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78-478: Howland Island ( / ˈ h aʊ l ə n d / ) is a coral island and strict nature reserve located just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean, about 1,700 nautical miles (3,100  km ) southwest of Honolulu . The island lies almost halfway between Hawaii and Australia and is an unincorporated, unorganized territory of the United States. Together with Baker Island , it forms part of

156-400: A cleared landing strip. This was the island Amelia Earhart was going to land on when she was not heard from again on her long flight. The day after Pearl Harbor, the island was bombed and attacked several more times, which damaged the day beacon and killed two people, finally leading to its evacuation. After the war, the day beacon was repaired, and the island became a nature reserve. It has been

234-499: A coastal state. The territorial sea is sovereign territory, although foreign ships (military and civilian) are allowed innocent passage through it, or transit passage for straits ; this sovereignty also extends to the airspace over and seabed below. In international law, adjustment of these boundaries is called maritime delimitation . A state's territorial sea extends up to 12 nmi (22 km; 14 mi) from its baseline. If this overlaps with another state's territorial sea,

312-539: A maritime hazard. There is a boat landing area along the middle of the sandy beach on the west coast and a crumbling day beacon . The island is visited every two years by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It was mined for guano in the 19th century, and in the 1930s it was colonized by the American Equatorial Islands Colonization Project . In modern times, it is a nature reserve, and there are some historical remains from

390-431: A migratory stopover for bristle-thighed curlews . The U.S. claims an Exclusive Economic Zone of 200 nautical miles (370 km) and a territorial sea of 12 nautical miles (22 km) around the island. Since Howland Island is uninhabited, no time zone is specified. It lies within a nautical time zone , which is 12 hours behind UTC , named International Date Line West ( IDLW ). Howland Island and Baker Island are

468-557: A population of four people on April 1, 1940. Ground was cleared for a rudimentary aircraft landing area during the mid-1930s in anticipation that the island might eventually become a stopover for commercial trans-Pacific air routes and also to further U.S. territorial claims in the region against rival claims from Great Britain. Howland Island was designated as a scheduled refueling stop for American pilot Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan on their round-the-world flight in 1937. Works Progress Administration (WPA) funds were used by

546-466: A sovereign state could defend from shore. However, Iceland claimed two nautical miles (3.7 km), Norway and Sweden claimed four nautical miles (7.4 km), and Spain claimed six nautical miles (11 km) during this period. During incidents such as nuclear weapons testing and fisheries disputes some nations arbitrarily extended their maritime claims to as much as fifty nautical miles (93 km) or even two hundred nautical miles (370 km). Since

624-436: A sovereign state has jurisdiction , including internal waters , the territorial sea , the contiguous zone , the exclusive economic zone , and potentially the extended continental shelf (these components are sometimes collectively called the maritime zones ). In a narrower sense, the term is often used as a synonym for the territorial sea. Vessels have different rights and duties when passing through each area defined by

702-413: A strict classification of height. Some low islands, such as Banaba , Makatea , Nauru , and Niue , rise several hundred feet above sea level , while numerous high islands (those of volcanic origin) rise a few feet above sea level, often classified as " rocks ". Low islands ring the lagoons of atolls . The two types of islands are often found in proximity to each other. This is especially the case among

780-701: A very shallow hill at the island's center. In 2000, a visitor accompanying a scientific expedition reported seeing "a flat bulldozed plain of coral sand, without a single tree" and some traces of buildings from colonization or World War II building efforts, all wood and stone ruins overgrown by vegetation. Howland is primarily a nesting, roosting, and foraging habitat for seabirds, shorebirds, and marine wildlife. The island, with its surrounding marine waters, has been recognized as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports seabird colonies of lesser frigatebirds , masked boobies , red-tailed tropicbirds and sooty terns , as well as serving as

858-461: Is a group of 39 coral islands, along with some minor islets and banks . Some of the islands belonging to Kiribati are considered coral islands. The Maldives consist of coral islands. St. Martin's Island is an 8 km (3.1 sq mi) coral island located in Bangladesh . Coral islands are located near Pattaya and Ko Samui , Thailand . Coral is important for biodiversity and

