| Gough and Inaccessible Islands* | |
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| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
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| State Party |  United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland |
| Type | Natural |
| Criteria | vii, x |
| Reference | 740 |
| Region† | Europe |
| Inscription history | |
| Inscription | 1995 (19th Session) |
| Extensions | 2004 |
| * Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. † Region as classified by UNESCO. |
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Gough Island (also known historically as Diego Alvarez) is a volcanic island rising from the South Atlantic Ocean to heights of over 900 metres (2950 ft) above sea level with an area of 26 square miles. It is a dependency of Tristan da Cunha, which in turn is a dependency of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena. It is uninhabited except for the crew of a weather station which the South African National Antarctic Programme has maintained continually on the island since 1956. It is one of the most remote places with a constant human presence.
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Geography and geology
Gough Island is located at Coordinates: . Topographic features include the highest Peak, Edinburgh Peak, Hags Tooth, Mount Rowett, Sea Elephant Bay, Quest Bay, and Hawkins Bay. It includes small satellite islands and rocks such as Southwest Island, Saddle Island (South), Tristiana Rock, Isolda Rock (West), Round Island, Cone Island, Lot's Wife, Church Rock (North), Penguin Island (Northeast), and The Admirals (East). It is a remote and lonely place, about 400 km (220 mi) southeast of the other islands in the Tristan da Cunha group, 2700 km (1700 mi) from Cape Town, and over 3200 km (2000 mi) from the nearest point of South America.
History
Gough Island was discovered in 1505 or 1506 by the Portuguese seaman Gonçalo Álvarez and named for him, however by map misspelling became known as Diego Alvarez Island instead. According to some historians the English merchant Anthony de la Roché was the first to land on the island, in April 1675.[1] The island got its present name in association with Charles Gough, who reputedly rediscovered it in 1731.
Wildlife
Gough and Inaccessible Island are a protected wildlife reserve, which has been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It has been described as one of the least disrupted ecosystems of its kind and one of the best shelters for nesting seabirds in the Atlantic. In particular, it is host to almost the entire world population of the Tristan albatross (Diomedea dabbenena) and the Atlantic Petrel (Pterodroma incerta).[2] However, this status is now in doubt as in April 2007 researchers published evidence that predation by introduced house mice on seabird chicks is occurring at levels that might drive the Tristan albatross and the Atlantic Petrel to extinction [3] The RSPB has since been awarded £62,000 by the UK government's Overseas Territories Environment Programme to fund additional research on the Gough Island mice and a feasibility study of how best to deal with them. The grant will also pay for the assessment of a rat problem on Tristan da Cunha island.
References
- ^ Wace, N.M. (1969). The discovery, exploitation and settlement of the Tristan da Cunha Islands. Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia (South Australian Branch) 10: 11-40.
- ^ Cuthbert, J. & Sommer, E. Population size and trends of four globally threatened seabirds at Gough Island, South Atlantic Ocean. Marine Ornithology 32: 97–103.
- ^ R M Wanless, A Angel, R J Cuthbert, G M Hilton and P G Ryan (2007). "Can predation by invasive mice drive seabird extinctions?" 3 (3): 241-244. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2007.0120.
External links
- Wiki site for Southern Ocean Islands and Antarctica
- Gough Island on GlobalGuide
- map of Gough Island, with PDF downloadable
- The South Atlantic and Subantarctic Islands: Gough Island
- South African weather station on Gough Island
- Gough Island Wildlife Reserve
- Metre-high seabird chicks being eaten alive by mice
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| Tristan da Cunha | Inaccessible Island | Nightingale Islands (Nightingale Island | Middle Island | Stoltenhoff Island) | Gough Island | |
