Hollamsbird Island
| Hollamsbird Island also: Hollandsbird Island |
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|---|---|---|
| Waters | South Atlantic | |
| Archipelago | Penguin islands | |
| Geographical location | 24 ° 38 '22 " S , 14 ° 31' 51" E | |
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| length | 110 m | |
| width | 90 m | |
| surface | 1 ha | |
| Highest elevation | 12 m | |
| Residents | uninhabited | |
| main place | - | |
Hollamsbird Island (also rarely Hollandsbird Island ) is a small rocky island with no vegetation off the coast of Namibia and the northernmost island of the Penguin Islands . Hollam's Bird Island is 10.3 km off the coast of the Namib -Wüste in the South Atlantic in the Long wall bay , not far south of the Meobbucht . The island reaches a height of 12 meters above sea level.
Hollamsbird Island is the northernmost island on the West African coast with breeding grounds for African penguins , but in sparse populations. The guano , which is historically typical of the penguin islands , is therefore not so rich here. However, the island has a large number of sea birds .
Guano had been mined on Hollamsbird Island and the surrounding islands since the 1840s until the contracts expired in 1992. It is said that Captain Benjamin Morrell (* July 5, 1795, † 1839) had 1,400 animals slain in a single day on Hollam's Bird Island. The island is relatively far in the Atlantic, which often resulted in stormy seas and, in the past, dangerous mooring for ships.
The island has been part of Namibia since 1994. Like the other penguin islands, it previously belonged to South Africa . It can only be viewed with a special permit. There is a diverse amphibious fauna between water and land - from crabs to penguins to seals . The white malagas bird ("sea goose") and cormorants often join the various penguin species. Flamingos and pelicans from the nearby Walvis Bay appear from time to time . There is an abandoned hut of the guano farmers.
The island is part of the Meob-Chamais marine reserve .