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936-909: Is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as an insular area under the U.S. Department of the Interior . It is part of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument . The atoll currently has no economic activity . It is managed as a nature reserve. It is best known as the island Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan were searching for but failed to find when they and their airplane disappeared on July 2, 1937 , during their planned round-the-world flight. Airstrips constructed to accommodate her planned stopover were subsequently damaged in World War II , not maintained, and gradually disappeared. There are no harbors or docks. The fringing reefs may pose

1014-503: Is shaped like a short lighthouse . It was constructed of white sandstone with painted black bands and a black top meant to be visible several miles out to sea during daylight hours. It is located near the boat landing in the middle of the west coast, near Itascatown. The beacon was partially destroyed early in World War II by Japanese attacks but was rebuilt in the early 1960s by men from the U.S. Coast Guard ship Blackhaw . By 2000,

1092-495: Is still popularly, but incorrectly, regarded as coastal nation's territorial waters. Article 76 of the UN convention defines "continental shelf" of coastal countries. A state's continental shelf extends to the outer edge of the continental margin but at least 200 nautical miles (370 km; 230 mi) from the baselines of the territorial sea if the continental margin does not stretch that far. Coastal states can explore and exploit

1170-676: The American Equatorial Islands Colonization Project arrived on the island to establish a permanent U.S. presence in the Central Pacific. It began with a rotating group of four alumni and students from the Kamehameha School for Boys, a private school in Honolulu . Although the recruits had signed on as part of a scientific expedition and expected to spend their three-month assignment collecting botanical and biological samples, once out to sea, they were told, according to one of

1248-594: The Bureau of Air Commerce to construct three graded, unpaved runways meant to accommodate Earhart's twin-engined Lockheed Model 10 Electra . The facility was named Kamakaiwi Field after James Kamakaiwi, a young Hawaiian who arrived with the first group of four colonists. He was selected as the group's leader and spent more than three years on Howland, far longer than the average recruit. It has also been referred to as WPA Howland Airport (the WPA contributed about 20 percent of

1326-596: The Pacific Guano Company purchased Howland Island to provide a source of guano for its fertilizer plant. In the late 19th century, British claims were made on the island, and attempts were made to set up mining. John T. Arundel and Company, a British firm using laborers from the Cook Islands and Niue , occupied the island from 1886 to 1891. Executive Order 7368 was issued on May 13, 1936 to clarify American sovereignty. In 1935, colonists from

1404-603: The Phoenix Islands . For statistical purposes, Howland is grouped as one of the United States Minor Outlying Islands . The island has an elongated cucumber -shape on a north–south axis, 1.40 by 0.55 miles (2.25 km × 0.89 km), and covers 1 square mile (640 acres; 2.6 km). Howland Island National Wildlife Refuge consists of the entire island and the surrounding 32,074 acres (129.80 km) of submerged land. The island

1482-488: The U.S. Coast Guard to defray the high cost of logistical support. Colonists sent to the island in the mid-1930s to establish possession by the United States, built the Earhart Light ( 0°48′20.48″N 176°37′8.55″W  /  0.8056889°N 176.6190417°W  / 0.8056889; -176.6190417  ( Earhart Light ) ) , named after Amelia Earhart , as a day beacon or navigational landmark. It

1560-578: The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), one of the most ratified treaties . States cannot exercise their jurisdiction in waters beyond the exclusive economic zone, which are known as the high seas . Normally, the baseline is the low-water line along the coast as marked on large-scale charts that the coastal state recognizes. This is either the low-water mark closest to

1638-891: The islands of the South Pacific Ocean , where low islands are found on the fringing reefs that surround most high islands. Most of the world's coral islands are in the Pacific Ocean , but they are also found in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans . The American territories of Jarvis , Baker and Howland Islands are clear examples of coral islands in the Pacific. Atolls in the Atlantic are found in Colombia's Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina . The Lakshadweep Islands union territory of India

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1716-433: The $ 12,000 cost). Earhart and Noonan took off from Lae , New Guinea , and their radio transmissions were picked up near the island when their aircraft reached the vicinity, but they failed to arrive. It is known that they must have gotten within the radio range of Howland due to the strength of the final radio communications that morning, despite some problems with radio communication and radio direction finding. In some of

