Heard Island and McDonald Islands Marine Reserve

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Location map of the islands in the sea area

The Heard Iceland and McDonald Islands Marine Reserve is a 71,200 km² marine reserve in most of Australia distant outer area . It is located in the Indian Ocean , 1,700 km north of the Australian Mawson Station in Antarctica and about 4,100 km southwest of Western Australia and is about the same distance from South Africa .

The Heard and McDonald Islands area has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997 . On October 16, 2002, about 65,000 km² of sea area with the islands were declared a protected area under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act) of 1999. After an expansion in March 2014, the reserve now covers an area of ​​71,200 km². The wetlands on Heard Island have been nominated for recognition under the Ramsar Convention .

There is an environment in this area that, apart from one species of grass, has not been affected by human introduced species. However, the region was fished intensively in the 1990s.

location

Heard Island with the Big Ben volcano

The Heard and McDonald Islands located in the area rise as mountain peaks above a plateau formed by volcanoes ( Kerguelen Plateau ). There are also the small islands of Shag Island , Drury Rock , Sail Rock and Meyer Rock in the reserve . The closest non-Australian island is the northwestern French Île Kerguelen at a distance of 380 km.

The submarine plateau is part of one of the longest oceanic mountain ridges on earth, which extends over 2100 km in a north-westerly direction from Antarctica to the Indian Ocean.

The protected area includes the islands, the sea area and an Exclusive Economic Zone . The other marine reserves in Australia are administered by the Commonwealth, the Australian federal government; only the Heard Island and McDonald Islands Marine Reserve is subordinate to the Australian Antarctic Division .

geology

The marine reserve is located in the area of ​​the Kerguelen Plateau , a submarine plateau that was created around 35–120 million years ago by the volcanic activity of the Kerguelen hotspot . This is geologically divided into the northern, central and southern areas as well as the Elan Bank and the Labuan Basin . Above the plateau, other banks such as the Aurora Bank , Coral Bank , Pike Bank , Discovery Bank and Shell Bank rise to a water depth of about 200 m, but, apart from the Kerguelen and the islands of Heard and McDonald, do not reach the water surface anywhere. They are geographically isolated from different sea depths and are composed of different rock material.

The island of Heard was formed in three temporal stages: In the first stage 45–50 million years ago, limestone , gabbro and dolerite emerged , which today only appear on the southern edge of the Laurens peninsula, but spread over large parts of the Kerguelen plateau under water extend; later (about 9 million years ago) conglomerate, sandstone , clay-bound rocks and basalt with trachytic intrusions followed . Most recently (less than 1 million years ago) large amounts of basaltic lava were ejected to form today's volcanic mountains such as Big Ben or the geologically very young Mount Dixon.

climate

The climate is cold and windy all year round due to the location of the area south of the Antarctic Convergence , where cold Antarctic water meets less cold sub-Antarctic surface waters of the Indian Ocean. The average monthly maximum temperatures are between 0.0 ° C and 4.2 ° C; the average wind speed is around 30 km / h. There are storms 150 days a year and hurricanes 41 days a year. 70% of Heard Island is covered by ice and snow.

fauna

Heard Island is an important breeding ground for penguins , of which four species ( king penguin , gentoo penguin , golden crested penguin and rockhopper penguin ) can be found, some of which form large colonies (up to several ten thousand birds). In addition, 15 species of airborne birds breed on Heard; another 28 species that do not breed here have been spotted as guests or above the sea. Were used as breeding birds observed four types of storm birds ( Giant Petrel , Cape Petrel , Antarktiksturmvogel and Fulmar Prion ), three types Albatrosse ( Wanderalbatros , Black- , light-mantled albatross ) and two types of diving petrel ( Petrel and Breitschnabel Petrel ). Further breed here Buntfuß-Sturmschwalbe , Kelp , Antarctic Tern , Brown Skua and endemic the Heardscharbe and a subspecies of black sheathbills beak ( Chionis minor nasicornis ).

Three species of seals ( southern elephant seal , Antarctic fur seal and sub- Antarctic fur seal ) breed on Heard Island. The leopard seal appears as a frequent guest without breeding here. Weddell seals , crab eaters and horse seals were spotted less frequently .

Numerous representatives of the Antarctic cod and crocodile ice fish can be found in the coastal waters within twelve nautical miles of the islands . In the deeper waters (deeper than 500 m) and outside the Kerguelen Plateau, black hake , giant Antarctic cod , grenadier fish and rays dominate , and lantern fish in the more distant sea areas .

Blue whale , fin whale , killer whale , hourglass dolphin , layard whale , spectacled porpoise , humpback whale , sperm whale , southern minke whale , pilot whale , southern duck whale , Commerson's dolphin , black dolphin , southern black whale and southern right whale have been observed in the marine reserve .

