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46-567: The ecoregion stretches from Prince Edward Islands in the west, past the Crozet Islands to the Kerguelen Islands 1500 km to the east, and includes the active volcano Heard Island and the nearby McDonald Islands . These rocky islands support a variety of plant life, such as tussock grasses , that has adapted to the snowy and icy conditions. There are a number of endemic plant species including Poa cookii grass and

92-721: A South African Navy force from HMSAS Transvaal under the command of John Fairbairn . On 1 October 1948 the annexation was made official when Governor-General Gideon Brand van Zyl signed the Prince Edward Islands Act, 1948 . In terms of the Act, the islands fall under the jurisdiction of the Cape Town Magistrate's Court , and South African law as applied in the Western Cape applies on them. The islands are also deemed to be situated within

138-419: A 12-month period. It is believed that no cats remain on Marion Island today, and with the cats gone, the mouse population has sharply increased to "plague like" levels. In 2003, ornithologists discovered that in the absence of other food sources, the mice were attacking albatross chicks and eating them alive as they sat helplessly on their nests. A similar problem has been observed on Gough Island , where

184-576: A coastline of some 72 km (45 mi), most of which is high cliffs. The highest point on Marion Island is Mascarin Peak (formerly State President Swart Peak), reaching 1,242 m (4,075 ft) above sea level. The topography of Marion Island includes many hillocks and small lakes, and boggy lowland terrain with little vegetation. Prince Edward Island ( 46°38′39″S 37°56′36″E  /  46.64417°S 37.94333°E  / -46.64417; 37.94333  ( Prince Edward Island ) )

230-450: A few offshore rocks along the northern coast of Prince Edward Island, like Ship Rock 100 m (328 ft) north of northernmost point, and Ross Rocks 500 m (1,640 ft) from the shore. Boot Rock is about 500 m (1,640 ft) off the northern coast of Marion Island. Both islands are of volcanic origin. Marion Island is one of the peaks of a large underwater shield volcano that rises some 5,000 m (16,404 ft) from

276-403: A mouse eradication programme began in 2021. A programme to eradicate invasive rats on South Georgia Island was completed in 2015, and as of 2016 the island appears to be completely rat free. The geography of Marion Island presents certain obstacles not found on either Gough or South Georgia islands, particularly its large size, high elevations and variable weather. An assessment of the island

322-472: A number of seabirds that dive into the water after baited hooks. The wildlife is particularly vulnerable to introduced species and the historical problem has been with cats and mice. House mice arrived to Marion Island with whaling and sealing ships in the 1800s and quickly multiplied, so much so that in 1949, five domestic cats were brought to the research base to deal with them. The cats multiplied quickly, and by 1977 there were approximately 3,400 cats on

368-767: A small number of subantarctic islands. Because of the paucity of land masses in the Southern Ocean , the islands host a wide variety of species and are critical to conservation . In the cold subantarctic climate, plants are mainly limited to grasses, mosses , and kelp , while lichens are the most visible fungi . The main indigenous animals are insects (such as the seaweed-eating weevil Palirhoeus eatoni ) along with large populations of seabirds , seals and penguins . The islands have been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International for their significant seabird breeding populations. At least thirty different species of birds are thought to breed on

414-535: Is a melting pot where related Antarctic and subantarctic species and subspecies co-exist, for example the following can all be found here: the sooty albatrosses ( Phoebetria fusca ), light-mantled albatross ( Phoebetria palpebrata ) , northern giant petrel ( Macronectes halli ), southern giant petrel ( Macronectes giganteus ), Antarctic fur seal ( Arctophoca gazella ) and subantarctic fur seal ( Arctophoca tropicalis ) on Prince Edward, Crozet and Heard Islands. Vulnerable or endangered birds include three endemics,

