108-786: The Mercury Islands are a group of seven islands off the northeast coast of New Zealand 's North Island . They are located 8 kilometres (5 mi) off the coast of the Coromandel Peninsula , and 35 kilometres (22 mi) northeast of the town of Whitianga . Great Mercury Island (Ahuahu) was occupied by both early Māori and Pākehā. A settler claimed to have bought Great Mercury Island in 1839. Great Mercury (Ahuahu), Kawhitu or Stanley Island and Double Island (Moturehu) were purchased and taken as crown land in 1858–65. These included Whakakapua (7 acres) and Kowhaka (21 acres) being purchased in January 1865. Despite inhabiting Ahuahu,
216-451: A "commuting" distance to an island that has enough resources to be sustainable. The presence of an island is marked by seabirds , differences in cloud and weather patterns, as well as changes in the direction of waves. It is also possible for human populations to have gone extinct on islands, evidenced by explorers finding islands that show evidence of habitation but no life. Not all islands were or are inhabited by maritime cultures. In
324-514: A "rafting event". This phenomenon is known as oceanic dispersal . Tropical storms have the capacity to transport species over great distances. Animals like tortoises can live for weeks without food or water, and are able to survive floating on debris in the sea. One case study showed that in 1995, fifteen iguanas survived a 300 km journey to Anguilla in the Caribbean , an island which no iguana had lived on previously. They survived floating on
432-684: A bestseller in Germany, and a book about him by Lowell Thomas spread his fame throughout the Anglosphere . In 1926 Luckner raised funds to buy a sailing ship which he called the Vaterland and he set out on a goodwill mission around the world, leaving Bremen on 19 September and arriving in New York Harbor on 22 October 1926. An entertaining speaker, he was widely admired for his seamanship and for having fought his war at sea with such
540-532: A cargo of grain. By coincidence, Luckner had himself sailed in Pinmore in his civilian sailing days, back in 1902. He took Pinmore into Rio de Janeiro in order to get more supplies, before eventually scuttling her. The next ship to be stopped was the Danish barque Viking , but as there was nothing unusual about her cargo the neutral ship was allowed to proceed unmolested. On the morning of 26 February 1917,
648-471: A coral atoll some 10 km (6.2 mi) in diameter in the Society Islands , some 450 km (280 mi) from Tahiti. Seeadler was too large to enter the sheltered lagoon of Mopelia, and consequently had to anchor outside the reef. On 2 August, disaster struck. According to Luckner, the ship was struck by a tsunami which wrecked her on the reef. However, some American prisoners alleged that
756-426: A detailed review of 1,288 islands found that they were home to 1,189 highly-threatened vertebrate species, which was 41 percent of the global figure. Coral bleaching is expected to occur with more frequency, threatening marine ecosystems, some of which island economies are dependent on. Some islands that are low-lying may cease to exist given high enough amounts of sea level rise. Tuvalu received media attention for
864-480: A fast motor boat, the Pearl , at his disposal, and on 13 December 1917, Luckner faked setting up a play for Christmas with his men and used his provisions for the play to plan his escape. He and other prisoners seized the Pearl and made for the Coromandel Peninsula . Using a machine gun, Luckner then seized the 90-ton scow Moa and, with the help of a handmade sextant and a map copied from a school atlas, he sailed for
972-614: A few meters high, and are usually temporary. Changes in the flow speed, water level, and sediment content of the river may effect the rate of fluvial island formation and depletion. Permanent river islands also exist, the largest of which (that is completely inland) is Bananal Island in the Tocantins of Brazil, which has a maximum width of 55 kilometers. Lakes form for a variety of reasons, including glaciers , plate tectonics, and volcanism. Lake islands can form as part of these processes. The field of insular biogeography studies
1080-571: A gentleman" in 1931. In 1937 and 1938, Luckner and his wife undertook a round-the-world voyage in his yacht Seeteufel , and they were welcomed in New Zealand and Australia, although some viewed him as an apologist for the Nazi regime and for this reason, Luckner became a target for anti-German propaganda by the Australian press. For example, Count von Luckner had great physical strength and
1188-402: A higher carrying capacity also have more genetic diversity , which promotes speciation . Oceanic islands, ones that have never been connected to shore, are only populated by life that can cross the sea. This means that any animals present on the island had to have flown there, in the case of birds or bats , were carried by such animals, or were carried in a sea current in what is known as
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#17327795953871296-477: A loss of almost all the infrastructure in Dominica. Sea level rise and other climate changes can reduce freshwater reserves, resulting in droughts . These risks are expected to decrease the habitability of islands, especially small ones. Beyond risks to human life, plant and animal life are threatened. It has been estimated that almost 50 percent of land species threatened by extinction live on islands. In 2017,
1404-403: A mass of uprooted trees from a storm. Plant species are thought to be able to travel great distances of ocean. New Zealand and Australia share 200 native plant species, despite being separated by 1500 km. Continental islands, islands that were at one point connected to a continent, are expected to share a common history of plant and animal life up until the point that the island broke away from
1512-817: A minimal loss of life. This opened many doors for him in the United States, where he spoke on hundreds of occasions across the country, both in German and later, increasingly, in English. He won the support of many notable people, including diplomats, politicians, and even World War I veterans belonging to the American Legion . Henry Ford presented Luckner with a motor car, and the city of San Francisco made him an honorary citizen. US President Calvin Coolidge wanted to meet him, but Luckner politely declined at
