Bounty Islands

Bounty Islands
Photo from 1901
Waters	Pacific Ocean
Geographical location	47 ° 45 ′  S , 179 ° 3 ′  E Coordinates: 47 ° 45 ′  S , 179 ° 3 ′  E
Number of islands	13 (+ numerous rocks)
Main island	Depot Island
Total land area	1.35 km²
Residents	uninhabited
Map of the Bounty Islands

The Bounty Islands ( English Bounty Islands ) are a group of islands in the South Pacific . Politically, they belong to New Zealand and are counted among the New Zealand Offshore Islands . The uninhabited archipelago consists of 22 small and tiny granite islands , which are divided into a western and an eastern group. The group measures about 5 km in diameter.

The islands are about 690 km southeast of Christchurch at 47 ° 42 'south and about 179 ° 5' east. The largest island is 1.3  km² . It was discovered by William Bligh on September 8, 1788 and named after his ship Bounty , which later became famous for the mutiny that has often been described and filmed. The mean annual temperature is 10 ° C and the annual precipitation is 1000–1500 mm.

Wildlife

There used to be large herds of fur seals on the island , but they were almost extinct by the middle of the 19th century . In 1980 around 16,000 specimens of the New Zealand fur seal ( Arctocephalus forsteri ) were counted.

Endemic bird species are the bounty shark ( Phalacrocorax ranfurlyi , also Leucocarbo ranfurlyi ), a species of cormorant , and the bounty thick-billed petrel ( Pachyptila crassirostris crassirostris ). In addition, gray-backed albatrosses ( Thalassarche salvini) nest here , a species of albatross previously classified as a subspecies of the white-capped albatross (Thalassarche cauta) .

Apart from the Antipode Islands, the islands are the only nesting site for crown penguins ( Eudyptes sclateri ).

natural reserve

The islands have been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998 . To preserve the unique flora and fauna, the New Zealand government has banned entry to the islands.

Web links

Commons : Bounty Islands  - Collection of Images

• Detailed map of the Bounty Islands ( Memento from April 4, 2017 in the Internet Archive )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Hadoram Shirihai: A Complete Guide to Antarctic Wildlife - The Birds and Marine Mammals of the Antarctic Continent and Southern Ocean , Alula Press, Degerby 2002, ISBN 951-98947-0-5 , p. 115