Nihoa

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Nihoa
Aerial view of Nihoa island
Aerial view of Nihoa island
Waters Pacific Ocean
Archipelago Northwest Hawaii Islands
Geographical location 23 ° 3 '38 "  N , 161 ° 55' 19"  W Coordinates: 23 ° 3 '38 "  N , 161 ° 55' 19"  W
Nihoa (Hawaii overall)
Nihoa
length 1.6 km
width 1.1 km
surface 70 ha
Highest elevation Miller's Peak
273  m
Residents uninhabited
Map of Nihoa Island
Map of Nihoa Island
Aerial photo with geographical names

Nihoa (also known as Moku Manu ) is a small, uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean . It represents the highest and most easterly of the Northwestern Hawai'i Islands . Nihoa is located about 300 km southeast of Necker Island and about 450 km northwest of Honolulu on Oʻahu , the most populous island in Hawaii .

geography

Nihoa's surface consists of 70 hectares (exactly 701,054 m²) of dry land, surrounded by about 570 km² of coral reef . The north and west coasts of the 1.6 km long and maximum 1.1 km wide island are characterized by sloping cliffs that rise steeply from the sea. The island has two peaks: Miller's Peak at 273 m and Tanager Peak at 260 m. Like all the islands of Hawaii it is of volcanic origin; their age is estimated at 7.2 million years.

  • Views

  • Nihoa from afar

  • Cliff of the Tanager Peak

  • Nihoa Up Close (1969)

history

Nihoa was already important to the early Hawaiians, and archaeological finds show that primitive agricultural terraces and houses already existed on Nihoa. The island was inhabited from around AD 1000 to 1700.

The island was "rediscovered" on March 21, 1788 by British captain James Colnett on the Prince of Wales . However, since he was later imprisoned by the Spaniards, the British captain William Douglas was considered the discoverer for a long time, who sighted the island around a year later on March 19, 1789 and named Bird Island (Eng. "Bird Island"). On April 23, 1857, the Hawaiian King Kamehameha IV landed on the island and took possession of it.

The first archaeological investigations began as part of the Tanager Expedition in 1924. Due to the use of the island by the ancient Hawaiian cultures for their purposes, the island was added to the National Register on June 13, 1988 as a Historic District with the designation Nihoa Island Archeological District of Historic Places , the United States' Register of Historic Places .

Nihoa may only be entered for scientific purposes today with the special permission of the US Fish & Wildlife Service .

Flora and fauna (fauna and flora)

Nihoa is known for its endemic animal and plant species. The Nihoa Fan Palm ( Pritchardia remota ) is the only tree on the island, which is mostly covered with bushes and undergrowth . On Nihoa also find an endangered species of Amaranth , Amaranthus brownii (endemic), the endemic to Hawai'i 'Ilima -Strauch ( Sida fallax ) and one of only ten populations of nelsonii Solanum , a rare type of nightshade ( Solanum ).

Two species of birds are also native to Nihoa: the Nihoa pimp ( Telespiza ultima ) and the Nihoa warbler ( Acrocephalus familiaris kingi ), a subspecies of the Hawaiian warbler . The island is also a breeding area for numerous sea ​​birds , for example the banded frigate bird ( Fregata minor ) or the black-footed albatross ( Phoebastria nigripes ). The world's largest breeding colonies have the tristram wave runner ( Oceanodroma tristrami ), a species of petrels , the Bulwer petrel ( Bulweria bulwerii ) and the blue noddi ( Procelsterna cerulea ) on Nihoa .

  • Nihoe tube warbler

  • Nihoagimpel

  • 'Ilima -Strauch, Tanager Peak in the background

  • Endemic Pritchardia remota palm trees

17 species of hard corals ( Scleractinia ) live in the coral reef off the island . In addition, some fish, which are otherwise rare in Hawaii, are quite common, such as the Oplegnathus punctatus .

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ United States Census Bureau, Nihoa Island: Blocks 1000, Census Tract 114.98, Honolulu County, Hawaii (English)
  2. ↑ a b Jane's Oceania Page - Nihoa Island (English)
  3. ↑ Hawai'i's Statewide Aquatic Wildlife Conservation Strategy (PDF; English; 969 kB)
  4. ^ Nihoa Island Archeological District in the National Register Information System. National Park Service , accessed August 8, 2017.
  5. ↑ NWHI Multi-Agency Education Project: about Nihoa Island ( Memento of the original from December 19, 2003 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) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.hawaiianatolls.org