460-589: Is about 955  nmi (1,769 km; 1,099 mi) south-east of Port Elizabeth in mainland South Africa. At 46 degrees latitude, its distance to the equator is only slightly longer than to the South Pole . Marion Island ( 46°54′45″S 37°44′37″E  /  46.91250°S 37.74361°E  / -46.91250; 37.74361  ( Marion Island ) ), the larger of the two, is 25.03 km (15.55 mi) long and 16.65 km (10.35 mi) wide with an area of 297 km (115 sq mi) and

506-447: Is much smaller—only 46 km (18 sq mi), 10.23 km (6.36 mi) long and 6.57 km (4.08 mi) wide—and lies some 12 nmi (22.2 km; 13.8 mi) to the north-east of Marion Island. The terrain is generally rocky, with high cliffs (490 m (1,608 ft)) on its south western side. At the van Zinderen Bakker Peak north-west of the center, it reaches a height of 672 m (2,205 ft). There are

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552-522: Is thought their numbers are significantly down compared to the time of first human contact with the islands. The area saw heavy sealing and whaling operations in the nineteenth century and continued to be subject to mass illegal whaling until the 1970s, with the Soviet Union and Japan allegedly continuing whaling operations into the 1990s. Currently, the greatest ecological threat is the longline fishing of Patagonian toothfish , which endangers

598-770: The Antarctic tern , and the brown skua , among other seabirds. Four penguin species are found: king penguins , Eastern rockhoppers , gentoos and macaroni penguins . Three species of seal breed on the islands: the southern elephant seal , the Antarctic fur seal , and the Subantarctic fur seal . The waters surrounding the islands are often frequented by several species of whale, especially orcas , which prey on penguins and seals. Large whales such as southern rights and southern humpbacks , and leopard seals are seen more sporadically, and it remains unclear how large or stable their current local populations are, though it

644-613: The Antipodes Islands of New Zealand . Small numbers breed in the Maatsuyker Island Group of southern Tasmania . It disperses outside the breeding season, reaching eastern South America north to Brazil , southern Africa and Australia . It has occurred as a vagrant in Israel , Norway and Jordan . Fea's petrel ( P. feae ), Desertas petrel ( P. desertae ) and Zino's petrel ( P. madeira ) of

690-627: The South African National Antarctic Programme , launched a new astrophysical experiment on Marion Island called Probing Radio Intensity at high-Z from Marion ( PRIZM ), searching for signatures of the hydrogen line in the early universe. In 2018, another cosmology experiment was launched by the McGill team called Array of Long Baseline Antennas for Taking Radio Observation from Sub-Antarctic (ALBATROS). The new experiment aims to create very high-resolution maps of

736-457: The Vela incident , in the waters off the islands. There was and continues to be considerable controversy over whether this event was perhaps an undeclared nuclear test carried out by South Africa and Israel or some other event. The cause of the flash remains officially unknown, and some information about the event remains classified . Today, most independent researchers believe that the 1979 flash

782-654: The mallard duck , rabbits, reindeer, sheep and goats have damaged island ecosystems. Cats and mice are a particular problem as both prey on breeding seabird colonies. Another particular threat is the danger to diving seabirds caught by long-line fishing of the Patagonian toothfish ( Dissostichus eleginoides ) in the seas around the islands; gray-headed albatross and white-chinned petrel have been especially damaged by this industry as they habitually follow fishing boats. Prince Edward Islands The Prince Edward Islands are two small uninhabited volcanic islands in

828-674: The roaring forties , blow almost every day of the year, and the prevailing wind direction is north-westerly. Annual rainfall averages from 2,400 mm (94.5 in) up to over 3,000 mm (118.1 in) on Mascarin Peak. In spite of its very chilly climate it is located closer to the equator than mild northern hemisphere climates such as Paris and Seattle and only one degree farther south than fellow southern hemisphere climates such as Comodoro Rivadavia in Argentina and Alexandra in New Zealand . Many climates on lower latitudes in