1620-837: A minimum. Some islands became host to humans due to a land bridge or a continental island splitting from the mainland. Today, up to 10% of the world's population lives on islands. Islands are popular targets for tourism due to their perceived natural beauty, isolation, and unique cultures. Islands became the target of colonization by Europeans, resulting in the majority of islands in the Pacific being put under European control. Decolonization has resulted in some but not all island nations becoming self-governing , with lasting effects related to industrialisation , invasive species , nuclear weapons testing , and tourism . Islands and island countries are threatened by climate change . Sea level rise threatens to submerge nations such as Maldives ,
1728-743: A minority. Cultural attitudes related to communal ownership of land as well as a lack of individualistic decision-making may make some island cultures less compatible with the global capitalist economy, causing these nations to experience less economic growth. Islands have long been a popular target for tourism , thanks to their unique climates, cultures, and natural beauty. However, islands may suffer from poor transportation connectivity from airplanes and boats and strains on infrastructure from tourist activity. Islands in colder climates often rely on seasonal tourists seeking to enjoy nature or local cultures, and may only be one aspect of an island's economy. In contrast, tourism on tropical islands can often make up
1836-613: A permanent caisson , a steel or concrete structure built in a closed loop and then filled with sand. Some modern islands have been constructed by pouring millions of tons of sand into the sea, such as with Pearl Island in Qatar or the Palm Islands in Dubai. These islands are usually created for real estate development , and are sold for private ownership or construction of housing. Offshore oil platforms have also been described as
1944-524: A phenomenon where new oceanic crust is formed, pushing away older crust. Islands sitting on the continental shelf may be called continental islands. Other islands, like those that make up New Zealand , are what remains of continents that shrank and sunk beneath the sea. It was estimated that Zealandia , the continent-like area of crust that New Zealand sits on, has had 93% of its original surface area submerged. Some islands are formed when coral reefs grow on volcanic islands that have submerged beneath
2052-423: A press conference publicizing the ongoing submerging of the island country. Tuvalu signed a cooperation agreement with Australia agreeing to annually allow 280 of its citizens to become permanent residents of Australia. The Marshall Islands, a country of 1,156 islands, have also been identified as a country that may be existentially threatened by rising seas. Increasing intensity of tropical storms also increases
2160-483: A priority target of conservation efforts, to prevent the extinction of these species. Despite high levels of endemism, the total species richness , the total number of unique species in a region, is lower on islands than on mainlands. The level of species richness on islands is proportional to the area of that island, a phenomenon known as the species-area relationship . This is because larger areas have more resources and thus can support more organisms. Populations with
2268-464: A pā on the western side of the island where extensive archaeological excavations were undertaken in the 1950s. During the latter 19th century, the island was a location for kauri gum digging. The island is owned by Michael Fay and David Richwhite , two prominent New Zealand businessmen. The private island, which features two luxurious residences, can be hired for around $ 20,000 NZD per day. U2 's lead singer Bono and guitarist The Edge stayed on
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#17327795953872376-411: A restricted set of natural resources. However, these nations control some of the largest fisheries in the world, deposits of copper , gold , and nickel , as well as oil deposits . The natural beauty of island nations also makes them a magnet for tourism . Islands also have geopolitical value for naval bases , weapons testing , and general territorial control. One such example is French Polynesia ,
2484-476: A selection pressure for smaller animals that require less food. Having fewer predators would mean these animals did not need not be large to survive. Charles Darwin formulated the theory of natural selection through the study of island ecology. The species he observed on the Galápagos Islands , including tanager birds, contributed to his understanding of how evolution works. He first traveled to
2592-509: A specific property known as adaptive radiation . In this process, a species that arrives on a group of islands rapidly becomes more diverse over time, splitting off into new species or subspecies. A species that reaches an island ecosystem may face little competition for resources, or may find that the resources that they found in their previous habitat are not available. These factors together result in individual evolutionary branches with different means of survival. The classical example of this
2700-700: A telephone directory, with the caption "They All Have the Habit". During their visit to Queensland , Australia, the Luckners were feted by the press and public. The Brisbane office of the Commonwealth Investigation Branch (CIB), maintained a surveillance of the Luckners during their visit, with the inspector in charge of the CIB in Brisbane, Bob Wake, attending a gala function arranged by
2808-414: A territory that receives substantial military expenditure and aid from France. Since the first discoveries of Polynesian, Micronesian , and other islands by Westerners, these nations have been the subject of colonization. Islands were the target of Christian missionaries . These missionaries faced resistance, but found success when some local chiefs used European support to centralize power. Beginning in