1794-535: The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor . It damaged the three airstrips of Kamakaiwi Field. Two days later, shelling from a Japanese submarine destroyed what was left of the colony's buildings. A single bomber returned twice during the following weeks and dropped more bombs on the rubble. The two survivors were finally evacuated by the USS ; Helm , a U.S. Navy destroyer, on January 31, 1942 . Thomas Bederman, one of

1872-577: The Jarvis Island colonists, George West, "Your names will go down in history" and that the islands would become "famous air bases in a route that will connect Australia with California". The settlement was named Itascatown after the USCGC Itasca that brought the colonists to Howland and made regular cruises between the other equatorial islands during that era. Itascatown was a line of a half-dozen small wood-framed structures and tents near

1950-485: The Philippines, are also internal waters, but the state must allow innocent passage through them. However, archipelagic states can limit innocent passage to designated sea lanes within these waters. Each island in the archipelago can have its own baseline. Territorial sea is a belt of coastal waters extending at most 12 nautical miles (22 km; 14 mi) from the baseline (usually the mean low-water mark) of

2028-592: The Subsoil and Sea Bed of the Continental Shelf", and stipulated in its operative clause: the Government of the United States regards the natural resources of the subsoil and sea bed of the continental shelf beneath the high seas but contiguous to the coasts of the United States as appertaining to the United States, subject to its jurisdiction and control. The second proclamation was titled "Policy of

2106-538: The US Army Corps of Engineers in 1987, found no evidence of prehistoric settlement or use of the island. Still, sub-surface testing was limited in scope due to time constraints. Additionally, the USACE survey failed to locate the architectural features described by Hague. However, they concede this may be due to the destruction of these features later during the construction of an airstrip. A later conservation plan by

2184-680: The US Fish and Wildlife Service suggests that Howland was likely used as a stopover or meeting point as opposed to being permanently occupied. Captain George B. Worth of the Nantucket whaler Oeno sighted Howland around 1822 and called it Worth Island . Daniel MacKenzie of the American whaler Minerva Smith was unaware of Worth's sighting when he charted the island in 1828 and named it after his ship's owners on December 1, 1828 . Howland Island

2262-659: The US presidential proclamation, the issue of legally determining territorial waters by international agreement was raised, and in its first session in 1949, the International Law Commission of the United Nations added the subject to its agenda. The important issue of the breadth of territorial waters could not be resolved at either the UNCLOS I (1956-1958) or UNCLOS II (1960) conferences, with neither

2340-516: The US. Two conflicts occurred in the Gulf of Sidra where Libya drew a line in excess of 230 nmi (430 km; 260 mi) and claimed the entire enclosed gulf as its territorial waters. The US exercised freedom of navigation rights, resulting in the 1981 and 1989 Gulf of Sidra incidents. The contiguous zone is a band of water extending farther from the outer edge of the territorial sea to up to 24 nautical miles (44.4 km; 27.6 mi) from

2418-615: The United States With Respect to Coastal Fisheries in Certain Areas of the High Seas", and stated in its operative clause: the Government of the United States regards it as proper to establish conservation zones in those areas of the high seas contiguous to the coasts of the United States wherein fishing activities have been or in the future may be developed and maintained on a substantial scale. Following

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2496-637: The United States, divide control over certain waters between the federal government and the individual states. (See tidelands .) Maritime controversies involve two dimensions: (a) territorial sovereignty, which are a legacy of history; and (b) relevant jurisdictional rights and interests in maritime boundaries , which are mainly due to differing interpretations of the law of the sea. As of 13 May 2009, 51 submissions by 44 countries have been lodged for claims over their extended continental shelf. Some countries have multiple submissions and joint submissions with other countries. Recommendations have been given for 8 of

2574-547: The adjacent continental shelf and fishing was first made by the United States government immediately following the Second World War . On 28 September 1945, US President Harry S. Truman issued two proclamations that established government control of natural resources in areas adjacent to the coastline. One of these proclamation was titled "Policy of the United States With Respect to the Natural Resources of

2652-735: The affected coastal nation or other nations wherever that broadcast may originate, whether in the territorial sea, exclusive economic zone, the continental shelf or even on the high seas . Thus a coastal nation has total control over its internal waters, slightly less control over territorial waters, and ostensibly even less control over waters within the contiguous zones. However, it has total control of economic resources within its exclusive economic zone as well as those on or under its continental shelf. Throughout this article, distances measured in nautical miles are exact legal definitions, while those in kilometres are approximate conversions that are not stated in any law or treaty. Federal nations, such as

