Langara Island

Langara Island is the northernmost Island of the Queen Charlotte Islands in British Columbia, Canada. The island is approximately 8080 acres (3105 hectares) in size. It is located approximately 45 kilometers south of Alaska.

History

Little is known about its history. It is named after Spanish naval commander Juan de Lángara. During Lángara's period at the head of the Spanish navy, Spanish explorers were charting the coast of what is now British Columbia, and, in their charts, named some land formations after him.

Juan José Pérez Hernández was the first European to sight, examine, name, and record these islands. His frigate was the "Santiago", which was manned mostly by Mexicans. In July 1774, he briefly met a group of Haida off the northwestern tip of Langara Island.

It is one of the largest island from which Norway rats have been eradicated. The eradication campaign for "R. norvegicus" was begun in July 1995 using anti-coagulant bait and the island was declared free of rats in May 1997 (Kaiser et al. 1997).

References

* http://www.issg.org/database/reference/Invasive_strategy_and_species.pdf
* Kaiser, G.W.; Taylor, R.H.; Buck, P.D.; Elliott, J.E.; Howald, G.R.; Drever, M.C. 1997. The Langara Island Seabird Habitat Recovery Project: Eradication of Norway Rats – 1993–1997. Technical Report Series No. 304, Canadian Wildlife Service, Pacific and Yukon Region, British Columbia.