 Inaccessible Island's location in relation to Tristan da Cunha | |
  | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | South Atlantic Ocean |
| Coordinates | 37°18′S12°41′W / 37.30°S 12.68°W /-37.30; -12.68 |
| Archipelago | Tristan da Cunha |
| Area | 12.65 km2 (4.88 sq mi) |
| Administration | |
| St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha | |
| Type | Natural |
| Criteria | vii, x |
| Designated | 1995(41stsession) |
| Reference no. | 740 |
| Designated | 20 November 2008 |
| Reference no. | 1869[1] |
Inaccessible Island is avolcanic island located in theSouth Atlantic Ocean, 31 km (19 mi) south-west ofTristan da Cunha. Its highest point, Swale's Fell, reaches 581 m (1,906 ft), and the island is 12.65 km2 (4.88 sq mi) in area. The volcano was last active approximately one million years ago and is nowextinct.[2]
Inaccessible Island is a part of thearchipelago of Tristan da Cunha, which is a part of theoverseas territory of theUnited Kingdom known asSaint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. Tristan da Cunha itself is accessible only by sea via a seven-day voyage fromCape Town,South Africa. The harbour on Inaccessible Island allows access for only a few days of the year.[3] Access to Inaccessible Island must be granted by the local government office.[4]
The island is approximately 40 kilometres (22 nmi; 25 mi) to the southwest of the main island of the Tristan da Cunha archipelago. Mostly desolate and inhospitable, the island has a few small, rocky beaches that hostpenguins andsubantarctic fur seals.[5] Generations of sailors were wary of the difficult landing and inhospitable terrain.[4] Inaccessible Island has been without permanent inhabitants since 1873.[5]
Along withGough Island, Inaccessible Island is a protected wildlife reserve. Together they form theUNESCOWorld Heritage Site ofGough and Inaccessible Islands. Inaccessible Island is home of the endemicInaccessible Island rail, the world's smallest extantflightless bird.[6]
Inaccessible Island was discovered in January 1656 during a voyage by theNachtglas ("the night glass"), aDutchship under the command ofJan Jakobszoon.[7] It was discovered 146 years after Tristan da Cunha was first sighted by Portuguese sailors. Jakobszoon originally named it "Nachtglas" island.[citation needed]
There are two explanations for the name "Inaccessible" Island. One is that the Dutch crew who landed were not able to reach its interior.[8] The other claims that French captain d'Etcheverry renamed the island in 1778 after not being able to land.[9][10]
In 1803, US sailors led by Amasa Delano made landfall on the island during a voyage to theCape of Good Hope.[7]
The brothers Gustav and Frederick Stoltenhoff arrived on Inaccessible from Germany in 1871. They lived there for two years to make a living sealing and selling their wares to passing traders, although such trade was minimal. Due to the scarcity of food, they were "overjoyed" to be rescued in 1873 duringHMS Challenger's visit to examine the flora and fauna there.[11] The South African authorEric Rosenthal chronicled the Stoltenhoffs' adventure in 1952.[12] The nearbyStoltenhoff Island is named for the brothers.[4]
In 1922, theShackleton–Rowett Expedition's ship, theQuest, stopped by Inaccessible briefly, and on-board naturalistHubert Wilkins discovered a bird later named theWilkins finch (Nesospiza wilkinsi). In 1938, theNorwegian Scientific Expedition to Tristan da Cunha spent three weeks on the island, during which time they managed to gain access to the plateau and extensively catalogued plants, birds, and rocks. Another attempt at mapping the island was made during theRoyal Society's expedition of 1962 to Tristan da Cunha, which took scientists to Inaccessible Island. Like many other explorers before them, the scientists were not able to reach the interior of the island.[citation needed]
Inaccessible Island was declared a nature reserve under the Tristan da Cunha Conservation Ordinance of 1976. Tristan islanders, however, were still permitted to harvest seabirds from the island. In a 1982 expedition (16 October 1982 – 10 February 1983), students and faculty ofDenstone College in England made detailed maps of the island, studied its flora, fauna, and geology, and carried out abird ringing programme on more than 3,000 birds.[13][14][15]