2730-909: The atmosphere through precipitation, carbon dioxide mixes with water and forms carbonic acid , raising the ocean's acidity which slows coral growth. Although low islands may have fewer potential habitats than high islands, thus lower species diversity, studies of both types of islands in Palau found that species diversity, at least in the waters around the island, is more affected by island size than by its origin. Low islands have poor, sandy soil and little fresh water, which makes them difficult to farm. They cannot support human habitation as well as high islands. They are also threatened by sea level rise due to global warming . The people that do live on low islands survive mostly by fishing. Low islands usually have an oceanic climate . Territorial waters Territorial waters are informally an area of water where

2808-459: The baseline. Inside, a state can exercise limited control to prevent or punish "infringement of its customs, fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws and regulations within its territory or territorial sea". The zone is typically 12 nautical miles (22 km; 14 mi) wide. However, it can be wider when a state claims a territorial sea of less than 12 nautical miles, or narrower if it would otherwise overlap with another state's contiguous zone. Unlike

2886-613: The basis of their claim to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. The Commission then validates or makes recommendations on the scientific basis for the extended continental shelf claim. The scientific judgement of the Commission shall be final and binding. Validated extended continental shelf claims overlapping any demarcation between two or more parties are decided by bilateral or multilateral negotiation, not by

2964-457: The bay must also be no more than 24 nautical miles (44 kilometres; 28 statute miles) in length. Internal waters are landward of the baseline. The coastal state has sovereignty over internal waters, enforce domestic law on vessels in internal waters, including to prohibit innocent passage . Lakes, rivers and bays are considered internal waters. "Archipelagic waters" within the outermost islands of an archipelagic state , such as Indonesia or

3042-432: The beach on the island's western side. The fledgling colonists were given large stocks of canned food, water, and other supplies, including a gasoline-powered refrigerator, radio equipment, medical kits, and (characteristic of that era) vast quantities of cigarettes. Fishing provided variety in their diet. Most of the colonists' endeavors involved making hourly weather observations and constructing rudimentary infrastructure on

3120-423: The beacon was reported to be crumbling, and it had not been repainted in decades. Ann Pellegreno overflew the island in 1967, and Linda Finch did so in 1997 during memorial circumnavigation flights to commemorate Earhart's 1937 world flight. No landings were attempted, but Pellegreno and Finch flew low enough to drop a wreath on the island. Coral island Coral reefs are some of the oldest ecosystems on

3198-508: The border is taken as the median point between the states' baselines, unless the states agree otherwise. A state can also choose to claim a smaller territorial sea. Conflicts have occurred when a coastal nation claims an entire gulf as its territorial waters while other nations only recognize the more restrictive definitions of the UNCLOS. Claims that draw the baseline at more than 24 nautical miles (two 12 nm limits) are judged excessive by

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3276-643: The colony and a stone tower called Earhart Light. The climate is equatorial, with little rainfall and intense sunshine. Temperatures are moderated somewhat by a constant wind from the east. The terrain is low-lying and sandy: a coral island surrounded by a narrow fringing reef with a slightly raised central area. The highest point is approximately 20 feet (6.1 m) above sea level . There are no natural fresh water resources. The landscape features scattered grasses along with prostrate vines and low-growing pisonia trees and shrubs. A 1942 eyewitness description spoke of "a low grove of dead and decaying kou trees " on

3354-421: The commission. Countries have ten years after ratifying UNCLOS to lodge their submissions to extend their continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles, or by 13 May 2009 for countries where the convention was ratified before 13 May 1999. As of 1 June 2009, 51 submissions have been lodged with the commission, of which eight have been deliberated by the commission and have had recommendations issued. The eight are (in

3432-583: The company directors considered they already had sufficient deposits. In October   1857, the American Guano Company sent Benson's son Arthur to Baker and Jarvis Islands to survey the guano deposits. He also visited Howland Island and took samples of the guano. Subsequently, Alfred G. Benson resigned from the American Guano Company. Netcher, Taylor, and George W. Benson formed the United States Guano Company to exploit

