 The Antipodes Islands seen from the north | |
 Position relative toNew Zealand and other outlying islands | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | 860 km southeast ofStewart Island |
| Coordinates | 49°40′48″S178°46′48″E / 49.68000°S 178.78000°E /-49.68000; 178.78000 |
| Archipelago | Antipodes Islands |
| Major islands | Antipodes,Bollons |
| Area | 21[1] km2 (8.1 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation | 366 m (1201 ft) |
| Highest point | Mount Galloway |
| Administration | |
New Zealand | |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 0[2] (2006) |
| Additional information | |
| Nature reserve | |
TheAntipodes Islands (Māori:Moutere Mahue,lit. 'Abandoned Island') are inhospitable and uninhabited volcanic islands insubantarctic waters to the south of – and territorially part of –New Zealand. The 21 km2 (8.1 sq mi) archipelago lies 860 km (530 mi) to the southeast ofStewart Island / Rakiura, and 730 km (450 mi) to the northeast ofCampbell Island.[1]
The island group consists of one main island, Antipodes Island, of 20 km2 (7.7 sq mi) area,Bollons Island to the north, and numerous small islets andstacks.
The islands are listed with theNew Zealand Outlying Islands. The islands are an immediate part of New Zealand, but not part of anyregion ordistrict, but insteadArea Outside Territorial Authority, like all the other outlying islands except theSolander Islands.
Ecologically, the islands are part of theAntipodes Subantarctic Islands tundraecoregion. The islands are inscribed on the UNESCOWorld Heritage List, together with othersubantarctic New Zealand islands. The island group is anature reserve. Public access is allowed by permit. They are the southeasternmost point of land in the world outside ofAntarctica.
The island group was originally called thePenantipodes meaning 'next to the antipodes', because it lies near to theantipodes ofLondon (located around 51.5°S, 180°W). Over time the name has been shortened toAntipodes. The actual antipodes of the centre of the main island lies just off the north east tip of theCherbourg Peninsula,Normandy,France, with the antipodal perimeter of the main island grazing the Normandy coast near the village ofGatteville-le-Phare, just north ofBarfleur.[3]
The volcanic Antipodes Islands lie 860 km (530 mi) southeast ofStewart Island / Rakiura.[1] They consist of a main island (Antipodes Island), area 20 km2 (7.7 sq mi), surrounded by a series of small offshore islands and rocks. These islands includeBollons Island, at 0.5 km2 (0.19 sq mi) the second largest in the group, 1,200 m (3,900 ft) to the northeast of the main island's North Cape, and the nearby smallerArchway Island; Leeward Island, situated just off the centre of the main island's east coast (to which it is connected by a rocky bar at low tide); the two Windward Islands, situated 800 m (2,600 ft) apart, the easternmost of which is 600 m (2,000 ft) to the immediate north of Cave Point, the main island's westernmost point; and the tiny Orde Lees Islet, located close to the main island's northwestern shore. Numerous small islets andstacks further surround the coast of the main island. The island group is located on a raised section of seabed with an area of around 30 by 15 km at the eastern edge of theZealandia lithospheric block. This raised section is around 1,000 m (3,300 ft) above the average level of the surrounding sea floor.[4]
The islands are steep, and cliffs and rocky reefs line the majority of the coasts. The highest point isMount Galloway at 366 m (1,201 ft) in the north of the main island, which also forms part of the group's most recently active volcano.[5]Mount Waterhouse, to Galloway's southwest, also reaches over 360 m (1,180 ft). Several other heights on the main island reach above 200 m (660 ft), as does the highest point of Bollons Island. A ridge of peaks, the Reliance Ridge, runs along the main island's south coast. Several small streams run from the slopes of the main island's peaks, with the largest of these being the Dougall Stream, which runs northeast from the eastern slopes of Mount Waterhouse to reach the east coast not far from its closest point to Leeward Island. The Ringdove Stream runs east along the northern flanks of the Reliance Ridge to reach the large, rocky Ringdove Bay in the southeast of the main island. A further prominent stream runs southwest from the northwestern slopes of Mount Waterhouse to reach Stack Bay to the south of the Cave Point Peninsula, and a fourth runs north from the slopes of Mount Galloway, reaching the sea to the west of North Cape, close to Reef Point.