874-559: The sub-Antarctic Indian Ocean that are administered by South Africa . They are named Marion Island (named after Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne , 1724–1772) and Prince Edward Island (named after Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn , 1767–1820). The islands in the group have been declared Special Nature Reserves under the South African Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act, No. 57 of 2003, and activities on

920-474: The 1920s. The islands have been the location of other shipwrecks. In June 1849 the brig Richard Dart , with a troop of Royal Engineers under Lt. James Liddell, was wrecked on Prince Edward Island; only 10 of the 63 on board survived to be rescued by elephant seal hunters from Cape Town. In 1908 the Norwegian vessel Solglimt was shipwrecked on Marion Island, and survivors established a short-lived village at

966-623: The Islands remain the second most wanted entity after North Korea , while on data they are sixth out of 340. Pterodroma mollis The soft-plumaged petrel ( Pterodroma mollis ) is a species of seabird in the family Procellariidae . It breeds on islands in the Southern Hemisphere , nesting on Tristan da Cunha , Gough Island , the Prince Edward Islands , Crozet Islands , Macquarie Island , and on

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1012-544: The Kerguelen cabbage ( Pringlea antiscorbutica ), historically a source of vitamin C for sailors, is found on all the islands, not only the Kerguelens. There are also a number of endemic lichens and liverworts . The islands are home to birds and insects such as butterflies , moths , weevils , and spiders as well as wildlife typical of the southern oceans such as penguins , seals and seabirds. This ecoregion

1058-464: The North Atlantic were formerly treated as subspecies of this bird. The soft-plumaged petrel is a medium-sized petrel. Its plumage is dark grey and white, and its wings are narrow and with a pointed tail distinct in flight. It has a dark grey head with prominent white feathers on the cheeks and throat. There is a white speckling on forehead along with a prominent dark eye patch. Its underside

1104-463: The Northern hemisphere have far colder winters than Prince Edward Islands due to the islands' maritime moderation, even though temperatures in summer are much cooler than those normally found in maritime climates. The islands are among the cloudiest places in the world; about 1300 hours a year of sunshine occur on the sheltered eastern side of Marion Island, but only around 800 hours occur away from

1150-644: The Prince Edward Islands, followed by the Crozet Islands which have breeding colonies of all six species of albatross as well as more than half the world's population of king penguins ( Aptenodytes patagonicus ). All six Antarctic seals can be found here, the two fur seals, leopard seal ( Hydrurga leptonyx ), Weddell seal ( Leptonychotes weddellii ), southern elephant seal ( Mirounga leonina ), and crabeater seal ( Lobodon carcinophagus )). The fur seals and southern elephant seal breed in

1196-414: The biology of the islands, in particular the birds ( penguins , petrels , albatrosses , gulls ) and seals . A new research base was built from 2001 to 2011 to replace older buildings on the site. The access to the station is either by boat or helicopter. A helipad and storage hangar is located behind the main base structure. In April 2017, scientists from McGill University , in collaboration with

1242-622: The coast on the wet western sides of Marion and Prince Edward Islands. Summer and winter have fairly similar climates with cold winds and threat of snow or frost at any time of the year. However, the mean temperature in February (midsummer) is 7.7 °C (45.9 °F) and in August (midwinter) it is 3.9 °C (39.0 °F). The islands are part of the Southern Indian Ocean Islands tundra ecoregion that includes

1288-600: The duck, Eaton’s pintail ( Anas eatoni ), the large wandering albatross ( Diomedea exulans ) and Kerguelen tern ( Sterna virgata ) as well as a number of albatrosses (the two sooty albatrosses, Indian yellow-nosed albatross ( Thalassarche carteri ) (the smallest of the mollymawk albatrosses), the large gray-headed albatross ( Thalassarche chrysostoma ), and black-browed albatross ( Thalassarche melanophrys )), three penguins (western rockhopper penguin ( Eudyptes chrysocome ), macaroni penguin ( Eudyptes chrysolophus ) and gentoo penguin ( Pygoscelis papua ) (the one with