2916-519: A tree that is present in Australia, New Zealand, parts of South American, and New Guinea, places that today are geographically distant. A possible explanation for this phenomenon is that these landmasses were once all part of the continent Gondwana and separated by tectonic drift. However, there are competing theories that suggest this species may have reached faraway places by way of oceanic dispersal. Species that colonize island archipelagos exhibit
3024-616: A type of island. Some atolls have been covered in concrete to create artificial islands for military purposes, such as those created by China in the South China Sea . These atolls were previously low-tide elevations, landmasses that are only above water during low tide . The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea indicates that these islands may not have the same legal status as a naturally occurring island, and as such may not confer
3132-461: A voyage of 3,700 km (2,300 mi) in an open boat. Most people on Wakaya accepted the Germans' story of being shipwrecked Norwegians, but one sceptic called a party of police from the old Fijian capital of Levuka . On 21 September, the police threatened that a non-existent gun on the inter-island ferry Amra would blow Luckner out of the water. Not wishing to cause bloodshed, and not realizing
3240-515: Is Darwin's finches , a group of up to fifteen tanager species that are endemic to the Galápagos Islands. These birds evolved different beaks in order to eat different kinds of food available on the islands. The large ground finch has a large bill used to crack seeds and eat fruit. The Genovesa cactus finch prefers cacti as a food source, and has a beak adapted for removing pulp and flowers from cacti. The green warbler-finch (in
3348-726: Is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics , and oceanic islands, which have never been part of a continent. Oceanic islands can be formed from volcanic activity, grow into atolls from coral reefs , and form from sediment along shorelines, creating barrier islands . River islands can also form from sediment and debris in rivers. Artificial islands are those made by humans, including small rocky outcroppings built out of lagoons and large-scale land reclamation projects used for development. Islands are host to diverse plant and animal life. Oceanic islands have
Mercury Islands - Misplaced Pages Continue
3456-598: Is actually a cognate of Swedish ö and German Aue , and more distantly related to Latin aqua (water). The spelling of the word was modified in the 15th century because of a false etymology caused by an association with the Old French loanword isle , which itself comes from the Latin word insula . Islands often are found in archipelagos or island chains, which are collections of islands. These chains are thought to form from volcanic hotspots , areas of
3564-503: Is the apple snail , initially introduced to the U.S. by aquarium owners. It has since been transported by hurricanes across the Gulf Coast and neighboring islands. These species compete for resources with native animals, and some may grow so densely that they displace other forms of existing life. For hundreds of years, islands have been created through land reclamation . One of the first recorded instances of this when people of
3672-634: Is the giant tortoise of the Seychelles , though it is unknown if it grew in size before or after reaching the island. Larger animals such as the hippopotamus tend to become smaller, such as in the case of the pygmy hippopotamus . This is known as insular dwarfism . In the case of smaller animals, it has been hypothesized that animals on islands may have fewer predators and competitors, resulting in selection pressure towards larger animals. Larger animals may exhaust food resources quickly due to their size, causing malnutrition in their young, resulting in
3780-542: The Atlantic Ocean in search of an alternate route to the East Indies . These historians theorize that successful explorers were rewarded with recognition and wealth, leading others to attempt possibly dangerous expeditions to discover more islands, usually with poor results. About 10% of the world's population lives on islands. The study of the culture of islands is known as island studies . The interest in
3888-645: The Kermadec Islands , which contained a castaway depot on Curtis Island. A pursuing auxiliary ship, the Iris , had guessed Luckner's probable destination and caught up with him on 21 December. A year after his mission began, the war finally ended for Felix von Luckner. He spent the remainder of the war in various prisoner of war camps in New Zealand, including Ripapa Island in Lyttelton Harbour , before being repatriated to Germany in 1919. Luckner
3996-577: The Marshall Islands , and Tuvalu completely. Increases in the frequency and intensity of tropical cyclones can cause widespread destruction of infrastructure and animal habitats. Species that live exclusively on islands are some of those most threatened by extinction . An island is an area of land surrounded by water on all sides that is distinct from a continent. There is no standard of size that distinguishes islands and continents . Continents have an accepted geological definition – they are
4104-507: The Polynesians . Many of the previous island settlements required traveling distances of less than 100 km (62 mi), whereas Polynesians may have traveled 2,000–3,200 km (1,200–2,000 mi) to settle islands such as Tahiti . They would send navigators to sail the ocean without the aid of navigational instruments to discover new islands for settlement. Between 1100 and 800 BC, Polynesians sailed East from New Guinea and
4212-891: The Solomon Islands and reached the islands that make up the modern-day Fiji and Samoa . The furthest extent of this migration would be Easter Island in the East, and New Zealand in the South, with New Zealand's first settlements between 1250 and 1300. Historians have sought to understand why some remote islands have always been uninhabited, while others, especially in the Pacific Ocean , have long been populated by humans. Generally, larger islands are more likely to be able to sustain humans and thus are more likely to have been settled. Small islands that cannot sustain populations on their own can still be habitable if they are within
