Obscure Islands

[Racoon]

Do far off and obscure islands fascinate you?

 

I have a big map of the world posted on the wall in my bedroom... and I am very curious about the Islands that rarely ever get mentioned.

 

And I was interested to see if people knew anyhing about some of these oft-looked Islands..?? Many Islands seem to 'float' in anonimity.

 

They usually have protectorates. Are they inhabited? Do they have resources? are they just chunks of rock? What do we know?

 

To name a few....

 

Prince Edwards Islands (S. Africa)

 

Svalbard Islands( Norway )

 

Kerguelan Islands( France)

 

Coetivy Island

 

St. Helena ( UK.)

 

Macquarie Island ( Australia)

 

These far off exotic/arctic islands are pieces of the earths land mass that get seldom discussed..

 

Besides the the hot island destinations that most people are aware of, ie Bahamas, Hawaii, et all...

 

Are there any islands that seem noteworthy or in need of exploration??

Do a few indigenous or occupying people inhabit them and are for the most part silent voices of modern humanity?

 

The best Island I ever visited was Margarita Island off Venezuela.. a beautiful Carribean Isle, but fairly well known... a center of commerce..

[Racoon]

The Crozet Islands (French: Îles Crozet; or, officially, Archipel Crozet) are a sub-antarctic archipelago of small islands in the southern Indian Ocean. They form one of the five administrative districts of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands.

 

 

The Crozet Islands were first discovered by the expedition of Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne, a French explorer, who landed on January 24, 1772 on Île de la Possession, claiming the archipelago for France. He named the islands after his second-in-command Jules Crozet (He had already named Marion Island after himself).

 

In the early 19th century, the islands were often visited by sealers, to the extent that the seals had been nearly exterminated by 1835. Subsequently, whaling was the main activity around the islands, especially by the whalers from Massachusetts.

 

Crozet Islands - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Ganoderma]

very interested, but admittedly very ignorant as well.

 

learn me somethin new, please :D

[TheBigDog]

When writing the Space Voyage initial posts I spent some time looking for islands near the equator that would make good launch points. In the story I was going to purchase one of the islands and have the headquarters located there. I found plenty of islands, but none that appealed to me and my imagination, so I scrapped the idea. However...

 

Use Google Earth and fly over the oceans and you will find many small islands. Then you can link to them on the web and find very interesting history. I will link some later if I remember.

 

Bill

[Racoon]

Kangaroo Island sounds like a nice place to visit..

 

 

Kangaroo Island was separated from mainland Australia by a rise in sea level about 9,000 years ago. Stone tools found suggest that Aboriginal people occupied the land at least 11,000 years ago; it is supposed that they disappeared in 200 BC. Theories about the cause include disease and inbreeding, warfare, climatic change or exodus.

 

In 1802 British explorer Matthew Flinders named the land "Kanguroo" Island, after landing near Kangaroo Head on the north coast of Dudley Peninsula. He was closely followed by the French explorer Nicolas Baudin, who mapped much of the island (which is why so many areas have French names). Although the French and the English were at war at the time, the men met peacefully. They both used the fresh water seeping at what is now known as Hog Bay near Frenchman's Rock; the community is now called Penneshaw.

 

 

Kangaroo Island - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[TonyH]

Islands are wonderful. One mentioned by Racoon - Macquarie Island - has been the subject of some controversy here in Australia recently. Macquarie is one of the larger subantarctic islands, a possession of Australia, and is world heritage listed. It's an important breeding site for many seabirds (penguins, albatrosses and petrels) and seals. It has recently been devastated (no exaggeration, it appears) by an explosion in the population of rabbits, introduced to the island many years ago by sealers. This may have been triggered by the elimination of cats from the island (as a seabird conservation measure). However, there has been much criticsim of the management of this jewel of an island by the relevant conservation authorities here, who have been squabbling about whose responsibility it is (State government or Federal government) and while the bureaucrats have bickered the rabbits have prospered, eating the island virtually bare. It may take decades to recover. A sad tale.

[Racoon]

I loved the book Robinson Crusoe! I read it in a single night as it was so gripping to me..

Theres an Island off Chile that is named after the famed book as it was also the source of inspiration for DeFoe's grand tale.

 

Places like this make me want to go exploring...

 

Robinson Crusoe Island (in Spanish: Isla Robinsón Crusoe), formerly known as Más a Tierra (Closer to land), is the largest island of the Chilean-controlled Juan Fernández archipelago, situated 674 kilometres west of South America in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago is made up of three islands, Robinson Crusoe, Alejandro Selkirk and the small Santa Clara.

