Starbuck Island

Starbuck Island, also known as Volunteer Island, is an uninhabited coral atoll in the central Pacific Ocean, part of the Central Line Islands belonging to Kiribati. Former names include "Barren Island", "Coral Queen Island", "Hero Island", "Low Island" or "Starve Island".

Geography, flora and fauna

Located at coord|5|37|S|155|56|W|display=inline,title, and measuring 8.9 km east-to-west and 3.5 km north-to-south, Starbuck Island has a land area of 1,620 hectares. [http://www.unep-wcmc.org/sites/wetlands/starbuck.htm. Retrieved on 7 July 2008.] It is a low, dry, coral limestone island with a steep beach backed by a 6-8 meter high bank composed of large coral fragments. Several highly saline lagoons form on the islands eastern side. These occasionally dry up, and are said to be dangerous to approach: one worker during the island's guano-mining days sank up to his neck in salty mud before being rescued. [http://www.janeresture.com/kiribati_line/starbuck.htm. Retrieved on 7 July 2008.]

There is no fresh water on the island, which is one of the drier atolls in the Line Island group. Annual yearly rainfall averages approximately 800 mm. [http://www.unep-wcmc.org/sites/wetlands/starbuck.htm. Retrieved on 7 July 2008.]

Little vegetation exists on Starbuck; stunted "Sida fallax" scrub and low herbs and grasses predominate, with a few "Cordia subcordata" bushes and bunchgrass rounding out the flora. Recent photos showed a few palm trees growing near the center of the island. [http://www.theoceanadventure.com/NemoIE03/DAY18Nemo.html. Retrieved 10 July 2008.]

The island boasts a large colony of sooty terns, estimated at 1.5 million pairs, together with Polynesian rats, feral cats, green turtles, and around fifteen other species of seabirds. [http://www.unep-wcmc.org/sites/wetlands/starbuck.htm. Retrieved on 7 July 2008.] Other accounts estimate the sooty tern population to be as high as three to six million birds. [http://www.nationalgeographic.com/wildworld/profiles/terrestrial/oc/oc0102.html. Retrieved on 10 July 2008.]

A color photo of Starbuck Island's surface may be seen [http://www.flickr.com/photos/evsmap/2047412554/sizes/o/ here] . Additional photos may be seen [http://www.theoceanadventure.com/NemoIE03/DAY18Nemo.html here] .

History

Starbuck Island was first sighted in 1823 by Valentine Starbuck, American-born master of the British whaling ship "L'Aigle" [Bryan, p. 128] . However it had probably been sighted previously that same year by his cousin and fellow-whaler Capt. Obed Starbuck. [Dunmore, pp. 237-8] It was claimed by the United States under the 1856 Guano Act, but controlled by Britain after 1866, when possession was taken by Commodore Swinburn of HMS "Mutine". Starbuck Island was mined for phosphate between 1870 and 1893. Because of its low profile (at its highest point, the island rises to about 5 meters) and the dangerous surrounding reefs, a number of ships were wrecked at Starbuck Island in the late 1800s, including the French transport "Euryale" on March 10, 1870.

The island formed a part of the British Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony prior to the independence of Kiribati in 1979. American claims to the atoll were formally vacated in the Treaty of Tarawa, signed that same year.

Starbuck Island has been designated a protected area by the United Nations. It is occasionally visited by yachters and scientists.

Notes

References

* Bryan, Jr., Edwin H. (1942); "American Polynesia and the Hawaiian Chain", Honolulu, Hawaii: Tongg Publishing Company
* Dunmore, John (1992); "Who's Who in Pacific Navigation", Australia:Melbourne University Press, ISBN 052284488X

External links

* [http://www.janeresture.com/kiribati_line/starbuck.htm Starbuck Island]