Macquarie Island
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{{Infobox World Heritage Site
| WHS = Macquarie Island
| Image = [[Image:NZOffshoreIslandsMap.png|450px]]
| State Party = {{AUS}}
| Type = Natural
| Criteria = vii, viii
| ID = 629
| Region = [[List of World Heritage Sites in Asia and Australasia|Asia-Pacific]]
| Year = 1997
| Session = 21st
| Link = http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/629
}}
'''Macquarie Island''' lies in the southwest corner of the [[Pacific Ocean]], about half-way between [[Australia]] and [[Antarctica]]. 54°37'53"S, 158°52'15"E. Politically, it has formed part of the Australian state of [[Tasmania]] since 1900 and became a [[Protected areas of Tasmania|Tasmanian State Reserve]] in 1978. In 1997 it became a [[world heritage site]]. It was a part of Esperance Municipality until 1993, when the municipality was merged with other municipalities to [[Huon Valley]].
The [[Australian Antarctic Division]] (AAD) maintains a permanent base on the island. The base's residents, the island's only inhabitants, range in numbers from 20 to 40 people throughout the year.
==History==
The [[Australia]]n/[[United Kingdom|Briton]] [[Frederick Hasselborough]] discovered the island accidentally in July 1810 when looking for new [[Seal hunting|sealing]] grounds. He claimed Macquarie Island for [[United Kingdom|Britain]] and annexed it to the colony of [[New South Wales]] in 1810. The island took its name after Colonel [[Lachlan Macquarie]], Governor of New South Wales from 1810 to 1821. [[Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen]], who explored the area for [[Alexander I of Russia]], produced the first map of Macquarie Island. Bellingshausen landed on the island on [[November 28]], [[1820]], defined its geographical position and traded his [[rum]] and food for Macquarie Island's [[fauna]] with the [[Seal hunting|sealers]].
[[Image:MacquarieIsland11.JPG|thumb|right|A view over the Macquarie Island bluffs]]
In 1890 New South Wales transferred the island to [[Tasmania]], which leased it to [[Joseph Hatch]] (1837 - 1928) between 1902 and 1920 for his oil industry based on harvesting penguins.
Between 1911 and 1914, the island became a base for the [[Australasian Antarctic Expedition]] under Sir [[Douglas Mawson]]. [[George Ainsworth]] operated a [[Meteorology|meteorological]] station between 1911 and 1913, followed by [[Harold Power]] (1913 until 1914) and by [[Tullock]] from 1914 until its shutdown in 1915. In 1933 the authorities declared the island a wildlife sanctuary and eventually transferred it to the Commonwealth of Australia under the administration of the [[Australian Antarctic Territory]] on December 26, 1947. The [[Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions]] (ANARE) established its expedition headquarters on May 25, 1948 on Macquarie Island.
On December 23, 2004 an earthquake measuring 8.1 on the [[Richter magnitude scale]] (one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded) rocked the island, but caused little damage.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200412/s1272000.htm |title=Antarctic expeditioners unscathed by earthquake |work=News Online |publisher=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] |date=2004-12-24 |accessdate=2007-04-05}}</ref>
On April 12, 2008, a 7.1 earthquake on the [[Macquarie Fault Zone|Macquarie Fault]] occurred near Macquarie Island. <ref> [http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2008qtae.php USGS Report] </ref>
==Geography==
[[Image:Macquarie Island map - Mawson.gif|thumb|left|Contour map of Macquarie Island]]
The island has an approximate length of 34 km and a width of 5 km, with an area of 128 km². It sits atop [[Macquarie Ridge]], which extends north and south. Also on Macquarie Island are two minor groups of islets, [[Judge and Clerk Islets]], {{coor dm|54|21|S|159|01|E|}}, 14 km to the north, and 0.2 km² in area, and [[Bishop and Clerk Islets]], {{coor dm|55|03|S|158|46|E|}}, 34 km to the south, and 0.6 km² in area.
Bishop and Clerk Islets mark the [[Extreme points of Australia|southernmost point of Australia]] (including islands).
Macquarie Island lies atop a geographic feature named for the island, the [[Macquarie Ridge]]. This seafloor ridge is aligned along the eastern margin of the [[tectonics|tectonic]] plate boundary between the [[Indo-Australian Plate]] and the [[Pacific Plate]].
In the 19th Century [[Emerald Island (phantom)|Emerald Island]] was supposed to exist south of Macquarie Island.
==Fauna and flora==
[[Image:RoyalPenguins4.JPG|thumb|right|A Royal penguin rookery on Macquarie Island.]]
{{seealso|Birds of Macquarie Island}}
Fauna found on the island include: [[Subantarctic Fur Seal]]s, [[Antarctic Fur Seal]]s, [[New Zealand Fur Seal]]s and [[Southern Elephant Seal]]s - over 80,000 individuals of this species. [[Royal Penguin]]s breed only on this island; [[King Penguin]]s, [[Southern Rockhopper Penguin]]s and [[Gentoo penguin]]s also breed here.
