![Tristan Map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/Tristan_Map.png)
The Nightingale Islands are a group of three islands in the
South Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe and ...
, part of the
Tristan da Cunha
Tristan da Cunha (), colloquially Tristan, is a remote group of volcanic islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is the most remote inhabited archipelago in the world, lying approximately from Cape Town in South Africa, from Saint Helena ...
territory. They consist of
Nightingale Island
Nightingale Island is an active volcanic island in the South Atlantic Ocean, in area, part of the Tristan da Cunha group of islands. They are administered by the United Kingdom as part of the British overseas territory, overseas territory of Sai ...
,
Middle Island and
Stoltenhoff Island
Stoltenhoff Island is a small uninhabited island in the South Atlantic Ocean, part of the Nightingale Islands. It is the smallest of the Nightingale Islands, and is to the north west of Nightingale Island itself. They are governed as part of Tr ...
. The islands are administered by the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
as part of the
overseas territory
A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal.
In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...
of
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha is a British Overseas Territory located in the South Atlantic and consisting of the island of Saint Helena, Ascension Island and the archipelago of Tristan da Cunha including Gough Island. Its name wa ...
. The Nightingale Islands are uninhabited.
Nightingale Island is the smallest of the four main islands of the Tristan da Cunha Group, measuring only , and lies away from Tristan and from Inaccessible. Stoltenhoff and Alex (also known as Middle Island), are really two large islets rather than conventional islands.
Geology
Nightingale Island is the heavily eroded remnant of a volcano that was once much larger. The oldest
potassium–argon dating from the island is 18 ± 4
Ma. The youngest volcanic activity on the island is indirectly dated to 39,160 uncalibrated years BP by radiocarbon dates on peat overlain by volcanic tuff.
History
Originally named "Gebrooken (Broken) island" by the
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
under
Jan Jacobszoon in January 1656, they found no safe anchorage and did not make the first landing until 1696 (most likely by
Willem de Vlamingh
Willem Hesselsz de Vlamingh (November 1640 – ) was a Dutch sea captain who explored the central west coast of New Holland ( Australia) in the late 17th century, where he landed in what is now Perth on the Swan River. The mission proved fruit ...
in August of that year). Frenchman D'Etchevery also visited the island in September 1767. Nightingale was renamed after
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
captain
Gamaliel Nightingale
Captain Sir Gamaliel Nightingale, 9th Baronet (15 February 1731 – January 1791) was an English landowner and Royal Navy officer.
Early life and family
Sir Gamaliel was born at Kneesworth Hall, his family seat. He was the son of Sir Edward N ...
in 1760.
Jonathan Lambert temporarily changed the name to "Lovel Island" in his 1811 proclamation in the ''Boston Gazette'' but as with his other proposed changes (i.e. Tristan da Cunha Group to "Isles of Refreshment") the name did not last.
Wildlife
Nightingale, a tiny island, is home to more than three million pairs of seabirds at a density of around 1.3 pairs per square metre; almost the entire vegetated island is occupied. The
Nightingale Island finch
The Nightingale Island finch (''Nesospiza questi'') is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae (formerly in Emberizidae).
It is endemic to Nightingale Island of the Tristan da Cunha archipelago where its natural habitats are temperate shrubl ...
is found nowhere else in the world.
Important Bird Area
The Nightingale Islands group has been recognised internationally as part of the Tristan da Cunha
Endemic Bird Area An Endemic Bird Area (EBA) is an area of land identified by BirdLife International as being important for habitat-based bird conservation because it contains the habitats of restricted-range bird species (''see below for definition''), which are the ...
(EBA). It has also been identified as an
Important Bird Area
An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations.
IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...
(IBA) by
BirdLife International
BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...
as a breeding site for
seabird
Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same enviro ...
s and its endemic landbirds. Birds for which the IBA is significant include
northern rockhopper penguin
The northern rockhopper penguin, Moseley's rockhopper penguin, or Moseley's penguin (''Eudyptes moseleyi'') is a penguin species native to the southern Indian and Atlantic Oceans. It is described as distinct from the southern rockhopper penguin.
