Laysan

Laysan
Laysan from the air
Waters	Pacific Ocean
Archipelago	Northwest Hawaii Islands
Geographical location	25 ° 46 '14 "  N , 171 ° 44' 4"  W Coordinates: 25 ° 46 '14 "  N , 171 ° 44' 4"  W.
length	3 km
width	2 km
surface	4.114 km²
Highest elevation	12  m
Residents	uninhabited
Map of Laysan Island

Laysan ( Hawaiian : Kauō ) is a small, uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean , which geographically belongs to the island chain of the Northwest Hawai'i Islands and politically to the US state of Hawaii .

geography

The interior of the island with a lagoon in the background

The island of Laysan is geographically located in the middle of the Northwest Hawai'i Islands and is 215 km from the neighboring island of Lisianski in the west and 375 km from the Gardner Pinnacles in the southeast. Laysan has an area of ​​4.114 km² and a height of up to 12 m. It is therefore the second largest island in the chain of islands after the Midway Islands (6.2 km²). Inside the sandy island, 2.4 m above sea level, there is a central lagoon , the salinity of which is about three times higher than that of the ocean. Laysan is surrounded by a comparatively small coral reef .

Like all Hawai'i Islands, Laysan is of volcanic origin.

history

From a European point of view, the island was discovered on March 12, 1828 by the Russian captain Stanikowitch and named by him after his ship Moller . However, Laysan may have been visited by Polynesian sailors earlier . In 1857 the island was taken over for the Hawaiian King Kamehameha IV .

Collected Albatross Eggs, 1902

In 1890 Laysan was leased to the North Pacific Phosphate and Fertilizer Company to mine guano . Especially in the period from 1892 to 1904 this was intensively dismantled and the island was also settled during this time. The most famous resident of Laysan at that time was Max Schlemmer , of German descent , who was also known as the "King of Laysan". In 1896 he acquired the rights of the North Pacific Phosphate and Fertilizer Company and sold them in turn to Genkichi Yamanouchi from Tokyo with the promise to export "everything" from the island. The Japanese therefore not only exported guano, but mainly bird feathers . The Bremen natural scientist Hugo Schauinsland spent three months on the island in the course of his collecting trip through Oceania in 1896 and carried out thorough studies of the island's flora, fauna and geology.

Once famous for its abundance of birds, hunting the birds, collecting their eggs and, in particular, the rabbits brought in by Max Schlemmer led to a drastic decline in bird populations. For this reason, all islands in northwest Hawaii with the exception of Midways were declared a bird sanctuary by President Theodore Roosevelt on February 3, 1909, the Hawaiian Islands Bird Reservation . In 2006 the entire chain of islands was proclaimed the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument .

Animal world (fauna)

Among the Hawai'i Islands, Laysan is particularly known for its bird life. Once there were five endemic bird species on Laysan , due to the intensive exploitation of the island in the past three species have become extinct: the Laysan warbler ( Acrocephalus familiaris familiaris ), the Laysan rail ( Porzana palmeri ) and the Laysan apapane ( Himatione sanguinea freethi ). The last three individuals of the Apapane fell victim to a storm in 1923 while researchers from the Tanager expedition were on the island. Two survived endemic bird species are jeopardized in their inventory: The Laysan Duck ( Anas laysanensis ) and Laysangimpel ( Telespiza cantans ). The comparatively common Laysanalbatros ( Phoebastria immutabilis ) is named after the island .

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  Monk seal on the island beach

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  Laysan duck with chicks

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  Laysan pennant

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  Great frigate bird on Laysan

In addition, the island is a retreat for the Hawai'i monk seal ( Monachus schauinslandi ) or the green turtle ( Chelonia mydas ).

In the coral reef off the island there are 28 species of hard corals ( Scleractinia ), and there are also different species of surgeon fish (Acanthuridae).

Web links

Commons : Laysan  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Information about Laysan Video incl. (English)
• Laysan Iceland on Jane's Oceania Page (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ United States Census Bureau, Laysan Island: Blocks 1013, Census Tract 114.98, Honolulu County, Hawaii (English)
2. ↑ ^{a b c} NWHI Multi-Agency Education Project: about Laysan Island ( Memento of the original dated February 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English) 
3. ↑ Honolulu Advertiser "Coconut pollen found on Laysan", Monday, May 23, 2005, p. B1-2 (English)
4. ↑ NWHI Multi-Agency Education Project: "The King of Laysan" ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English) 
5. ^ Hugo Schauinsland: Three months on a coral island (Laysan) . Nössler, Bremen 1899, 104 pp.
6. ↑ Ilka Backmeister-Collacott, Ulrich Burkhardt, Eva Determann: Schauinsland! Views from overseas. Hugo Schauinsland on his 150th birthday . Rasch, Bramsche 2007, ISBN 978-3-89946-087-2 (catalog book for the exhibition of the same name in the Übersee-Museum Bremen).
7. ↑ Tanager Expedition ( Memento of the original from January 17, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English)