Starbuck (island)

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Starbuck
NASA image of Starbuck Island
NASA image of Starbuck Island
Waters Pacific Ocean
Archipelago Line Islands
Geographical location 5 ° 38 '28 "  S , 155 ° 52' 44"  W Coordinates: 5 ° 38 '28 "  S , 155 ° 52' 44"  W
Starbuck (Island) (Kiribati)
Starbuck (island)
length 8.9 km
width 3.5 km
surface 16.2 km²
Highest elevation 5  m
Residents uninhabited
Starbuck Island map
Starbuck Island map

Starbuck ( English Starbuck Island , in the past also called Barren Island, Coral Queen Island, Hero Island, Low Island, Starve Island, Volunteer Island ) is an uninhabited coral island in the Pacific Ocean . The island belongs to the Central Line Islands and is part of the territory of Kiribati .

geography

Starbuck is located 200 km southwest of Malden Island , about 740 km southeast of Jarvis Island and about 620 km south of the equator . The island is an upscale atoll , in which the lagoon is completely enclosed by the coral ring and - with increasing salinity - slowly dries out. The island is 8.9 km long in the east-west direction and 3.5 km wide in the north-south direction. The area of ​​the island, which is up to 5 meters high, is 16.2 km², of which about 4 km² are accounted for by the irregularly shaped and now dried out lagoon.

There are no natural freshwater springs on Starbuck .

history

The island was discovered in 1823 by Valentine Starbuck, the captain of the British whaler L'Aigle , and named Volunteer Island . Claimed by the United States under the Guano Islands Act passed in 1856, however, the island has been controlled by the United Kingdom since 1866 . Phosphate was mined on Starbuck from 1870 to 1893 . In the late 19th century, some ships ran aground on Starbuck as the low island is almost entirely surrounded by dangerous coral reefs . At the beginning of the 20th century, a signal tower was therefore built at the western end of the island, which has since fallen into disrepair. Slammed into the British colony of Gilbert and Ellice Islands in 1916 , Starbuck has belonged to the island nation of Kiribati since 1979.

Flora and fauna

Starbuck was on 29 May 1975 by the United Nations to reserve Starbuck Iceland Wildlife Sanctuary explained. The island is a popular breeding ground for seabirds, with around 1.5 million specimens there is one of the world's largest colonies of the black tern ( Onychoprion fuscatus or Sterna fuscata ). Specimens of the Polynesian rat ( Rattus exulans ) have also been found on Starbuck , which is often a sign of Polynesian visits in earlier times. The island is predominantly overgrown by the Ilima shrub ( Sida fallax ), with Bidens kiribatiensis , a species of two-teeth , possibly the only endemic plant species of the entire Line Islands.

  • The dry interior of the island

  • The endemic Bidens kiribatiensis

  • A wall overgrown by Pohuehue ( Ipomoea pes-caprae )

Web links

Commons : Starbuck Island  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ UNEP Islands (English)