 Six Foot Lake, on Campbell Island / Motu Ihupuku | |
 Map of Campbell Island / Motu Ihupuku | |
  Campbell Island / Motu Ihupuku Location of Campbell Island / Motu Ihupuku in the Pacific | |
| Etymology | Robert Campbell |
|---|---|
| Geography | |
| Location | Pacific Ocean |
| Coordinates | 52°32′24″S169°8′42″E / 52.54000°S 169.14500°E /-52.54000; 169.14500 |
| Archipelago | Campbell Islands |
| Area | 112.68 km2 (43.51 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation | 569 m (1867 ft) |
| Highest point | Mount Honey |
| Administration | |
New Zealand | |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 0 |
| Additional information | |
| Time zone | |
| • Summer (DST) | |
| UN/LOCODE: TF | |
Campbell Island / Motu Ihupuku is anuninhabitedsubantarctic island ofNew Zealand, and the main island of theCampbell Island group. The island lies around 660 km (410 mi) south of New Zealand'sSouth Island. It covers 112.68 square kilometres (43.51 sq mi) of the group's 113.31 km2 (43.75 sq mi), and is surrounded by numerousstacks,rocks andislets likeDent Island,Folly Island (or Folly Islands), Isle de Jeanette-Marie, andJacquemart Island, the latter being the southernmost extremity of New Zealand. It is mountainous, rising to over 500 metres (1,640 ft) in the south. A longfiord,Perseverance Harbour, nearly bisects it, opening out to sea on the east coast.
The island is listed with theNew Zealand Outlying Islands. The island is an immediate part of New Zealand, but not part of anyregion ordistrict, but insteadArea Outside Territorial Authority, like all other outlying islands, other than theSolander Islands. It is the closest piece of land to theantipodal point of theUnited Kingdom andIreland, and the city furthest away isLimerick, Ireland.[citation needed]
Campbell Island was gazetted as anature reserve in 1954, and listed as a UNESCOWorld Heritage Site in 1998 as part of the designation of all of theNew Zealand Subantarctic Islands.[1]
Campbell Island was discovered in 1810 by CaptainFrederick Hasselborough of thesealingbrigPerseverance, which was owned by shipownerRobert Campbell's Sydney-based company Campbell & Co. (whence the island's name).[2] Captain Hasselborough drowned on 4 November 1810 inPerseverance Harbour on the south of the island, along with a young woman and a boy.[3]
The island became aseal hunting base, and the seal population was almost totally eradicated. The first sealing boom was over by the mid-1810s. The second was a brief revival in the 1820s. The sealing era lasted from 1810 till 1912 during which time 49 vessels are recorded visiting for sealing purposes, one of which was lost off the coast.[4]
The whaling boom extended here in the 1830s and '40s. In 1874, the island was visited by aFrench scientific expedition intending to view thetransit of Venus. Much of the island'stopography is named after aspects of, or people connected with, the expedition.
In December 1840 Campbell Island was the last landfall before theRoss expedition explored the Antarctic.[5]
In 1883 the American schoonerSarah W. Hunt, a whaler, was near Campbell Island. Twelve men in two small whaleboats headed for the island in terrible weather looking for seals. One of the boats disappeared, and the other boat with six men aboard managed to make it ashore. Sanford Miner, the captain of theSarah W. Hunt, assumed all the whalers were lost, and sailed away toLyttelton, New Zealand. Fortunately for the stranded whalers, a seal protection boat, theKekeno, happened to arrive at the island, and rescued the castaways. The captain's behaviour caused an international scandal.[6]
In the late 19th century, the island became a pastoral lease.Sheep farming was undertaken from 1896 until the lease, along with the sheep and a small herd of cattle, was abandoned in 1931 because of theGreat Depression.[7]
In 1907, a group of scientists spent eight days on the island group surveying. The1907 Sub-Antarctic Islands Scientific Expedition conducted a magnetic survey and also took botanical, zoological and geological specimens.
DuringWorld War II, acoastwatching station was operative at Tucker Cove at the north shore of Perseverance Harbour as part of theCape Expedition programme.
