McKean Island

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McKean Island is a small, uninhabited island in the Phoenix Islands, Republic of Kiribati. It is located at 3 degrees 35 minutes South, 174 degrees 2 minutes West. Area is 57 hectares.

McKean was discovered May 28, 1794 by the British Capt. Henry Barber, Ship 'Arthur', on the way from the Yasawa Islands to the American Northwest Coast. The island was named by Commander Charles Wilkes on August 19, 1840 after a member of his crew. It was claimed by the US in March of 1859, under the American Guano Act of 1856. Guano was actively dug and exported from 1859 to 1870. The island was rarely visited after that time. It was declared a bird sanctuary in June of 1938, and has been a protected area since that time. In addition to natural history expeditions, it was visited in October of 1989 by TIGHAR when it was surveyed as a possible landing site of Amelia Earhart.

McKean is a roughly oval island, less than one kilometer in diameter. It is ringed by a reef flat, with a beach ridge of coral rock and rubble surrounding the rim of the island, rising to about 5 meters above sea level. The center of the island is depressed, with a shallow, hypersaline, guano-laced lagoon occupying the center of the island. It has no trees, but 7 herbaceous species of plants live on the island. McKean has the world's largest nesting population of lesser frigatebird (Fregata ariel), with a population of up to 85,000 birds. 29 species of birds have been described as visiting the island. The only mammal is the Polynesian rat, which suggests pre-historic discovery by Polynesian sailors. There is also a species of gecko that inhabits the island. There is no source of freshwater, and no fresh water lens.