The following table includes named islands according toLand Information New Zealand.[6]
| Location | Area (ha) |
|---|---|
| Antipodes Island | 2,014.8 |
| Bollons Island | 52.6 |
| Leeward Island | 12.5 |
| East Windward Island | 8.5 |
| West Windward Island | 7.0 |
| Archway Island | 6.3 |
| Orde Lees Islet | 1.8 |
Total | 2,103.7 |
There is no archaeological evidence of human visitation prior to European discovery of the islands. Descriptions[7] of a shard of earlyPolynesian pottery having been discovered 76 cm (2 ft 6 in) below the surface on the main island in 1886, and housed in the collections of theMuseum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa are unsubstantiated. The museum has not been able to locate such a shard in its collection, and the original reference to the object in the museum's collection documentation indicates no reference to Polynesian influences.[8]
The island group was seen on 25 March 1800, by CaptainHenry Waterhouse commandingHMSReliance.Matthew Flinders was first lieutenant, and his younger brother Samuel was a midshipman on the vessel; Samuel prepared the chart of the islands.[9] Waterhouse reported the presence of seals. In 1803, Waterhouse's brother-in-lawGeorge Bass applied to GovernorPhilip Gidley King of New South Wales for a fishing monopoly from a line bisecting southern New Zealand fromDusky Sound to theOtago Harbour to cover all the lands and seas to the south, including the Antipodes Islands, probably because he knew the latter were home to large populations offur seals.[10] Bass sailed from Sydney to the south that year and was never heard of again, but his information led to a sealing boom at the islands in 1805 to 1807. In February 1805, the first sealing gangs arrived on the island from the American schoonersFavorite andIndependence.[11] They killed about 60,000 seals over the course of the year they were stationed on the islands.
At one time, 80 men were present; there was a battle between American and British-led gangs and a single cargo of more than 80,000 skins—one of the greatest ever shipped from Australasia—was on-sold inCanton for one pound sterling a skin, a multimillion-dollar return in modern terms. Prominent Sydney merchants such asSimeon Lord,Henry Kable andJames Underwood were engaged in the trade as well as the Americans Daniel Whitney and Owen Folger Smith.William W. Stewart, who claimed to have chartedStewart Island, and probablyWilliam Tucker who started the retail trade inpreserved Maori heads, were present during the boom. After 1807, sealing was occasional and cargoes small, no doubt because the animals had been all but exterminated.[12]
A much later attempt to establish cattle on the islands was short-lived (as were the cattle).[citation needed]
When the shipSpirit of the Dawn (with a crew of 16) foundered off the main island's coast in 1893, the eleven surviving crew spent nearly three months living as castaways on the island, living on rawmuttonbirds, mussels and roots for 87 days before gaining the attention of the government steamerNZGSS Hinemoa by a flag made from their sail.[citation needed]
A well-suppliedcastaway depot[13] was available on the other end of the island, but the survivors' weak condition and the island's mountainous terrain prevented them from searching for depots.
The depot was found and used by the crew of the French barquePresident Felix Faure, wrecked in Anchorage bay in 1908, who were stranded for sixty days until rescued byHMS Pegasus.[14]
The last wreck at the Antipodes was the yachtTotorore, with the loss of two lives,Gerry Clark and Roger Sale, in June 1999.[15]
In 1955, the British Government required a large site remote from population centres to test the new thermonuclear devices it was developing. 500 miles was considered the minimum safe distance from inhabited land or from shipping routes. Accordingly various islands in the Pacific and Southern Oceans were considered, along with Antarctica. The Admiralty initially suggested the Antipodes Islands but in May 1955 proposed theKermadec Islands as the preferred site.[16]
Theflora of the islands has been recorded in detail, and includesmegaherbs. The islands are also home to numerous bird species including the endemicAntipodes snipe,Antipodes parakeet,Reischek's parakeet, as well as severalalbatrosses,petrels and penguins, including half of the world population of theerect-crested penguin.
The original population of fur seals seems to be regionally extinct or in serious peril where "Upland Seals" once found on Antipodes andMacquarie Island have been claimed as a distinct subspecies with thicker furs by scientists although it is unclear whether these seals were genetically distinct.[17]
The Antipodes group has been identified as anImportant Bird Area (IBA) byBirdLife International because of its significance as a breeding site for several species ofseabirds. The seabirds aresouthern rockhopper anderect-crested penguins,Antipodean,black-browed,light-mantled andwhite-capped albatrosses, andnorthern giant,grey andwhite-chinned petrels.[18]
As with many other islands, introduced rodents have caused problems by preying on the indigenous wildlife. A "Million Dollar Mouse" campaign was launched in 2012 to raise funds for an eradication programme as part of the New Zealand government's "Predator Free 2050" project.[19] In the winter of 2016, theDepartment of Conservation carried out bait drops totalling 65 tonnes from three helicopters, and searched with trained dogs for any remaining rodents, which eliminated the estimated 200,000 mice on Antipodes Island.[20][21]
The island group is surrounded by the 2,173 km2 (839 sq mi)Moutere Mahue / Antipodes Island Marine Reserve.[22]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