In 1992, a Campbell Island scene was incorporated into the reverse side design of theNew Zealand five-dollar note in the fifth series ofNew Zealand bank notes. The scene includes ayellow-eyed penguin orhoiho (Megadyptes antipodes), a subantarctic lily (Bulbinella rossii), a daisy (Pleurophyllum speciosum), and bull kelp orrimurapa (Durvillaea antarctica).[8]
Following the passage of theNgāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998, the name of the island was officially altered to Campbell Island / Motu Ihupuku.[9]
Anamateur radioDXpedition organised by the Hellenic Amateur Radio Association of Australia visited Campbell Island during November–December 2012. The team consisted of ten amateur radio operators from around the world, a NZ Department of Conservation Officer, and the ship's crew of six, including the captain, on the sailing vessel "Evohe". The ZL9HR DXpedition team made 42,922 on-air contacts during an eight-day operating period.[10]
| Campbell Island Automatic Weather Station | |
|---|---|
 Meteorological station at Beeman Cove (unmanned/automatic since 1995) | |
 Location in theNew Zealand Subantarctic Islands | |
| General information | |
| Type | Automatic weather station |
| Coordinates | 52°33′04″S169°09′04″E / 52.550973°S 169.150981°E /-52.550973; 169.150981 |
| Opened | 1946 (1946) |
| Owner | MetService |
AfterWorld War II, the coast watching station at Tucker Cove was converted for use as ameteorological station until the summer of 1958, when a new base was established at Beeman Cove, a few hundred metres further east. The new location provided improved exposure for the weather instruments, particularly wind recordings, and more modern accommodation for up to 12 full-time staff.
The new meteorological station (WMO ID 93944) at Beeman Cove was operated by theNew Zealand Meteorological Service with ten full-time staff. Each team undertook 12-month expeditions to the island to undertake three hourly weather reports and twice dailyradiosonde flights using hydrogen filled balloons. Weather reports were radioed back to New Zealand using HF radio to ZLW Wellington Radio. In addition to its primary purpose as a meteorological station, staff at the station also operated a seismic monitoring station, made measurements of theEarth's magnetic field, theionosphere, andaurora australis, and undertookAlbatross banding and whale counts of primarilySouthern Right Whales for theNew Zealand Wildlife Service.
In April 1992, staff of the weather station were snorkelling at Northwest Bay when one of them, Mike Fraser, was attacked by agreat white shark some 30 metres (100 ft) offshore from the beach at Middle Bay. Fraser managed to return to shore with the assistance of one of his team, Jacinda Amey, after suffering severe lacerations to both his arms. The team kept Fraser alive at the bay—some four kilometres (2.5 mi) from the main base—while a rescue helicopter fromTaupō was called and made an emergency flight to the island to repatriate him toInvercargill Hospital. This was the longest ever single-engine helicopter rescue in the world.[11]Jacinda Amey was awarded theNew Zealand Cross—the highest bravery medal for civilians—for assisting the injured team member from the water.[12] The rescue helicopter pilot, John Funnell, was awarded theNew Zealand Bravery Medal.[13]
In 1995, station staff were permanently withdrawn when the manual weather observation programme was replaced by an automated weather station, and the upper air soundings ceased. Today periodic visits to the island are undertaken by Meteorological Service staff to maintain the weather station onRoyal New Zealand Navy vessels, which also transport conservation staff undertaking field research. Other visitors to the island include occasional summer time eco-tourism cruises.
In May 2018, scientists in New Zealand documented what they believe is the largest wave ever recorded in theSouthern Hemisphere to date. The 23.8-metre (78 ft) wave was measured by aweather buoy near the island.[14]
The Lady of the Heather is the title of a 1945 romantic novel byWill Lawson. The novel is a mixture of facts and fiction elaborating on the incidents surrounding Captain Hasselburg's death on Campbell Island. The story is about a daughter ofBonnie Prince Charlie, exiled to Campbell Island after she is suspected of treachery to theJacobite cause.[15]Her character was inspired by Elizabeth Farr.[16] Farr was probably what would now be called a "ship girl", but the presence of a European woman at this remote place, and her death, gave rise toThe Lady of the Heather story.[17]
The accident happened whenWilliam Tucker was present on theAurora. Tucker was another unusual character in the sealing era who became the source of a legend and a novel.[18] The remoteness and striking appearance of the sealing grounds, whether on mainland New Zealand or the subantarctic islands, and the sealing era's early place in Australasia's European history, supply the elements for romance and legend which are generally absent in the area's colonial history.