3510-598: The crew were unharmed, rescued by the USCGC ; Balsam , transferred to a subchaser, and taken to Canton Island. On June 27, 1974, Secretary of the Interior Rogers Morton created Howland Island National Wildlife Refuge, which was expanded in 2009 to add submerged lands within 12 nautical miles (22 km) of the island. The refuge now includes 648 acres (2.62 km) of land and 410,351 acres (1,660.63 km) of water. Along with six other islands,

3588-414: The crooks and crannies of the reef and barnacles attaching themselves directly to the coral's structure. The structures also help plants that need the sun to photosynthesize , by lifting the plants to the ocean's surface where the sunlight can penetrate the water. The structures also create calm zones in the ocean providing a place for fish and plant species to thrive. Over geological time a reef may reach

3666-494: The depths of the seabed at 2,500 meters. The outer edge of the continental margin for the purposes of this article is defined as: The foot of the continental slope is determined as the point of maximum change in the gradient at its base. The portion of the continental shelf beyond the 200 nautical mile limit is also known as the "extended continental shelf". Countries wishing to delimit their outer continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles have to submit scientific information for

3744-584: The growth of fish populations, so maintaining coral reefs is important. Many coral islands are small with low elevation above sea level. Thus they are at threat from storms and rising sea levels . Through chemical and physical changes humans can cause significant harm to reef systems and slow the creation of coral island chains. Coral reefs are threatened by numerous anthropogenic impacts, some of which have already had major effects worldwide. Reefs grow in shallow, warm, nutrient-poor waters where they are not outcompeted by phytoplankton . By adding fertilizers into

3822-500: The guano on Howland Island, with this claim recognized under the U.S. Guano Islands Act of 1856. However, when the United States Guano Company dispatched a vessel in 1859 to mine the guano, they found that Howland Island was already occupied by men sent there by the American Guano Company. The companies ended up in New York state court, with the American Guano Company arguing that the United States Guano Company had, in effect, abandoned

3900-546: The immediate Howland area as she ran low on fuel. The U.S. Coast Guard determined this by tracking her signal strength as she approached the island, noting signal levels from her reports of 200 and 100 miles out. These reports were roughly 30 minutes apart, providing vital ground-speed clues. After the largest search and rescue attempt in history up to that time, the U.S. Navy concluded that the Electra had run out of fuel, and Earhart and Noonan ditched at sea and perished. Based on

3978-533: The island on the ship Rousseau under Captain Pope. Mr. Stetson arrived on the island in 1854 and described it as being occupied by birds and a plague of rats. The American Guano Company established claims with respect to Baker Island and Jarvis Island , which were recognized under the U.S. Guano Islands Act of 1856. Benson tried to interest the American Guano Company in the Howland Island deposits; however,

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4056-569: The island since the continual possession and actual occupation required for ownership by the Guano Islands Act did not occur. The result was that both companies were allowed to mine the guano deposits, which were substantially depleted by October   1878. Laborers for the mining operations came from around the Pacific, including from Hawaiʻi; the Hawaiian laborers named Howland Island Ulukou ('kou tree grove'). Established in 1861,

4134-553: The island was administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as part of the Pacific Remote Islands National Wildlife Refuge Complex. In January   2009, that entity was upgraded to the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument by President George W. Bush . Multiple invasive exotic species have affected the island habitat. Black rats were introduced in 1854 and eradicated in 1938 by feral cats introduced

4212-412: The island, including clearing a landing strip for airplanes. During this period, the island was on Hawaii time, which was then 10.5   hours behind UTC . Similar colonization projects were started on nearby Baker Island and Jarvis Island , as well as Canton Island and Enderbury in the Phoenix Islands , which later became part of Kiribati . According to the 1940 U.S. Census , Howland Island had

4290-525: The last messages recorded from them on 2 July 1937, 7:42 am, Earhart reported, "We must be on you, but cannot see you – but gas is running low. Have been unable to reach you by radio. We are flying at 1,000 feet." At 8:43 am, Earhart reported, "We are on the line 157 337. We will repeat this message. We will repeat this on 6210 kilocycles. Wait." Between Earhart's low-on-fuel message at 7:42 am and her last confirmed message at 8:43, her signal strength remained consistent, indicating that she never left

4368-461: The late 20th century the "12 mile limit" has become almost universally accepted. The United Kingdom extended its territorial waters from three to twelve nautical miles (5.6 to 22.2 km) in 1987. During the League of Nations Codification Conference in 1930, the issue of establishing international legislation on territorial waters was raised, but no agreement was reached. Claims by legislation to