 

 

It was here that the sailor Alexander Selkirk was marooned in 1705 and lived in absolute solitude for four years and four months. The sailor inspired Daniel Defoe to write the classic novel, Robinson Crusoe. To reflect the literary lore associated with the island, the Chilean government named the location Robinson Crusoe Island in 1966.

 

Since 1977, these islands, World Biosphere Reserves, have been considered of maximum scientific importance because of the endemic species of flora and fauna (101 of the 146 native species of plants are endemic). The red hummingbird is most famous for its needle-fine black beak and silken feather coverage.

 

Robinson Crusoe has a population of only 500-600 inhabitants living in the village of San Juan Bautista. Although the community maintains a rustic serenity dependent on the spiny lobster trade, residents employ a few vehicles, a satellite internet connection, and many television sets.

 

 

 

[Racoon]

the Bonin Islands - the Galapagos of the Orient.

You may of heard about the battle of Iwo Jima..

 

Bonin Islands - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Japan's Ministry of the Environment and Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries have entered the Ogasawara Islands as a candidate World Heritage Site on the premise that the islands meet the three listing criteria for geology, ecosystems, and biodiversity.[9]

 

The giant squid (genus Architeuthis) was filmed off the Ogasawara Islands for the first time in the wild on September 27, 2005, and was captured in December of 2006.

 

The Ogasawara Islands (小笠原諸島, Ogasawara Shotō?) are an archipelago of over 30 subtropical and tropical islands, some 1,000 km directly south of Tokyo, Japan. Administratively, they form one of the villages of Tokyo. The islands are also known as the Bonin Islands. The total area of the islands is 84 km².

 

http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/world/A0808257.html

 

The principal products are timber and fruit, such as bananas and pineapples. The majority of the inhabitants are Japanese; there are some Koreans and Taiwanese. The islands were claimed by Japan from the British in 1875 and placed under the Tokyo prefecture in 1880. In World War II the islands formed a major Japanese military stronghold until they were occupied by the U.S. navy in 1945. The islands were administered by the U.S. military until 1968, when they were returned to Japan.

 

 

[Jet2]

I was born on Cheung Chau Islands which is located at the southwest of Hong Kong Islands.

 

Cheung Chau used to be two very small islands and they were linked up by the sand and became a tombolo very long time ago.

 

I love this peaceful little islands very very much and I hope you can have opportunity to pay it a visit if ever you go to Hong Kong. It just takes less than an hour ferry to get there from Central HK.

 

(Please help to delete this double reply Moderator. And yet I tried to embed a Google Map here but failed. Any tips?)

[Jet2]

I was born on Cheung Chau Islands which is located at the southwest of Hong Kong Islands.

 

Cheung Chau used to be two very small islands and they were linked up by the sand and became a tombolo very long time ago.

 

I love this peaceful little islands very very much and I hope you can have opportunity to pay it a visit if ever you go to Hong Kong. It just takes less than an hour ferry to get there from Central HK.

 

Google Maps

[Racoon]

I was born on Cheung Chau Islands which is located at the southwest of Hong Kong Islands.

 

Cheung Chau used to be two very small islands and they were linked up by the sand and became a tombolo very long time ago.

 

I love this peaceful little islands very very much and I hope you can have opportunity to pay it a visit if ever you go to Hong Kong. It just takes less than an hour ferry to get there from Central HK.

 

?)

 

Very cool Jet2! :confused:

Looks like a bustling and busy little island!but But pretty and tropical. Thats awesome!

Theres something very romantic about a small trpical island. I know I loved Margarita Island when on vacation...

 

You must have some very happy memories from there. :)

 

Cheung Chau - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

 

[Jet2]

I lived there more than 20 years before I moved to HK Islands and then now Shanghai China.

 

Yes, many happy memories there.

Cheung Chau has no vehicle and is surrounded by water so the air is very fresh and living there is particularly quiet, well unless we have typhoon.

 

The most famous thing happen on the islands would be The Bun Festival and you can read more here:

Cheung Chau Bun Festival Home Page

[Racoon]

I buck the trend and stereotype of Americans not being good at geography.

 

Kapingamarangi :)

 

 

Kapingamarangi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kapingamarangi is an atoll and a municipality in the state of Pohnpei of the Federated States of Micronesia. It is by far the most southerly atoll or island of the country and of Micronesia and of the Caroline Islands, 300 km south of the next southerly atoll, Nukuoro, and 740 km southwest of the main island of Pohnpei state. Kapingamarangi has a population of about 500 (as of 2007). Their language is Polynesian. The main industry is fishing.