  • Subantartikskua

  • Crested penguin

  • Crocodile ice fish

  • Commerson Dolphin

  • Sub-Antarctic fur seal

Since 1997 the stocks of black hake ( Dissostichus eleginoides ) and banded ice fish ( Champsocephalus gunnari ) have been commercially fished with longlines in the waters near the islands .

flora

Due to the cold climate, only 20 km² of Heard Island is covered by vegetation, especially on the coast. The flora is species-poor and mainly consists of mosses and lichens . So far, 44 moss, 12 liverwort and 34 lichen species have been counted. There are also twelve types of vascular plants , none of which are endemic. Six different plant communities are currently known on Heard.

The only species possibly introduced into the reserve by humans is the annual bluegrass . However, it cannot be ruled out that this species came here naturally from the Kerguelen.

literature

  • Commonwealth of Australia (Ed.): Heard Island and McDonald Islands Marine Reserve Management Plan 2014–2024 . Department of the Environment, Canberra 2014, ISBN 978-1-876934-25-5 (English, online [PDF; 4.5 MB ]).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Location and boundaries. In: Heard Island & McDonald Islands. Official website. Australian Government - Department of the Environment and Energy - Australian Antarctic Division , accessed November 4, 2016.
  2. ↑ Entry on the website of the UNESCO World Heritage Center ( English and French ), accessed on November 4, 2016.
  3. ↑ Heard Island and McDonald Islands Marine Reserve Expansion. In: Heard Island & McDonald Islands. Official website. Australian Government - Department of the Environment and Energy - Australian Antarctic Division , accessed November 4, 2016.
  4. ↑ Wetlands. In: Heard Island & McDonald Islands. Official website. Australian Government - Department of the Environment and Energy - Australian Antarctic Division , accessed November 4, 2016.
  5. ↑ Heard Island and McDonalds Islands Marine Reserve - Amendment to boundary. (PDF; 1.4 MB) Map of the protected area. In: Heard Island & McDonald Islands. Official website. Australian Government - Department of the Environment and Energy - Australian Antarctic Division , accessed May 15, 2017 .
  6. ↑ L. Meyer, A. Constable, R. Williams: Conservation of marine habitats in the region of Heard Island and McDonald Islands . HIMI Marine Habitats Review. Australian Antarctic Division, Kingston January 14, 2000, Background - The Physical Environment: Geomorphology, p. 5 ff . (English, online [PDF; 1,2 MB ]).
  7. ^ Geology. In: Heard Island & McDonald Islands. Official website. Australian Government - Department of the Environment and Energy - Australian Antarctic Division , accessed November 4, 2016.
  8. ^ Climate and weather. In: Heard Island & McDonald Islands. Official website. Australian Government - Department of the Environment and Energy - Australian Antarctic Division , accessed November 4, 2016.
  9. ^ Glaciology. In: Heard Island & McDonald Islands. Official website. Australian Government - Department of the Environment and Energy - Australian Antarctic Division , accessed November 4, 2016.
  10. ↑ Penguins. In: Heard Island & McDonald Islands. Official website. Australian Government - Department of the Environment and Energy - Australian Antarctic Division , accessed November 4, 2016.
  11. ↑ Flying birds. In: Heard Island & McDonald Islands. Official website. Australian Government - Department of the Environment and Energy - Australian Antarctic Division , accessed November 4, 2016.
  12. ↑ Seals. In: Heard Island & McDonald Islands. Official website. Australian Government - Department of the Environment and Energy - Australian Antarctic Division , accessed November 4, 2016.
  13. ↑ Fishes. In: Heard Island & McDonald Islands. Official website. Australian Government - Department of the Environment and Energy - Australian Antarctic Division , accessed November 4, 2016.
  14. ↑ Cetaceans. In: Heard Island & McDonald Islands. Official website. Australian Government - Department of the Environment and Energy - Australian Antarctic Division , accessed November 4, 2016.
  15. ↑ Toothfish Factsheet 58.5.2 - Heard Iceland and McDonald Islands. (PDF; 497 kB) Coalition of Legal Toothfish Operators Inc. (COLTO), November 2014, accessed on May 15, 2017 (English).
  16. ↑ Plants of HIMI. In: Heard Island & McDonald Islands. Official website. Australian Government - Department of the Environment and Energy - Australian Antarctic Division , accessed November 4, 2016.
  17. ↑ Non-vascular plants. In: Heard Island & McDonald Islands. Official website. Australian Government - Department of the Environment and Energy - Australian Antarctic Division , accessed November 4, 2016.
  18. ^ Vascular. In: Heard Island & McDonald Islands. Official website. Australian Government - Department of the Environment and Energy - Australian Antarctic Division , accessed November 4, 2016.
  19. ↑ Plant communities. In: Heard Island & McDonald Islands. Official website. Australian Government - Department of the Environment and Energy - Australian Antarctic Division , accessed November 4, 2016.
  20. ↑ Introduced plant species. In: Heard Island & McDonald Islands. Official website. Australian Government - Department of the Environment and Energy - Australian Antarctic Division , accessed November 4, 2016.

Coordinates: 53 ° 6 ′ 14 ″  S , 73 ° 31 ′ 44 ″  E