Tristan da Cunha is anarchipelago of five islands in the southernAtlantic Ocean, the largest of which is the island ofTristan da Cunha itself and the second-largest, the remote bird haven,Gough Island. It forms part of a wider territory calledSaint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha which includesSaint Helena andAscension Island.
This archipelago, 1500 miles (2500 km) from the continents of Africa and South America, is one of the most remote inhabited places on earth. It consists of the following islands:
The main island is quite mountainous; the only flat area is the location of the capital,Edinburgh of the Seven Seas, on the northwest coast, and of the agricultural area namedPotato Patches. The highest point is a volcano calledQueen Mary's Peak reaching 2,062 metres (6,765 ft); it is covered bysnow in winter and is listed as anultra prominent peak. Tristan da Cunha is thought to have been formed by a long-lived centre of upwellingmagma called theTristan hotspot.
The climate is marine cool-temperate with small temperature differences between summer and winter (11.3 to 14.5 °C or 52.3 to 58.1 °F) and between day and night.Sandy Point on the east coast is reputed to be the warmest and driest place on the island, being in the lee of theprevailing winds.
Even the smaller islands have some plant cover, with the larger ones dominated byferns andmoss. Flora on the archiplego includes manyendemic species and many that have a broad circumpolar distribution in the South Atlantic and South Pacific Oceans. Thus many of the species that occur in Tristan da Cunha occur as far away asNew Zealand. For example, the speciesNertera depressa was first collected in Tristan da Cunha,[2] but has since been recorded in occurrence as far distant as New Zealand.[3]
Tristan da Cunha is home to ocean-going species includingsubantarctic fur seal, thesouthern elephant seal and birds such asnorthern rockhopper penguins andmacaroni penguins. The islands are important for their bird life both those established on the islands and breeding seabirds, of which twenty species nest on Gough Island alone. Important species includeTristan albatross,Tristan thrush,Tristan bunting,Gough bunting,Gough moorhen,Atlantic petrel, and theInaccessible Island rail.The only native reptiles are Tristiidon Sol and Tristiidon lunata. There are no native amphibians, freshwater fish, or land mammals.
Apart from Tristan da Cunha, which was settled as a base forwhaling andsealing in the 18th century, the islands of the group are uninhabited except for a weather station on Gough Island belonging toSouth Africa. Fishing is still an important economic activity especially forcrayfish andoctopus but also theTristan rock lobster(Jasus tristani). Gough Island has also been used as base for whaling and sealing but only ever temporarily. The islands do receive a small number of tourists.
Sheep and cattle have been introduced on Tristan da Cunha and their grazing, along with other human activity, has caused damage to the island's ecosystems. Night fishing has caused the deaths of many seabirds as they crash into ships' lights.[4]