4320-499: The Solomon Islands created eighty such islands by piling coral and rock in the Lau Lagoon . One traditional way of constructing islands is with the use of a revetment . Sandbags or stones are dropped with a barge into the sea to bring the land level slightly out of the water. The island area is then filled with sand or gravel, followed by a construction of this revetment to hold it together. Islands have also been constructed with
4428-414: The lithosphere where the mantle is hotter than the surrounding area. These hotspots would give rise to volcanoes whose lava would form the rock the islands are made of. For some islands, the movement of tectonic plates above stationary hotspots would form islands in a linear chain, with the islands further away from the hotspot being progressively older and more eroded , before disappearing under
Mercury Islands - Misplaced Pages Continue
4536-450: The sea as a natural barrier to the introduction of new species, causing the species that do reach the island to evolve in isolation. Continental islands share animal and plant life with the continent they split from. Depending on how long ago the continental island formed, the life on that island may have diverged greatly from the mainland due to natural selection . Humans have lived on and traveled between islands for thousands of years at
4644-530: The 1,953 ton British barque British Yeoman , carrying a welcome cargo including chickens and pigs, was stopped and sunk; the same evening the French four-master Le Rochefoucauld fell victim to the Seeadler . The boarding party discovered Le Rochefoucauld had only recently been stopped by a British cruiser which was looking for Seeadler . On the evening of 5 March, Seeadler discovered a four-masted barque in
4752-474: The 16th century, European states placed most of Oceania in under colonial administration . Pohnpei was colonized by Spain as early as 1526. It changed hands from Germany to Japan to the United States before joining the Federated States of Micronesia in 1982, maintaining a "free association" status with the U.S. Guam was a Spanish territory until 1898, and now is a unincorporated territory of
4860-412: The 2,199 ton French three-masted barque Charles Gounod , which was loaded with corn. She was quickly dispatched, but her log book recorded information about other ships she had met and their intended route. On 24 January, the small 364-ton Canadian schooner Perce was met and sunk by machine gun fire, after taking off her crew and her captain's new bride. The 3,071 ton French four-master Antonin , which
4968-646: The 3,268 ton Gladys Royle , carrying coal from Cardiff to Buenos Aires , to heave to. Her crew was taken off unharmed, and she was scuttled . The following day, Seeadler encountered another steamship, which refused to identify itself. The German ensign was raised and a shot fired across the bow of the Lundy Island , which was carrying sugar from Madagascar . The steamer still refused to heave to, and Luckner fired four rounds directly at her. The steamer then hove to and lowered her boats, but her captain ignored an order to come to Seeadler . A German boarding party
5076-464: The 3,609 ton Horngarth turned back to render assistance to the 'burning' sailing ship. A single shot put the British ship's radio out of action; this resulted in the only loss of life in the Seeadler 's voyage. A British sailor, Douglas Page, was killed when a steam pipe was ruptured by the shot. Horngarth was soon scuttled by Seeadler 's now experienced crew. By this time, Luckner had
5184-442: The British armed merchant cruiser Avenger . Avenger put an inspection party aboard, but failed to detect the German deception. On 9 January 1917, Seeadler came upon a single-funneled steamer, raised a signal requesting a time signal (not an uncommon thing for a sailing ship long out of contact with land to do), and raised the German ensign too late for the target ship to take any evasive action. Three shots were needed to persuade
5292-599: The French Army of the Rhine , who in the 18th century was elevated to the rank of Count ( Graf ) by the King of Denmark . The young Luckner had dreams of being a sailor, but his father was determined that he should follow the family tradition and go into the cavalry . After failing his exams at various private schools, at the age of thirteen Luckner ran away to sea, with the promise in his mind that he would not return until he
5400-740: The German Foreign Office in honour of the couple. The gala menu was decorated with a swastika . The CIB kept detailed records of all of their contacts, and when Australia declared war on Germany many of these contacts were arrested and interned. During the Second World War , Adolf Hitler tried to exploit Luckner for propaganda purposes, although as a Freemason Luckner was not in one of the Nazis' favoured groups of people. Luckner refused to renounce his membership in "the Craft" or
5508-511: The Hawaiian islands being home to irrigated fields of taro, whereas in some islands, like Tahiti, breadfruit was more widely cultivated and fermented in order to preserve it. There is archeological evidence that Canary Islanders would chew the roots of ferns for sustenance, a practice that wore heavily on their molars . These islanders would also grow barley and raised livestock such as goats . Many island nations have little land and
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#17327795953875616-537: The Imperial Navy equipped the impounded three-masted sailing ship Pass of Balmaha (1,571 tons) with two 105 mm guns hidden behind hinged gunwales, several machine guns, and two carefully hidden 500 HP auxiliary engines. She was commissioned as the auxiliary cruiser Seeadler ("Sea Eagle"). As he was almost the only officer in the German Navy with extensive experience of large sailing ships, Luckner