===Ecological balance===
[[Feral cat]]s introduced to the island by whalers in the 19th century have had a devastating effect on the native seabird population, with an estimated 60,000 seabird death per year. In June 2000, the last of the nearly 2500 cats were culled in an effort to save the seabirds.<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/01/22/wcull22.xml Cull upsets island's ecological balance - Telegraph<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
Although seabirds numbers began to rise initially, the removal of the cats caused an explosion in the number of [[rat]]s and [[rabbit]]s which together are causing widespread environmental damage. The rabbits too were an introduced species; by sealers in the 1800s as a food source and rapidly multiplied before numbers were reduced to about 10,000 in the early 1980s when [[myxomatosis]] was introduced. Rabbit numbers have now exploded to around 100,000 on the island.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200607/s1687413.htm |title=Fears for sub-antarctic island plagued by rabbits |work=News Online |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=2006-07-15 |accessdate=2007-04-05}}</ref> The rodents feed on young chicks while rabbits nibbling on the grass layer has led to soil erosion and cliff collapses, destroying seabird nests. Large portions of the Macquarie Island bluffs are eroding as a result. In [[September 2006]] a large landslip at Lusitania Bay, on the eastern side of the island, partially destroyed an important penguin breeding colony. [[Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service]] attributed the landslip to a combination of heavy spring rains and severe erosion caused by rabbits.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200610/s1770316.htm |title=Rabbits blamed for penguin deaths in landslide |work=News Online |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=2006-10-21 |accessdate=2007-04-05}}</ref><ref name=SMH070411/>
There are currently plans to conduct the largest eradication program ever by mass baiting the island similar to an eradication program on [[New Zealand]]'s [[Campbell Island, New Zealand|Campbell Island]], but there was an argument over which government, [[Government of Tasmania|state]] or [[Government of Australia|federal]], will pay the estimated [[Australian dollar|$]]24 million cost.<ref name=SMH070411>{{cite news | first=Andrew | last=Darby | title=Up against rats, rabbits and costs | date=2007-04-11 | url= http://www.smh.com.au/news/science/up-against-rats-rabbits-and-costs/2007/04/11/1175971183257.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap2 | publisher =The Sydney Morning Herald | accessdate = 2007-04-11}}</ref> On 4 June 2007 a media release by the Federal Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, Malcolm Turnbull, announced that the Australian and Tasmanian Governments had reached an agreement to jointly fund the eradication of rodent pests, including rabbits, to protect Macquarie Island's World Heritage values.<ref name=Turnbull76/07>{{cite news | first=Malcolm | last=Turnbull | title=Agreement to eradicate rabbits on Macquarie Island | date=2007-06-07 | url= http://www.environment.gov.au/minister/env/2007/pubs/mr04jun07.pdf | publisher =Australian Government | accessdate = 2007-06-12}}</ref> It is expected to take up to seven years.<ref>[http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/macquarie/rabbitsfaq.html Parks and Wildlife Service, Tasmania - Plan for the Eradication of Rabbits and Rodents on Macquarie Island]</ref>
==Gallery==
<center><gallery>
Image:MacquarieIsland7.JPG|A Macquarie Island beach
Image:MacquarieIsland4.JPG|Macquarie Island flora
Image:MacquarieIsland5.JPG|Macquarie Island flora just off the beach
Image:Royal penguins arguing.jpg|[[Royal Penguin]]s are arguing
Image:Elephant seals play fight.jpg|Play fight
</gallery></center>
==References==
*[http://rsnz.natlib.govt.nz/volume/rsnz_15/rsnz_15_00_006250.html Macquarie Island, an 1882 paper in the ''Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand'']
*[http://rsnz.natlib.govt.nz/volume/rsnz_27/rsnz_27_00_004370.html Macquarie Island, an 1894 paper in the ''Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand'']
{{reflist}}
==See also==
* [[Administrative Heads of Macquarie Island]]
* [[List of islands of Australia]]
* [[List of sub-antarctic islands]]
* [[List of antarctic and sub-antarctic islands]]
{{Commonscat|Macquarie Island}}
== External links ==
* [http://www.aad.gov.au/default.asp?casid=7151 Macquarie Island Station] (Australian Antarctic Division)
* [http://environment.gov.au/heritage/places/world/macquarie/index.html World heritage listing for Macquarie Island]
* [http://www.aad.gov.au/asset/webcams/macca/default.asp Macquarie Island Station webcam]
* [http://www.ga.gov.au/education/facts/images/macquarie_island.jpg A picture of Macquarie Island]
* [http://www.intermagnet.org/photos/mcq.jpg A picture of Macquarie Island]
* [http://www.odp.usyd.edu.au/odp_CD/computer/concepts/ozex/macq.html Macquarie Island oceanic crust]
* [http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an20037022-46 A picture of Macquarie Island (historical heritage - Remnants of seal hunting)]
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{{World Heritage Sites In Australia}}
{{Peri-Antarctic countries and overseas territories}}
[[Category:Sub-Antarctic islands]]
[[Category:World Heritage Sites in Australia]]
[[Category:Biosphere reserves]]
[[Category:Islands of Tasmania]]
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