum - NWHI Background History (English)
5. ↑ NWHI Multi-Agency Education Project: about Kure Atoll (English)