5724-624: The Ngati Hei were not consulted about this purchase. A 2017 settlement recognized the Ngāti Hei as having a legitimate claim to Great Mercury Island. The main chain of the Mercury Islands consists of the large Great Mercury Island (also known as Ahuahu ) to the west, Red Mercury Island ( Whakau ) to the east, and five much smaller islands between the two (Korapuki, Green, Atiu/Middle, Kawhitu/Stanley and Moturehu/Double Islands). All
5832-682: The Origin of Species . The first evidence of humans colonizing islands probably occurred in the Paleolithic era, 100,000 to 200,000 years ago. Reaching the Indonesian islands of Flores and Timor would have required crossing distances of water of at least 29 km (18 mi). Some islands, such as Honshu , were probably connected to the mainland with a land bridge that allowed humans to colonize it before it became an island. The first people to colonize distant oceanic islands were
5940-481: The U.S. The decolonization era saw many island states achieve independence or some form of self-governance . Nuclear weapons testing on the Marshall Islands left many atolls destroyed or uninhabitable, causing the forced displacement of people from their home islands as well as increases in cancer rates due to radiation . Colonization has resulted in a decline of observance of traditional cultural practices in places such as Hawaii, where Native Hawaiians are now
6048-474: The activities of Seeadler and arrange for the rescue of the other 44 sailors left stranded on Mopelia. Fortuna , meanwhile, came to grief when she struck uncharted rocks off Easter Island . The crew scrambled ashore, where they were interned by the Chileans for the remainder of the war. Luckner still refused to accept that the war was over for him. The commander of the prisoner of war camp at Motuihe had
6156-543: The beginning of the War, Germany converted a considerable number of merchant ships into merchant raiders by equipping them with guns and sending them in search of Allied merchant shipping. Most of the armed raiders were not particularly successful, but they did tie up considerable Allied forces in hunting them. By early 1915, most of the armed raiders had either been hunted down and sunk or else had run out of fuel and been interned in neutral ports. Hoping to revive commerce raiding,
6264-610: The circling of the other albatrosses gave the crew of the lifeboat a point to aim at in his rescue. Arriving at Fremantle , Western Australia , Luckner jumped ship and for seven years worked in a bewildering array of occupations: he was a seller of the Salvation Army 's The War Cry ; an assistant lighthouse keeper at the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse in Augusta, Western Australia , a job he abandoned when he
6372-406: The continent. For example, the presence of freshwater fish on an island surrounded by ocean would indicate that it once was attached to a continent, since these fish cannot traverse the ocean on their own. Over the course of time, evolution and extinction changes the nature of animal life on a continental island, but only once it splits from the mainland. An example is that of the southern beech ,
6480-451: The deposition of sediment by waves . These islands erode and grow as the wind and waves shift. Barrier islands have the effect of protecting coastal areas from severe weather because they absorb some of the energy of large waves before they can reach the shore. A fluvial island is an island that forms from the erosion and sedimentation of debris in rivers; almost all rivers have some form of fluvial islands. These islands may only be
6588-426: The distances and frequency with which invasive species may be transported to islands. Floodwaters from these storms may also wash plants further inland than they would travel on their own, introducing them to new habitats. Agriculture and trade also have introduced non-native life to islands. These processes result in an introduction of invasive species to ecosystems that are especially small and fragile. One example
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#17327795953876696-400: The ecological processes that take place on islands, with a focus on what factors effect the evolution , extinction , and richness of species. Scientists often study islands as an isolated model of how the process of natural selection takes place. Island ecology studies organisms on islands and their environment. It has yielded important insights for its parent field of ecology since
6804-544: The group, Aitutaki , where they posed as Norwegians. The New Zealand Resident in Aitutaki was suspicious but had no means of detaining the group, and Luckner quickly took his party to the island of Rarotonga . Approaching Rarotonga in the dark, Luckner saw a dark ship which he thought was an auxiliary cruiser, but in fact it was a beached ship. Luckner pressed on to the Fijian Wakaya Island , arriving after
6912-502: The habit of true warbler species) consumes spiders and insects that live on plants. Other examples of this phenomenon exist worldwide, including in Hawaii and Madagascar, and are not limited to island ecosystems. Species endemic to islands show a common evolutionary trajectory. Foster's rule (also known as the island rule), states that small mammals such as rodents evolve to become larger, known as island gigantism . One such example
7020-532: The hunting ships. The Royal Navy was well aware of Seeadler 's general location and set a trap consisting of the armed merchant cruisers Otranto and Orbita and the armoured cruiser HMS Lancaster at Cape Horn . However, a severe storm blew Seeadler considerably further south, before she entered the Pacific Ocean on 18 April and sailed north along the Chilean coast. By early June, Seeadler
7128-550: The introduction for Alfred von Niezychowski 's book The Cruise of the Kronprinz Wilhelm , 1928, published by Doubleday & Company, about his time on the auxiliary cruiser Kronprinz Wilhelm . Between 1973 and 1975, a Franco-German Co-production company produced a 39-episode adventure series entitled "Graf Luckner" for the German ARD television network, featuring Luckner as the hero. The French sub-title