4446-447: The mouths of bays. In this case, a bay is defined as "a well-marked indentation whose penetration is in such proportion to the width of its mouth as to contain land-locked waters and constitute more than a mere curvature of the coast. An indentation is not, however, regarded as a bay unless its area is as large as, or larger than, that of the semi-circle whose diameter is a line drawn across the mouth of that indentation". The baseline across

4524-413: The only places on Earth observing this time zone. This time zone is also called AoE, Anywhere on Earth , a calendar designation indicating that a period expires when the date passes everywhere on Earth. Howland Island was claimed by the United States in 1856 and was mined for guano later that century. In the 1930s, human activity on the island began with a few people, several buildings, a day beacon, and

4602-472: The order of date of submission): Russian Federation; Brazil; Australia; Ireland; New Zealand; the joint submission by France, Ireland, Spain and the United Kingdom; Norway and Mexico. Articles 77 to 81 define the rights of a country over its continental shelf. A coastal nation has control of all resources on or under its continental shelf, living or not, but no control over any living organisms above

4680-431: The planet, over geological time, they form massive reefs of limestone . The reef environment supports more plant and animal species than any other habitat. Coral reefs are vital for life in multiple aspects some of which include structure, ecology, and nutrient cycles which all support biodiversity in the reefs. Coral reefs build massive calcareous skeletons that serve as homes for animals such as fish hiding inside

4758-461: The sand. However, the perishable nature of the wooden materials and the lack of beadwork in Polynesia suggests these materials are historical. The presence of the kou tree ( Cordia subcordata ) and Polynesian rats ( Rattus exulans ) on the island is also considered a possible indicator of early Polynesian visits to Howland. However, the only modern archaeological survey of Howland, conducted by

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4836-406: The seabed and the natural resources on or beneath it. However, other states may lay cables and pipelines if authorized by the coastal state. The outer limit of a country's continental shelf cannot stretch beyond 350 nautical miles (650 km; 400 mi) of the baseline or beyond 100 nautical miles (190 km; 120 mi) from the 2,500 metres (8,200 ft) isobath , which is a line connecting

4914-488: The shelf that are beyond its exclusive economic zone. This gives it the right to conduct hydrocarbon exploration and drilling works. From the eighteenth century until the mid twentieth century, the territorial waters of the British Empire , the United States, France and many other nations were three nautical miles (5.6 km) wide . Originally, this was the distance of a cannon shot, hence the portion of an ocean that

4992-438: The shore or an unlimited distance from permanently exposed land, provided that some portion of elevations exposed at low tide but covered at high tide (such as mud flats) is within 3 nautical miles (5.6 kilometres; 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 statute miles) of permanently exposed land. Straight baselines can alternatively be defined connecting fringing islands along a coast, across the mouths of rivers, or with certain restrictions across

5070-664: The strength of the transmission signals from Earhart, the Coast Guard concluded that the plane ran out of fuel north of Howland. Many later studies came to the same conclusion; however, an alternative hypothesis that Earhart and Noonan may have landed the plane on Gardner Island (now called Nikumaroro ) and died as castaways has been considered. A Japanese air attack on December 8, 1941 , by 14 twin-engined Mitsubishi G3M "Nell" bombers of Chitose Kōkūtai , from Kwajalein islands, killed colonists Richard "Dicky" Kanani Whaley and Joseph Kealoha Keliʻihananui. The raid came one day after

5148-400: The subject of visits to honor or look for the lost aviator, Earhart. Sparse remnants of trails and other surface features indicate a possible early Polynesian presence, including excavations and mounds, stacked rocks, and a footpath made of long, flat stones. In the 1860s, James Duncan Hague noted discovering the remains of a hut, canoe fragments, a blue bead, and a human skeleton buried in

5226-400: The surface and can become a coral island, where it begins a whole new ecosystem for land-based creatures. A coral island begins as a volcanic island over a hot spot . As the volcano emerges from the sea, a fringing reef grows on the outskirt of the volcano. The volcano eventually moves off the hot spot by means of plate tectonics . Once this occurs, the volcano can no longer keep up with