 

The total area of the atoll, including the lagoon, is 74 km². Out of this, 1.1 km² is land area, spread over 30 wooded islets on the eastern side of the atoll. The western reef rim of the atoll is almost submerged at high water. Touhou Island, which reaches a height 35 meters and is connected to Veilua Island (Ueru Island) in the north by a causeway, is the capital of the municipality, the center of population and the home of a native chief. Most of the population resides on these two islets, plus on Taringa (south of Touhou), although many of the remaining islets are used for growing fruit and vegetables.

 

The Kapingamarangans refer to themselves as "Kirinese" and are known for their handicrafts, with the men carving and the women weaving. They typically carve various trinkets out of the flesh of an ivory nut. They are also well known for their shark carvings, wall hangings, mobiles, woven mats, shell jewelry and turtle-shaped ukuleles

 

More Than a Living (Michael Lieber) - book review

 

Kapingamarangi atoll is among the most extreme environments on Earth. It sits at the top of a kilometre high sea mountain in the middle of the Pacific, is almost five hundred kilometres from the next island, and has a total surface area of just .42 square miles; you can't get much closer to the ocean than that!

 

 

[Mercedes Benzene]

I buck the trend and stereotype of Americans not being good at geography.

I would also like argue that we are quite good at geography.:)

 

YouTube - Jacob's Geography Quiz http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHJ31InGLY8

 

 

Anyway, sometimes I like to look at islands for sale (just for fun!). They may not all be obscure, but they are still fascinating!

Islands for Sale, Real Estate, Private Islands

[Michaelangelica]

Tasmania is a nice little Island with a Mediterranean Climate.

There is no fruit fly or termites there (paradise).

 

The Botanic Gardens have a "cold room" with vegetation from Macquarie Island.

A lot of Antartic ships leave from and supply thmselves from Hobart. The capital city. The population is very small. there are stacks of litle islands around it as there are arround all of Australia.(The largest Island on Earth)

 

The Pacific islands have always fascinated me (Most 'dicovered" by Cook). A cruse around some of them would be fascinating

 

The Whitsundays in Queensland is the place to go if you like sailing and scuba diving.

[Turtle]

This obscure gem is now completely protected. The stand of virgin Western Red Cedar is estimated to have grown on the island for the past 4,000 years, and it contains living trees at least 1,000 years old. Bring your own boat. :eek2:

 

Long Island in Willapa Bay (photo)

 

Long Island in Willapa Bay home to ancient cedars and protected wildlife

... Long Island, in Willapa Bay, is the largest island in a Pacific Coast estuary. It is home to a variety of environments and their inhabitants, and hidden away in the middle of the island is one of the Northwest's best-kept secrets -- the ancient cedar grove. The island was also the stuff of dreams eventually abandoned by early settlers; it was worked by loggers, and now as a result of major land-for-timber exchanges it is to be left alone to revert to its natural state. ...

[Racoon]

I hadn't actually heard of Bioko before. :)

 

Bioko - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

The island has a population of 130,000 inhabitants most of whom belong to the Bubi tribe. The rest of the population are Fernandinos, Spaniards and immigrants from Rio Muni, Nigeria and Cameroon.

 

History

The island was inhabited in the middle of the first millennium C.E. by Bantu tribes from the mainland which formed the ethnic group Bubi. The first European discovery of the island was made in 1472, by the Portuguese navigator Fernão do Pó. It was at first named Formosa Flora ('Beautiful Flower'), but in 1494 was renamed for its discoverer (Fernando Pó or Fernando Poo). Unlike other islands in the area, Bioko had an indigenous (African) population. Still a distinct ethnic group on the island today, these indigenous people, the Bubi, speak a Bantu language; the island was probably inhabited by this or other Bantu-speaking groups since before the 7th century BC

 

Malabo is the capital city of Equatorial Guinea and the largest city on the island. The island is mostly covered by tropical rainforest.

 

 

Bioko Island conservation

 

Bioko Island, the largest of the Gulf of Guinea Islands, has a surprising variety of native monkeys: four species of guenons ("cercopithecine monkeys"), two species of colobus, and the drill, a large baboon-like monkey that is now considered to be the most endangered primate in all of Africa. Until recently, the island's steep, volcanic terrain, high rainfall and low human population have combined to protect these monkeys and their undisturbed forest habitat from many of the conditions that now threaten wildlife in other African forests.

 

In the last fifteen years, Bioko Island, like much of the rest of West and Central Africa, has developed an unsustainable commercial bushmeat trade, where forest animals are hunted to be sold as a delicacy in city markets.

 

 

Science and Technology Newsletter :: October 2005