7236-582: The island during U2's Vertigo concerts in Auckland in November 2006. On 30 November 2009, Ahuahu/Great Mercury Island hosted the first successful launch of Rocket Lab 's suborbital Atea-1 sounding rocket . In 2014, Fay and Richwhite, in partnership with the Department of Conservation , successfully undertook an eradication program to remove kiore , ship rats and cats from the island. In 2016, it
7344-431: The island its European name on his exploration of the area in 1769. The island was briefly used by Count Felix von Luckner as a hiding spot during World War One during his attempted escape from New Zealand en route to the Kermadec Islands , with a cove on the island's northern coast bearing his name to commemorate this. As with the rest of the Mercury Islands, Whakau is volcanic, with evidence of this history evident around
7452-483: The island's coast. The smaller islands in the group have been identified as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International because they provide nesting sites for up to 3000 breeding pairs of Pycroft's petrels . Moturehu/Double Island and Whakau/Red Mercury are home to the critically endangered Mercury Islands tusked wētā . 36°35′S 175°55′E / 36.583°S 175.917°E / -36.583; 175.917 Island An island or isle
7560-457: The islands as a naturalist on HMS Beagle in 1835, as part of a five-year circumnavigation of Earth. He wrote that "the different islands to a considerable extent are inhabited by a different set of beings". Through the study of the finches and other animals he realized that organisms survive by changing to adapt to their habitat. It would be over twenty years before he published his theories in On
7668-439: The islands, except Ahuahu/Great Mercury Island, have statutory protection and are managed by the Department of Conservation as highly valuable Nature Reserves where public access prohibited. Ahuahu/Great Mercury Island is privately owned and public access is allowed (excluding residential sites and the planted pine forest). One lone island, Repanga/Cuvier Island , also a protected Nature Reserve, lies 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) to
7776-643: The largest landmass of a particular tectonic plate . Islands can occur in any body of water, including lakes , rivers , seas . Low-tide elevations , areas of land that are not above the surface during a high tide , are generally not considered islands. Islands that have been bridged or otherwise joined to a mainland with land reclamation are sometimes considered "de-islanded", but not in every case. The word island derives from Middle English iland , from Old English igland (from ig or ieg , similarly meaning 'island' when used independently, and -land carrying its contemporary meaning. Old English ieg
7884-404: The mainland, they had no need for boats. The motivation for island exploration has been the subject of research and debate. Some early historians previously argued that early island colonization was unintentional, perhaps by a raft being swept out to sea. Others compare the motivations of Polynesian and similar explorers with those of Christopher Columbus , the explorer who sailed westward over
7992-589: The majority of the local economy and built environment . These islands sometimes also require consistent foreign aid on top of tourism in order to ensure economic growth. This reliance can result in social inequality and environmental degradation . During tourism downturns, these economies struggle to make up the lost inflow of cash with other industries. Climate change threatens human development on islands due to sea level rise , more dangerous tropical cyclones , coral bleaching , and an increase in invasive species . For example, in 2017 Hurricane Maria caused
8100-404: The middle of the ocean. The chief mate defied the captain (who had threatened him with a harpoon), and launched a lifeboat with the help of volunteers. As a number of albatrosses circled over Luckner, one swooped down and seized his outstretched hand in its beak, but Luckner grabbed the bird in desperation. Although severely pecked, he hung on for his life. The flapping of the bird's huge wings and
8208-425: The moonlight and signalled "Stop immediately! German Cruiser". Bizarrely, the captain of the 2,206 ton French ship Dupleix rowed across to Seeadler , convinced another French captain was playing a practical joke on him. He was soon disabused of the idea when his ship was scuttled. Seeadler 's next victim on 10 March was asked for the time, but ignored the signal. Luckner ordered a smoke generator to be lit, and
8316-542: The north of Ahuahu/Great Mercury Island, although this island is not normally considered part of the Mercury Island group. Approximately 18,000 years ago during the Last Glacial Maximum when sea levels were over 100 metres lower than present day levels, the islands were hilly features surrounded by a vast coastal plain. Sea levels began to rise 7,000 years ago, after which the islands separated from
8424-501: The optimist, he intended to sail to Fiji by way of the Cook Islands , capture a sailing ship, return to Mopelia for his crew and prisoners, and resume his raiding career. Three days after leaving Mopelia, the seamen reached Atiu Island, where they pretended to be Dutch-American mariners crossing the Pacific for a bet. The New Zealand Resident , the administrator of the island, gave them enough supplies to reach another island in
8532-529: The past, some societies were found to have lost their seafaring ability over time, such as the case of the Canary Islands , which were occupied by an indigenous people since the island's first discovery in the first century until being conquered by the Spanish Empire in 1496. It has been hypothesized that since the inhabitants had little incentive for trade and had little to any contact with
8640-457: The police were unarmed, Luckner and his party surrendered and were confined in a prisoner-of-war camp on Motuihe Island , off Auckland , New Zealand. Meanwhile, back on Mopelia, a small French trading ship, the Lutèce , anchored outside the reef. Leutnant Kling of Seeadler , having heard on the radio of his captain's capture, sailed out to Lutèce and captured her at gunpoint. The French crew
