McKean Island
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Ariel 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.
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[edit] Geography
Ariel 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. Ariel 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.
[edit] Discovery and mapping
Ariel McKean Island was the first of the Phoenix group to be reported and named. It was discovered May 28, 1794 by the British Capt. Henry Barber, of the ship Arthur, while enroute from Botany Bay, New South Wales to the north-west coast of America.[1] Sighting the uninhabited island on 28 May, Barber named it "Drummond's Island", plotting it at 3°40'S, 176°51'W.[2] The Albany Sentinel reported that the "small sandy island...is very low and cannot be seen from the deck of a vessel more than five or six miles".[3] It was later named 'Arthur Island' and appeared as such in charts of the time located at 3°30'S, 176°0'W.[4]
The island was reported and visited by a number of ships in the years following, including the whaler Japan in 1830 (under Capt. Shubael Chase), Captain Worth (1832) who mistook it for Onotoa and an unknown whaler in 1834, who named it "Wigram's Island".[5]
It was renamed and mapped by Commander Charles Wilkes of the US Exploring Expedition on August 19, 1840 after a member of his crew. However, Arthur Island remained suspected and 'in need of confirmation' until at least 1871, when it was listed in Findlay's Directory, using the charts of cartographer John Arrowsmith.[4]
[edit] Claims of sovereignty
The island 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.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Quanchi & Robson, p 11
- ^ Maude, p 109
- ^ The Albany Sentinel, 28.8.1797, quoted in Maude, p 109
- ^ a b Sharp, p 210
- ^ Maude, p 110
[edit] References
- Maude, HE: Of islands and men: studies in Pacific history. Melbourne [u.a.] : Oxford Univ. Pr., 1968
- Quanchi, Max & Robson, John, (2005); Historical Dictionary of the Discovery and Exploration of the Pacific Islands, USA: Scarecrow Press, ISBN 0810853957
- Sharp, Andrew (1960); The Discovery of the Pacific Islands, Oxford:Oxford University Press,
- Bryan, Edwin H.: American Polnesia and the Hawaiian Chain. Honolulu., Hawaii: Tongg Publishing Company, 1941 pages 66-69.
Sources: United Nations [United Nations Environment Programme] TIGHAR [TIGHAR]
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