In 1997, Inaccessible Island's territorial waters out to 22 km (14 mi) were declared a nature reserve under the Tristan da Cunha Conservation Ordinance of 1976. Currently, only guides from Tristan are allowed to take visiting cruise ships to Inaccessible; most trips to the island are now made at the request ofexpatriates.[citation needed] In 2004 Inaccessible Island was added to theUNESCOWorld Heritage Site of Gough Island to create a new site ofGough and Inaccessible Islands.[citation needed]
At least three confirmed shipwrecks have occurred off the coast of the island. The first wasBlenden Hall, a British ship which set sail in 1821 with 54 passengers and crew aboard, her destinationBombay. Captain Alexander Grieg intended to sail pastSaint Helena, but adverse currents carried her to Tristan da Cunha. She got caught in seaweed, and on 22 July, drifted aground on Inaccessible Island. All but two of those aboard survived the shipwreck.[16] They spent the next four months subsisting on wild celery, seals, penguins, and albatross.[17] They managed to build a boat some months later. The first attempt to sail to Tristan failed, resulting in the loss of six people; the second attempt alerted the Tristanians to their plight. The remainder were then brought to Tristan, where thebrigNerina arrived about two months later and took most toCape Town, South Africa.[16]
The other two shipwrecks are the wreck ofShakespeare at Pig Beach in 1883, andHelenslea at North Point in 1897.[citation needed]
When Corporal William Glass and his family became the first settlers at Tristan da Cunha in 1816, goats and pigs were brought to Inaccessible Island to serve as a source of food. Cattle, sheep, and dogs were introduced to the island during its history. Domestic animals helped to keep the Stoltenhoff brothers alive during their expedition. All remaining domestic animals were removed during the 1950s.[4]
No land mammals, reptiles, amphibians, or butterflies have been found at Inaccessible. The island has 64 native plant species, including 20 types offlowering plants and 17 species offerns. 48 invertebrate species exist on the island, 10 of which were introduced.[18]Subantarctic fur seals andsouthern elephant seals have been seen at the island in increasing numbers, andcetaceans live in the surrounding waters: most notably,southern right whales and a resident population ofdusky dolphins.[citation needed]
Several plant pathogens have been introduced to the island. These arescale insects and an associatedsooty mold fungus. This has killed some of thePhylica trees and reduced the amount of fruit they produce. A likely consequence is the observed serious decline in numbers ofInaccessible Island finch between 2014 and 2020.[19]
Inaccessible is the exclusive habitat of theInaccessible Island rail, the world's smallest living flightless bird.[20][21][22] The island has been identified as anImportant Bird Area (IBA) byBirdLife International as a breeding site forseabirds and its endemic landbirds. Birds for which the IBA is significant includenorthern rockhopper penguins (up to 27,000 breeding pairs),Tristan albatrosses (2–3 pairs),sooty albatrosses (200 pairs),Atlantic yellow-nosed albatrosses (1,100 pairs),broad-billed prions (up to 500,000 pairs),soft-plumaged petrels (up to 50,000 pairs),spectacled petrels,great shearwaters (up to 2 million pairs),little shearwaters (up to 50,000 pairs),white-faced storm petrels (up to 50,000 pairs),white-bellied storm petrels (up to 50,000 pairs),Antarctic terns,Inaccessible rails (up to 5,000 pairs),Tristan thrushes (1,500-7,000 individuals across the Tristan da Cunha archipelago),[23] andInaccessible Island finches (around 24,000 individuals).[24][25]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)The Blenden Hall, Greig, from London to Bombay, was totally wrecked on the 23d of July, on Inaccessible Island, near Tristan da Cunha. The Master, Officers, and Passengers saved : two of the crew were drowned when the Ship was lost; and six others who left the island in a boat on the 19th October for Tristan da Cunha, have not since been heard of. The Nerinæ Lachlan, of London, arrived at the Cape of Good Hope 20th January, with 4 ladies, 3 children, 20 other passengers, and 11 of the crew, who had been on Inaccessible Island sixteen weeks, and went from thence in boats to Tristan da Cunha.
On this one tiny island, there is a thriving population of thousands of what we'll now call Laterallus rogersi, but they are considered vulnerable to extinction.
FormerBritish Empire and currentBritish Overseas Territories | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