1334-515: The electoral district containing the Port of Cape Town ; as of 2016 this is ward 115 of the City of Cape Town . As of 2014 , Marion Island, prefix ZS8, was the third most wanted DXCC "entity" by the amateur radio community. By the end of 2014, it had dropped to 27th, after simultaneous activity by three licencees in the 2013/2014 team. However, their activity was mainly on voice. On Morse telegraphy,

1380-469: The island, feeding on burrowing petrels in addition to mice, and taking an estimated 455,000 petrels a year. Some species of petrels soon disappeared from Marion Island, and a cat eradication programme was established. A few cats were intentionally infected with the highly specific feline panleukopenia virus, which reduced the cat population to about 600 by 1982. The remaining cats were killed by nocturnal shooting, and in 1991 only eight cats were trapped in

1426-430: The islands Terre de l'Espérance (Marion) and Ile de la Caverne (Prince Edward). After failing to land, Le Mascarin continued eastward, discovering the Crozet Islands and landing at New Zealand , where Marion du Fresne and some of his crew were killed by local Māoris. Julien Crozet, navigator and second in command of Le Mascarin , survived the disaster, and happened to meet James Cook at Cape Town in 1776, at

Southern Indian Ocean Islands tundra - Misplaced Pages Continue

1472-503: The islands are therefore restricted to research and conservation management. Further protection was granted when the area was declared a marine protected area in 2013. The only human inhabitants of the islands are the staff of a meteorological and biological research station run by the South African National Antarctic Programme on Marion Island. Barent Barentszoon Lam of the Dutch East India Company reached

1518-527: The islands more strategically important, and as no further economic activity was taking place, the UK was concerned other countries might claim the islands. In late 1947 and early 1948, South Africa, with Britain's agreement, annexed the islands and installed the meteorological station on Transvaal Cove on the north-east coast of Marion Island. On 22 September 1979, a US surveillance satellite known as Vela 6911 noted an unidentified double flash of light, known as

1564-533: The islands on 4 March 1663 on the ship Maerseveen . They were named Dina (Prince Edward) and Maerseveen (Marion), but the islands were erroneously recorded to be at 41° South, and neither were found again by subsequent Dutch sailors. In January 1772, the French frigate Le Mascarin , captained by Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne , visited the islands and spent five days trying to land, thinking they had found Antarctica (then not yet proven to exist). Marion named

1610-443: The islands, and it is estimated the islands support upwards of 5 million breeding seabirds, and 8 million seabirds total. Five species of albatross (of which all are either threatened or endangered ) are known to breed on the islands, including the wandering albatross , dark-mantled , light-mantled , Indian yellow-nosed and grey-headed albatross . The islands also host fourteen species of petrel , four species of prion ,

1656-496: The local fur seal populations had been nearly eradicated. The first scientific expedition to the islands was led by James Clark Ross , who visited in 1840 during his exploration of the Antarctic, but was unable to land. Ross sailed along the islands on 21 April 1840. He made observations on vast numbers of penguins ("groups of many thousands each"), and other kinds of sea-birds. He also saw fur seals , which he supposed to be of

1702-558: The low-frequency radio emission from the universe, and take first steps towards detecting the cosmological Dark Ages . In April 2024, the South African National Antarctic Programme station on Marion Island was depicted in an ad for KFC South Africa directed by Kim Geldunhuys, Beyond the Sea, which depicted two hungry South Africans determined to get home for some fried chicken. The island group

1748-610: The north coast, before being rescued. The wreck of the Solglimt is the best-known in the islands, and is accessible to divers. The British government never officially claimed ownership of the islands, however it did manage economic activities on the islands in the early 20th century. In 1908, the British government granted a guano lease on Marion Island. Following the Second World War, technological advancements made