Campbell Island has a maritimetundra climate (KöppenET). The island receives only 647 hours of bright sunshine annually and it can expect less than an hour's sunshine on 215 days (59%) of the year. The peaks of the island are frequently obscured by clouds. It has an annual rainfall of 1,329 millimetres (52.3 in), with rain, mainly light showers or drizzle (although it often snows in the winter and spring), falling on an average of 325 days a year. It is a windy place, with gusts of over 96 kilometres per hour (50 kn; 60 mph) occurring on at least 100 days each year. Variations in daily and annual temperatures are small with a mean annual temperature of 7 °C (44.6 °F), rarely rising above 12.1 °C (53.8 °F). The warmest temperature ever recorded was 21.2 °C (70.2 °F) and the coldest was −7.9 °C (17.8 °F).[19]
| Climate data for Campbell Island (1991–2020 normals) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 21.2 (70.2) | 19.3 (66.7) | 16.1 (61.0) | 15.8 (60.4) | 12.4 (54.3) | 11.3 (52.3) | 10.3 (50.5) | 10.4 (50.7) | 12.7 (54.9) | 15.4 (59.7) | 18.3 (64.9) | 20.0 (68.0) | 21.2 (70.2) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 12.0 (53.6) | 11.8 (53.2) | 10.9 (51.6) | 9.6 (49.3) | 8.4 (47.1) | 7.1 (44.8) | 7.0 (44.6) | 7.4 (45.3) | 7.9 (46.2) | 8.8 (47.8) | 9.8 (49.6) | 11.5 (52.7) | 9.4 (48.9) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 9.6 (49.3) | 9.5 (49.1) | 8.8 (47.8) | 7.7 (45.9) | 6.5 (43.7) | 5.0 (41.0) | 5.1 (41.2) | 5.3 (41.5) | 5.7 (42.3) | 6.3 (43.3) | 7.2 (45.0) | 8.9 (48.0) | 7.1 (44.8) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 7.2 (45.0) | 7.2 (45.0) | 6.7 (44.1) | 5.7 (42.3) | 4.5 (40.1) | 3.0 (37.4) | 3.2 (37.8) | 3.2 (37.8) | 3.6 (38.5) | 3.9 (39.0) | 4.7 (40.5) | 6.4 (43.5) | 4.9 (40.8) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 2.9 (37.2) | 2.3 (36.1) | 0.5 (32.9) | 0.0 (32.0) | −3.2 (26.2) | −6.5 (20.3) | −7.9 (17.8) | −6.4 (20.5) | −4.2 (24.4) | −1.4 (29.5) | −1.2 (29.8) | 3.2 (37.8) | −7.9 (17.8) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 124.7 (4.91) | 102.2 (4.02) | 124.1 (4.89) | 121.1 (4.77) | 133.6 (5.26) | 113.6 (4.47) | 115.0 (4.53) | 108.1 (4.26) | 112.9 (4.44) | 114.3 (4.50) | 118.1 (4.65) | 114.6 (4.51) | 1,402.3 (55.21) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 1.0 mm) | 18.8 | 17.5 | 20.3 | 19.3 | 22.6 | 22.2 | 22.8 | 21.6 | 20.6 | 22.2 | 19.6 | 18.5 | 246.2 |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 74.8 | 72.4 | 66.4 | 48.6 | 39.4 | 29.2 | 31.3 | 34.5 | 52.2 | 63.4 | 62.9 | 72.2 | 647.3 |
| Source 1:NOAA[20] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: NIWA National Climate Database (sunshine and extremes)[21] | |||||||||||||
Campbell Island is the most important breeding area of thesouthern royal albatross. The island is part of the Campbell Island groupImportant Bird Area (IBA), identified as such byBirdLife International because of its significance as a breeding site for several species ofseabirds as well as the endemicCampbell teal andCampbell snipe.[22] Campbell Island also hosts numerous penguin species that breed on the island, including theyellow-eyed penguin, therockhopper penguin, and theerect-crested penguin.[23] Other albatross species breed on the island as well, such as the endemicCampbell black-browed albatross,a few pairs of Antipodean albatross, thelight-mantled sooty albatross,Black-browed mollymawk and thegrey-headed mollymawk.[23] Other bird species that breed on the island include thesooty shearwater, thegrey petrel, thewhite-chinned petrel, the endemicCampbell Island shag, thegrey duck, thesouthern skua, thesouthern black-backed gull, thered-billed gull, theAntarctic tern, thesong thrush, theCommon blackbird, theDunnock (Hedge sparrow), theNew Zealand pipit, thewhite-eye, thelesser redpoll, thechaffinch, and thestarling.[24]
Campbell Island is home to what is believed to be the world's most remote tree – a solitarySitka spruce, more than 100 years old. The nearest tree is over 274 kilometres (170 mi) away on theAuckland Islands.[25][26][27] The tree is believed to have been introduced byLord Ranfurly between 1901 and 1907.[28] Australian academics have proposed designating the tree as agolden-spike signal-marker for the start of theanthropocene epoch.[29]