...
s (up to 125,000 breeding pairs),
sooty albatross
The sooty albatross, dark-mantled sooty albatross or dark-mantled albatross,BirdLife International (2008b) (''Phoebetria fusca''), is a species of bird in the albatross family. They breed on sub-Antarctic islands and range at sea across the S ...
es (up to 250 pairs),
Atlantic yellow-nosed albatross
The Atlantic yellow-nosed albatross (''Thalassarche chlororhynchos'') is a large seabird in the albatross family Diomedeidae.
This small mollymawk was once considered conspecific with the Indian yellow-nosed albatross and known as the yellow-no ...
es (5000 pairs),
broad-billed prion
The broad-billed prion (''Pachyptila vittata'') is a small pelagic seabird in the shearwater and petrel family, Procellariidae. It is the largest prion, with grey upperparts plumage, and white underparts. The sexes are alike. It ranges from the ...
s (10,000 pairs),
soft-plumaged petrel
The soft-plumaged petrel (''Pterodroma mollis'') is a species of seabird in the family Procellariidae.
Distribution
It breeds on islands in the Southern Hemisphere, nesting on Tristan da Cunha, Gough Island, the Prince Edward Islands, Crozet ...
s (up to 1000 pairs),
great shearwater
The great shearwater (''Ardenna gravis'') is a large shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. It breeds colonially on rocky islands in the south Atlantic. Outside the breeding season it ranges widely in the Atlantic.
Taxonomy
The great s ...
s (up to 3 million pairs),
white-faced storm petrel
The white-faced storm petrel (''Pelagodroma marina''), also known as white-faced petrel is a small seabird of the austral storm petrel family Oceanitidae. It is the only member of the monotypic genus ''Pelagodroma''.
Description
The white-faced ...
s (10,000 pairs),
white-bellied storm petrel
The white-bellied storm petrel (''Fregetta grallaria'') is a species of seabird in the family Oceanitidae. It is found in Angola, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, French Polynesia, French Southern Territories, Maldives, Namibia, New ...
s (1000 pairs),
Antarctic tern
The Antarctic tern (''Sterna vittata'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. It ranges throughout the southern oceans and is found on small islands around Antarctica as well as on the shores of the mainland. Its diet consists primarily of small fis ...
s (up to 400 pairs),
southern skua
The brown skua (''Stercorarius antarcticus''), also known as the Antarctic skua, subantarctic skua, southern great skua, southern skua, or hākoakoa (Māori language, Māori), is a large seabird that breeds in the subantarctic and Antarctic zones ...
s (up to 500 pairs),
Tristan thrush
The Tristan thrush (''Turdus eremita''), also known as the starchy,Hince (2000). is a species of bird in the thrush family that is endemic to the British overseas territories of the isolated Tristan da Cunha archipelago in the South Atlantic Oc ...
es,
Wilkins's buntings and
Nightingale buntings.
The nearby islands of
Gough and
Inaccessible Island
Inaccessible Island is a volcanic island located in the South Atlantic Ocean, south-west of Tristan da Cunha. Its highest point, Cairn Peak, reaches , and the island is in area. The volcano was last active six million years ago and is curren ...
have been recognised as Wetlands of International Importance under the
Ramsar Convention
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on Wetlands. It i ...
.
Aquatic biodiversity
The islanders of Tristan da Cunha depend on the fish resource to a large extent for food and for bait for the local
rock lobster
"Rock Lobster" is a song written by Fred Schneider and Ricky Wilson, two members of the B-52's. It was twice recorded and released as a single, first by DB Records as their debut release in April 1978, and again the following year for the ban ...
industry. Approximately 61.5 tons of linefish are harvested each year for these purposes. The insular nature of the island ecosystem renders it vulnerable to over-exploitation from commercial fishing operations. Most of the fish species are bound to the islands for the completion of their life cycles; hence, the populations are more or less isolated and not supplemented by recruits from outside of the system.
References
{{Tristan da Cunha
Islands of Tristan da Cunha
Uninhabited islands of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
Volcanoes of Tristan da Cunha
Important Bird Areas of Saint Helena
Seabird colonies