8748-549: The problem of feeding and keeping safe nearly 300 prisoners, in addition to his own crew. Consequently, when on 20 March, the French four-masted barque Cambronne was captured, Luckner arranged for the ship's topgallant mast and additional spars and sails to be removed, before putting his prisoners aboard Cambronne under the command of Captain Mullen of Pinmore . The much-reduced rigging on Cambronne ensured Seeadler would be able to escape before her location could be reported to
8856-476: The request of Foreign Office of the Weimar Republic . Feeling that his "goodwill mission", as he called it in his travelogue, Seeteufel erobert Amerika ("Sea-devil conquers America"), could neither have greater success elsewhere, nor could he be financially sustained by the income as a speaker, however popular and successful; he returned to Germany, where he arrived on 19 April 1928. Count von Luckner
8964-513: The rest of New Zealand. When sea levels were lower, the Opitonui River flowed east to the Pacific Ocean between Cuvier Island and Ahuahu/Great Mercury Island. Ahuahu / Great Mercury Island, 1872 ha, is the largest of Mercury Islands and the only one with permanent residents or public access. It is the remnants of a Pliocene rhyolitic volcano . In pre- colonial times, the island was the location of at least 20 pā , including Matakawau,
9072-537: The sailing commerce raider SMS Seeadler ( Sea Eagle ) during the First World War . After the war, Luckner became a war hero in Germany and was renowned around the world for his seamanship and chivalrous conduct during the war, which resulted in a minimal loss of life on both sides. Luckner was born in Dresden , Germany, the great-grandson of Nicolas Luckner , Marshal of France and commander-in-chief of
9180-523: The same legal rights. Felix von Luckner Felix Nikolaus Alexander Georg Graf von Luckner (9 June 1881, Dresden – 13 April 1966, Malmö), sometimes called Count Luckner in English, was a German nobleman, naval officer, author, and sailor who earned the epithet Der Seeteufel (the Sea Devil), and his crew that of Die Piraten des Kaisers (the Emperor's Pirates), for his exploits in command of
9288-789: The sea entirely. An example is the Hawaiian Islands , with the oldest island being 25 million years old, and the youngest, Hawaii , still being an active volcano . However, not all island chains are formed this way. Some may be formed all at once by fractures in the tectonic plates themselves, simultaneously creating multiple islands. One supporting piece of evidence is that of the Line Islands , which are all estimated to be 8 million years old, rather than being different ages. Other island chains form due to being separated from existing continents. The Japanese archipelago may have been separated from Eurasia due to seafloor spreading ,
9396-472: The ship drifted aground while the prisoners and most of the crew were having a picnic on the island. The crew and their 46 prisoners were now stranded on Mopelia, but they managed to salvage provisions, firearms, and two of the ship's boats. Luckner decided to sail with five of his men in one of the 10 m (32 ft 10 in) long open boats, rigged as a sloop and named Kronprinzessin Cecilie . Ever
9504-549: The study of islands is due to their unique cultures and natural environments that differ from mainland cultures. This is for a few reasons: First, the obvious political and geographic isolation from mainland cultures. Second, unique restraints on resources and ecology creating marine-focused cultures with a focus on fishing and sailing. Third, a lasting historical and political significance of islands. The Polynesian diet got most of its protein from fishing. Polynesians were known to fish close to shore, as well as in deep water. It
9612-450: The surface. When these coral islands encircle a central lagoon , the island is known as an atoll . The formation of reefs and islands related to those reefs is aided by the buildup of sediment in shallow patches of water. In some cases, tectonic movements lifting a reef out of the water by as little as 1 meter can cause sediment to accumulate and an island to form. Barrier islands are long, sandy bars that form along shorelines due to
9720-438: The time of Charles Darwin . In biology, endemism is defined as the phenomenon where species or genus is only found in a certain geographical area. Islands isolate land organisms from others with water, and isolate aquatic organisms living on them with land. Island ecosystems have the highest rates of endemism globally. This means that islands contribute heavily to global biodiversity . Areas with high lives of biodiversity are
9828-501: The various honorary citizenships granted in the US, and consequently he suffered by having his bank accounts frozen. In 1943, Count von Luckner saved the life of a German Jewish woman, Rose Janson, whom he provided with a passport he found on a bombsite, and which allowed her to subsequently escape to the United States via a neutral country. Towards the end of the war in April, Count von Luckner
9936-505: Was "Les Aventures du Capitaine Luckner" . Episode 26 of the television series Tales from Te Papa featured the sextant used by Luckner in his attempt to escape from captivity in New Zealand. On 29 March 2004 the society "Felix Graf von Luckner Gesellschaft" was founded in Halle, with the objective of commemorating Luckner's life and work, especially his role in safeguarding the city of Halle in April 1945. The society also wishes to create
10044-648: Was a family friend and frequent visitor to the Heydrich family, who belonged to the Catholic minority in Halle . At their household, Count Luckner's stories about the cruise of SMS Seeadler inspired one of their sons, a young Reinhard Heydrich , to enlist as an officer cadet in the inter-war Reichsmarine of the Weimar Republic, from which he was dishonourably discharged for "conduct unbecoming an officer and
10152-648: Was a prolific autograph signer, and his original autographs turn up frequently at auctions and estate sales. After the Second World War, Luckner moved to Sweden , where he lived in Malmö with his Swedish second wife Ingeborg Engeström until his death in Malmö at the age of 84 in 1966. However, his body was returned to Germany and was buried in the Main Cemetery Ohlsdorf , Hamburg. Luckner wrote
