Campbell Island, New Zealand

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For other Campbell Islands, see Campbell Island.

Campbell Island is a remote, sub-Antarctic island of New Zealand and the main island of the Campbell Island group. Campbell Island is located at 52°32.4′S 169°8.7′E. Campbell Island covers 115 km² and is surrounded by numerous stacks, rocks and islets like Dent Island, Folly Island (or Folly Islands) and Jacquemart Island, the latter being the southernmost extremity of New Zealand. Campbell Island is mountainous, rising to over 500 metres in the south. A long fiord, Perseverance Harbour, nearly bisects the island, exiting to the sea on the east coast.

Campbell Island was discovered in 1810 by Captain Frederick Hasselburgh and his sealing brig Perseverance, which was owned by the Sydney-based company Campbell & Co. (thence the island's name). It became a seal hunting base, and the island's seal population was almost totally eradicated.

Until 1995 a meteorological station near the north shore of Perseverance Harbour was manned permanently. Today, human presence is limited to periodical visits of research and conservation expeditions.

In 2001 brown rats (Norway rats) were eradicated from the island 200 years after they were introduced. This was the world's largest rat eradication. The island's rat-free status was confirmed in 2003. [1] Since the eradication, vegetation and invertebrates have been recovering, seabirds have been returning and the Campbell Island Teal, the world's rarest duck, has been reintroduced. [2]