Disappointment Island

Disappointment Iceland (English as' island of disappointment " ) is the fourth largest island belonging to New Zealand Auckland Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean.

Geography

Disappointment Iceland is located about 460 km south of the South Island of New Zealand and about 6 km west of Auckland Iceland, of these separated by a 73 meter deep passage. It is 3.5 km long, up to 1.7 km wide and has an area of ​​about 3 sq. km. The very rugged and hilly island is marked by steep coastal cliffs of basalt and reaches a height of 315 meters above the sea.

History

Like the entire archipelago Disappointment Iceland was discovered on August 18, 1806 for Europe. On 14 May 1866, the General Grant crashed on the west coast of Auckland Iceland. 15 survivors made ​​it to Disappointment Iceland and were saved only 18 months later. On March 7, 1907, the four-masted barque Dundonald was on the west coast of the island and sank. The 16 survivors had to endure to the rescue on the island seven months.

Flora and Fauna

The island is - next to Adams Iceland - one of the last refuges of the already held to be extinct until 1966 and rediscovered endemic Aucklandralle ( Lewinia muelleri ). The island is also known for numerous seabirds, among others lives on it with about 72,000 pairs of almost the entire world population of Thalassarche cauta steadi, a subspecies of the Weißkappenalbatros ( Thalassarche cauta ).