Mōkapu Island

Mōkapu Island
Kalaupapa peninsula seen from the east, with Mōkapu on the right edge of the picture (the two coastal rocks are Huelo and Okala)
Waters	Pacific Ocean
Archipelago	Hawaii
Geographical location	21 ° 11 '0 "  N , 156 ° 55' 26"  W Coordinates: 21 ° 11 '0 "  N , 156 ° 55' 26"  W
length	350 m
width	155 m
surface	4 ha
Highest elevation	110  m
Residents	uninhabited

Mokapu Iceland is a small, uninhabited island off the north coast Moloka'is in the archipelago of Hawaii . It is located just under a kilometer north of the north coast of Moloka'i, southeast of the Kalaupapa Peninsula and belongs to the Waikolu ahupua'a of Kalawao County .

The up to 110 m high island forms an almost isosceles triangle with lengths of 450 m and a width of 150 m and has an area of ​​4  ha (0.4 km²).

fauna and Flora

Mōkapu is an important retreat for rare Hawaiian plants. 29 indigenous plants , some of which are endangered, occur on it, including Pittosporum halophilum , a type of sticky seed or Lepidium bidentatum , a type of cress . Numerous sea ​​birds such as the white-tailed tropical bird ( Phaethon lepturus ), the red-tailed tropical bird ( Phaethon rubricauda ) or the wedge-tailed shearwater ( Puffinus pacificus , Hawaiian : ʻuaʻu kani or hōʻio ) breed on the island. Mōkapu Island is therefore, like many other small islands in Hawaii, a Hawaii State Seabird Sanctuary ( bird sanctuary ) and may not be entered. In order to improve the protection of native plants and animals, the last rats ( Rattus exulans ) on the island were exterminated and the island was declared “rat-free” in February 2008.

Web links

• Mōkapu Island in the Geographic Names Information System of the United States Geological Survey
• Mōkapu in the Offshore Islet Restoration Committee , with numerous pictures (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ hōʻio in Hawaiian Dictionaries , ʻuaʻu kani in Hawaiian Dictionaries