1794-463: The onset of Cook's third voyage . Crozet shared the charts of his ill-fated expedition, and as Cook sailed from Cape Town, he passed the islands on 13 December, but was unable to attempt a landing due to bad weather. Cook named the islands after Prince Edward , the fourth son of King George III ; and though he is also often credited with naming the larger island Marion, after Captain Marion, this name

1840-598: The region, and are increasing in numbers now that seal-hunting has stopped, while large numbers of leopard seals winter on the rocks of Heard Island. The colony of southern elephant seals on Heard Island and the Kerguelens is one of the three largest in the world. These isolated islands are relatively unspoilt but their wildlife is not very varied and therefore can be quickly damaged by any human activity and particularly by introduced species of both plants and animals. For example, introduced grasses have taken over areas of some islands, while alien animals including moths, salmon ,

1886-406: The sea floor to the top of Mascarin Peak. The volcano is active, with eruptions having occurred between 1980 and 2004. Despite being located inside the south temperate zone at 46 degrees latitude, the islands have a tundra climate . They lie directly in the path of eastward-moving depressions all year round and this gives them an unusually cool and windy climate. Strong regional winds, known as

Southern Indian Ocean Islands tundra - Misplaced Pages Continue

1932-578: The species Arctocephalus falklandicus . The islands were finally surveyed during the Challenger Expedition , led by Captain George Nares , in 1873. The sealing era lasted from 1799 to 1913. During that period visits by 103 vessels are recorded, seven of which ended in shipwreck. Sealing relics include iron trypots , the ruins of huts and inscriptions. The occasional modern sealing vessel visited from Cape Town , South Africa , in

1978-1018: The white stripe across its head)), and a number of petrels (the two giant petrels, grey petrel ( Procellaria cinerea ) and white-chinned petrel ( Procellaria aequinoctialis )). Other breeding birds include the land-based black-faced sheathbill and many seabirds brown skua , kelp gull ( Larus dominicanus ), fulmar prion ( Pachyptila crassirostris ), Antarctic prion ( Pachyptila desolata ), slender-billed prion ( Pachyptila belcheri ), fairy prion ( Pachyptila turtur ), Antarctic tern ( Sterna vittata ), Cape petrel ( Daption capense ), black-bellied storm petrel ( Fregetta tropica ), grey-backed storm petrel ( Garrodia nereis ), blue petrel ( Halobaena caerulea ), Wilson’s storm-petrel ( Oceanites oceanicus ), common diving petrel ( Pelecanoides urinatrix ), South Georgian diving-petrel ( Pelecanoides georgicus ), great-winged petrel , white-headed petrel ( Pterodroma lessonii ) and soft-plumaged petrel ( Pterodroma mollis ). The largest seabird colonies are on

2024-590: Was adopted by sealers and whalers who later hunted the area, to distinguish the two islands. The first recorded landing on the islands was in 1799 by a group of French seal hunters of the Sally . Another landing in late 1803 by a group of seal hunters led by American captain Henry Fanning of the Catharine found signs of earlier human occupation. The islands were frequented by sealers until about 1810, when

2070-508: Was caused by a nuclear explosion. In 2003, the South African government declared the Prince Edward Islands a Special Nature Reserve, and in 2013 declared 180,000 km (69,000 sq mi) of ocean waters around the islands a Marine Protection Area, thus creating one of the world's largest environmental protection areas. The 1948 research station on Marion Island was soon enlarged and today studies regional meteorology and

2116-572: Was completed in May 2015, led by noted invasive species ecologist John Parkes, with the general conclusion that an eradication programme is feasible, but will require precise planning. Both Gough Island and the Prince Edward Islands also suffer from invasive procumbent pearlwort ( Sagina procumbens ), which is transforming the upland ecosystem and is now considered beyond control. Marion Island and Prince Edward Island were claimed for South Africa on 29 December 1947 and 4 January 1948 respectively, by

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