5304-549: The surface of the sea that complies with the laws and regulations adopted by the coastal state in accordance with the provisions of the UN Convention, within that portion of its exclusive economic zone beyond its territorial sea. Before the convention, coastal nations arbitrarily extended their territorial waters to attempt to control activities that are now regulated by the exclusive economic zone, such as offshore oil exploration or fishing rights (see Cod Wars ). The EEZ

5382-609: The territorial sea, there is no standard rule for resolving such conflicts and states must negotiate a compromise. The US invoked a contiguous zone out to 24 nmi from the baseline on 29 September 1999. An exclusive economic zone (EEZ) extends from the baseline to almost 200 nautical miles (370.4 km; 230.2 mi) and therefore includes the contiguous zone. A coastal nation has control of all economic resources inside its exclusive economic zone, including fishing, mining, oil exploration, and pollution of those resources. However, it cannot prohibit passage or loitering above, on, or under

5460-502: The two major contenders of a 3-mile or 12-mile limit reaching the required two-thirds support. This lack of agreement had the potential to lead to serious international disputes. It was only at the UNCLOS III (1973-1982) conference, whose provisions did not come into force until 1994, that this issue was resolved at twelve nautical miles. Pirate radio broadcasting from artificial marine fixtures or anchored ships can be controlled by

5538-535: The two survivors, later recounted his experience during the incident in a March 9, 1942 edition of Life . Howland was occupied by a battalion of the United States Marine Corps in September   1943 and was known as Howland Naval Air Station until May   1944. All attempts at habitation were abandoned after 1944. Colonization projects on the other four islands, also disrupted by

5616-472: The war, were abandoned. No aircraft is known to have landed on the island, though anchorages nearby were used by float planes and flying boats during World War II. For example, on July 10, 1944 , a U.S. Navy Martin PBM-3-D Mariner flying boat (BuNo 48199), piloted by William Hines, had an engine fire and made a forced landing in the ocean off Howland. Hines beached the aircraft, and though it burned,

5694-453: The water runoff, phytoplankton populations can explode and choke out coral reef systems. Adding too many sediments can cause a similar problem by blocking out the sun, starving the zooxanthellae that live on coral causing it to undergo a process known as coral bleaching . The ocean's acidity is also a factor. Coral is made of calcium carbonate and is dissolved by carbonic acid. With the increase in carbon dioxide from combustion reactions in

5772-473: The wave erosion and undergoes subsidence . Once the island is submerged, the coral must keep growing to stay in the epipelagic zone . This causes the coral to grow into an atoll with a shallow lagoon in the middle. The lagoon undergoes accretion and creates an island completely made of carbonate materials. The process is later enhanced with the remains of plant life which grows on the island. The term "low island" refers to geologic origin rather than

5850-464: The year before. The cats proved destructive to bird species and were eliminated by 1985. Pacific crabgrass continues to compete with local plants. Public entry to the island is allowed with a special use permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and it is generally restricted to scientists and educators. Representatives from the agency visit the island on average once every two years, often coordinating transportation with amateur radio operators or

5928-759: Was a dispute between mining companies. Captain Geo. E. Netcher of the Isabella informed Captain Taylor of its discovery. As Taylor had discovered another guano island in the Indian Ocean, they agreed to share the benefits of the guano on the two islands. Taylor put Netcher in communication with Alfred G. Benson, president of the American Guano Company, which was incorporated in 1857. Other entrepreneurs were approached as George and Matthew Howland, who later became United States Guano Company members, engaged Mr. Stetson to visit

6006-541: Was at last named on September 9, 1842 after a lookout who sighted it from the whaleship Isabella under Captain Geo. E. Netcher of New Bedford . Captain William Bligh of HMS Bounty , in his diary after the mutiny , described stopping at the island shortly after being set adrift by the mutineers in April 1789. He had 18 crew members who scoured the island for sustenance, such as oysters, water, and birds. Bligh

6084-636: Was unsure of the island's name, but apparently, it was known to cartographers.  Bligh's account on Howland Island is open to question since his route in the boat began between Tonga and Tofua and ran more or less west directly to Timor . Howland Island was uninhabited when the United States took possession of it under the Guano Islands Act of 1856. The island was a known navigation hazard for decades, and several ships were wrecked there. Its guano deposits were mined by American companies from about 1857 until October   1878, although there

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