In 1954, the island was gazetted as anature reserve. FeralCampbell Island cattle were eliminated by about 1984, and feralCampbell Island sheep were culled during the 1970s and 1980s, with their eventual extermination in 1992. In 2001,brown rats (Norway rats) were eradicated from the island nearly 200 years after their introduction. This was the world's largest rat eradication programme. The island's rat-free status was confirmed in 2003.[19] Since the eradication, vegetation and invertebrates have been recovering, seabirds have been returning and theCampbell teal, the world's rarest duck, has been reintroduced. An undescribedCyanoramphus parakeet was discovered (in fossil bones) in 2004, along with evidence of a falcon or harrier.[30]Banded dotterel (Charadrius bicinctus) are also believed to have inhabited the island at one point.[31] Other native landbirds include theNew Zealand pipit and theCampbell snipe, a race of the Subantarctic snipe,Coenocorypha aucklandica, described race perseverance. It was discovered only in 1997 on a tiny rat-free island off the south coast,Jacquemart Island. The snipe had survived there and began recolonising the main island after the rats had been removed.
Marine mammals have shown gradual recovery in the past decades.Sea lions andsouthern elephant seals have begun to re-colonise the island.[32] Somesouthern right whales still come into bays in the winter to winter or calve, most notably at Northwest Bay and Perseverance Harbour,[33] but in much smaller number than in theAuckland Islands.[34] Historically,fin whales used to inhabit close to shore.[35]
The area is one of five subantarctic island groups designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.[36]
Campbell Island is an extinct alkalineshield volcano that marine erosion has worn down into its present shape.[37][38] The volcano has been extinct for some six million years, and glacial ice cover prevented vegetation from growing on the island until approximately 15,000 years ago.[39]Basalt,hawaiite,mugearite andtrachyte are the dominantvolcanic rocks comprising Campbell Island. They were erupted between 6.5 and 11 million years ago during theMiocene epoch.[38] The island is considered to be part of the submerged continent ofZealandia.
DuringWorld War II, the Cape Expedition coast watching programme included trained naturalists who made observations of the geology, flora, and fauna of Campbell Island.[40]
To mark the 200th anniversary of its discovery, the Campbell Island Bicentennial Expedition (CIBE) was undertaken from December 2010 to February 2011. The research expedition was the largest multidisciplinary expedition to the island in over 20 years, and aimed to document the island's human history, assess recovery of the island's flora and invertebrate fauna since the removal of sheep and the world's largest rat eradication programme, study the island's plentiful but little understood streams and characterise the unusual stream fauna, and reconstruct past environmental conditions and deduce long term climate change from tarn sediment cores.
The expedition was run by the 50 Degrees South Trust, a charitable organisation established to further research and education on New Zealand's Subantarctic Islands, and to support the preservation and management of these World Heritage ecosystems. The expedition and the programme outputs can be followed at the CIBE website.
_with_chick_on_Campbell_Island.jpg)
Chris Turney, from the University of New South Wales, Australia, and colleagues, say the Sitka spruce captures this change exquisitely in the chemistry of its growth rings. [...] "We're putting this forward as a serious contender to mark the start of the Anthropocene. It's got to be something that reflects a global signal," Prof Turney told BBC News.
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52°32.4′S169°8.7′E / 52.5400°S 169.1450°E /-52.5400; 169.1450
