Halifax Island
| Halifax Island | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Waters | Lüderitz Bay , South Atlantic | |
| Archipelago | Penguin Islands | |
| Geographical location | 26 ° 39 '4 " S , 15 ° 4' 48" E | |
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| length | 470 m | |
| width | 400 m | |
| surface | 10 ha | |
| Highest elevation | 37 m | |
| Residents | uninhabited | |
| main place | - | |
Halifax Island is a rocky island in the South Atlantic, 240 meters off the coast of the Lüderitz Peninsula in Namibia . The island is relatively flat and forms the western end of Guano Bay in Lüderitz Bay .
The island belongs to the island chain of the Penguin Islands and is known as guano island , since guano was mined here until 1949 . A station on the northeast side of the island still bears witness to this past. Today the island is known to tourists, as African penguins can be observed from the mainland . It forms the third largest retreat for penguins in Namibia and is home to the country's only growing colony. The island also serves as a base for scientists.
Halifax Island is part of the Meob-Chamais Marine Reserve .
From mid-December 2018, researchers at Lüderitz Marine Research observed increasing penguin deaths. Hundreds of penguins perished in the waters off the coast of Namibia. On February 13, 2019, the Namibian Ministry of Agriculture confirmed the H5N8 bird flu as the cause. It is the first time the virus has ever occurred in Namibia. To date, 200 dead penguins have been counted.
Web links
- Research Report of the University of Cape Town to seabirds to Halifax Iceland ( English )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Thilo Thielke: African penguins: Mysterious mass extinction. In: faz.net. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , February 3, 2019, accessed on February 5, 2019 .
- ↑ Outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (H5N9) on Halifax Island near Lüderitz in the ǁKaras region. Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry, No. 4 2019, February 13, 2019