10260-405: Was appointed to command her. Seeadler left port on 21 December 1916 and managed to slip through the British blockade disguised as a Norwegian ship. Many of the crew of six officers and 57 men, including Luckner himself, had been selected for their ability to speak Norwegian , in case they were intercepted by the British. By Christmas Day, Seeadler was southeast of Iceland, where she encountered
10368-616: Was declared pest free, making the entire Mercury Island Group free from introduced mammalian pests. The island remains open to the public to showcase conservation and provide an accessible pest-free island in the Mercury Island Group. Whakau is the easternmost of the Mercury Islands, and at 2.3 kilometres (1.4 mi) across is also the second-largest. The entire island is surrounded by reddish cliffs up to 100 metres (330 ft) high, prompting Captain James Cook to give
10476-481: Was discovered with the lighthouse keeper's daughter by her father; a kangaroo hunter; a circus worker; a professional boxer (due to his exceptional strength); a fisherman; a seaman; a guard in the Mexican Army for President Díaz , a railway construction worker, a barman, and a tavern keeper. He was incarcerated for a short time in a Chilean prison accused of stealing pigs, he twice suffered broken legs, and he
10584-447: Was east of Christmas Island and learned that the United States had entered the war. Seeadler therefore turned her attention to American shipping, sinking the 529-ton A. B. Johnson of San Francisco on 14 June, the 673 ton R. C. Slade the next day, and the schooner Manila on 8 July. By this time, Seeadler needed to be laid up so that her hull could be scraped clean. She put into the small island of Mopelia, also known as Maupihaa ,
10692-583: Was eventually welcomed back by his family, who had given him up for lost. In February 1912 Luckner was finally called up by the Navy and served on the gunboat SMS Panther . In the early months of the First World War Felix von Luckner saw action at the Battle of Heligoland Bight (1914). At the Battle of Jutland (1916) he commanded a gun turret on board the battleship Kronprinz Wilhelm . At
10800-470: Was living in Halle , where he was briefly placed under guard by the 414th Infantry Regiment of the United States Army , which was engaged in house-to-house fighting against Wehrmact and Waffen-SS troops within the town after the garrison refused to surrender. Count Luckner did not return to the town after hearing that local Nazis planned to subject him to execution without trial. Luckner
10908-400: Was loaded with Chilean saltpetre , was overhauled on 3 February and soon scuttled. On 9 February, the 1,811 ton Italian Buenos Aires , also carrying saltpetre, was sunk. On 19 February, a four-masted barque was spotted, which immediately piled on sail in an effort to get away; however, Seeadler 's engines allowed her to overhaul the 2,431 ton British steamer Pinmore , which was carrying
11016-528: Was married twice. He married Petra Schultz from Hamburg , with whom he had a daughter, Inge-Maria, born in 1913. They were divorced in 1914. On 24 September 1924 he married Ingeborg Engeström in Malmö , Sweden . On 12 May 1921, Luckner joined Regular Freemasonry of the Lodge Zur goldenen Kugel ( Große Landesloge von Deutschland ) in Hamburg . He wrote a book about his wartime adventures which became
11124-593: Was noted for his ability to bend coins between the thumb, index, and middle finger of his right hand and to tear up telephone directories (the thickest being that of New York City), with his bare hands. For this reason, on the occasion of his visit to Australia in 1938, the Sydney Labor Daily published a cartoon showing Kaiser Wilhelm tearing up the Belgian Neutrality Pact , Adolf Hitler tearing up another agreement, and Luckner tearing up
11232-519: Was put ashore with the other prisoners, and all the Germans embarked on the ship, which they renamed the Fortuna , and set course for South America. The master of A. B. Johnson , Captain Smith, then took the remaining open boat from Mopelia with three other American seamen, and sailed 1,600 km (990 mi) to Pago Pago , arriving on 4 October, where they were finally able to inform the authorities of
11340-470: Was reported that Rapa Nui people were known to fish as far as 500 km (310 mi) from shore at coral reefs. Spear , line , and net fishing were all used, to catch tuna as well as sharks and stingrays . Island cultures also cultivate native and non-native crops. Polynesians grew the native yam , taro , breadfruit , banana , coconut and other fruits and vegetables. Different island climates made different resources more important, such as
11448-518: Was sent over and discovered that the crew had abandoned ship when the first shots were fired, leaving the captain alone on board. Captain Bannister later told Luckner that he had previously been captured by a German raider and had given his parole , which he had broken; thus, he was not anxious to be a prisoner of war again. Luckner continued his voyage southwards, and by 21 January he was in mid- Atlantic between Brazil and West Africa when he found
11556-680: Was thrown out of a hospital in Jamaica for lack of money. At the age of twenty, Luckner entered a German navigation training school, where he passed the examinations for his mate's ticket. By 1908 he had joined the Hamburg-Südamerikanische Line steamer Petropolis , intending to serve for nine months before volunteering to serve in the Imperial German Navy for a year, to obtain a naval commission. He had vowed not to return to his family except in uniform and
11664-511: Was wearing "the Emperor's naval uniform, and with honour". He signed up, under the assumed name of "Phylax Lüdecke", as an unpaid cabin boy on the Russian sailing ship Niobe travelling between Hamburg (Germany) and Australia. His story might have ended there, because the Russian captain, fearing that the lives of other crew members would be endangered, refused to allow a lifeboat to be launched in order to pick Luckner up when he fell overboard in
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