Enderby Island is part of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

's uninhabited

Auckland Islands The Auckland Islands (Māori: ''Motu Maha'' "Many islands" or ''Maungahuka'' "Snowy mountains") are an archipelago of New Zealand, lying south of the South Island. The main Auckland Island, occupying , is surrounded by smaller Adams Island, ...

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...

, south of mainland New Zealand. It is situated just off the northern tip of

Auckland Island Auckland Island ( mi, Mauka Huka) is the main island of the eponymous uninhabited archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the New Zealand subantarctic area. It is inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage list together with the other New ...

, the largest island in the archipelago.

Geography and geology

Enderby Island lies off the northeastern extremity of Auckland Island, directly across from the mouth of

Port Ross Port Ross is a natural harbour on Auckland Island in the Auckland Islands Group, a subantarctic chain that forms part of the New Zealand Outlying Islands. Guarding the mouth of Port Ross are Rose Island, Enderby Island, Ewing Island, and th ...

, from which it is separated by some . Several islands lie in the strait between the two islands, notably

Rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

, Ewing, and Ocean Islands. Of these, Rose Island lies between the two closest points on Auckland and Enderby Island, separated from them by two narrow channels, each some in width. The island comprises around 1% of the total land area of the Auckland island group. Enderby Island has few notable geographic features. It is surrounded by cliffs and rocky shorelines, with the only landing point being at Sandy Bay in the island's southwest. Several historic huts are located at this bay, which is also home to a breeding colony of

New Zealand sea lion The New Zealand sea lion (''Phocarctos hookeri''), once known as Hooker's sea lion, and as or (male) and (female) in Māori, is a species of sea lion that is endemic to New Zealand and primarily breeds on New Zealand's subantarctic Auckland ...

s. Much of the island's interior is bog and wetland, drained by numerous small streams. A small lake, Teal Lake, is located close to the southeastern shore. The island's northernmost point, also the northernmost point in the Auckland Islands, is Derry Castle Reef, named after the ship ''

Derry Castle The ''Derry Castle'' was a 1,367 ton iron barque built at Glasgow in 1883, and initially operating out of Limerick, Ireland. She had been registered there on 19 November 1883 by Francis Spaight & Sons. In 1887 while voyaging from Australia ...

'', which foundered there in 1887. Enderby Island is perched on the

Campbell Plateau The Campbell Plateau is a large oceanic plateau south of New Zealand and the Chatham Rise. It originated in the Gondwanan breakup and is part of Zealandia, a largely submerged continent. The above sea level parts of the plateau — the Bounty ...

and is composed of eroding volcanic remains from eruptions that occurred between 25 and 10 million years ago.

History

Polynesia Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...

n explorers arrived at Enderby Island in the 13th or 14th centuries, about the time mainland New Zealand was settled. Archaeological excavations revealed their presence at Sandy Bay, in a sheltered and relatively hospitable location, accessible to seal colonies. Excavated earth ovens contained the bones of seals and sea lions, fishes, mussels, albatrosses and

petrel Petrels are tube-nosed seabirds in the bird order Procellariiformes. Description The common name does not indicate relationship beyond that point, as "petrels" occur in three of the four families within that group (all except the albatross f ...

s. The Polynesians stayed for one or more summers and left behind scrapers, tools, and fish hooks. After the Polynesians departed, the Auckland Islands were uninhabited until they were rediscovered by

Abraham Bristow Abraham Bristow (c1771-1846) was a British mariner, sealer and whaler. In August 1806 he discovered the Auckland Islands. Life and early maritime career Bristow was baptised 22 March 1771 at Begbroke, Oxfordshire; the fifth child and third so ...

aboard the whaling ship ''Ocean'' in 1806. He named the island after the owners of his ship,

Samuel Enderby & Sons Samuel Enderby & Sons was a whaling and sealing company based in London, England, founded circa 1775 by Samuel Enderby (1717–1797). The company was significant in the history of whaling in the United Kingdom, not least for encouraging their ...

. On 20 March 1887, the ''Derry Castle'', an iron

barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel with three or more mast (sailing), masts having the fore- and mainmasts Square rig, rigged square and only the mizzen (the aftmost mast) Fore-and-aft rig, rigged fore and aft. Som ...

registered in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, Massachusetts, ran aground off Enderby Island nine days into its journey. The ship was en route from

Geelong, Victoria Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, a ...

Falmouth, Cornwall Falmouth ( ; kw, Aberfala) is a town, civil parish and port on the River Fal on the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It has a total resident population of 21,797 (2011 census). Etymology The name Falmouth is of English or ...

and was crewed by a complement of twenty-three sailors. It carried one passenger and a cargo of wheat. The ''Derry Castle'' was owned by P. Richardson & Co. and was under the command of Captain J. Goffe. The surviving members of the ''Derry Castle'' crew found a

castaway depot A castaway depot is a store or hut placed on an isolated island to provide emergency supplies and relief for castaways and victims of shipwrecks. A string of depots were built by the New Zealand government on their subantarctic islands in the ...

at Sandy Bay. They proceeded to construct some further crude shelters around this depot. On a cliff overlooking the water, they buried the bodies of their fellow crew members that had washed ashore. The grave was marked with the ship's figurehead. After 192 days the ''Derry Castle'' was officially posted as missing by

Lloyd's of London Lloyd's of London, generally known simply as Lloyd's, is an insurance and reinsurance market located in London, England. Unlike most of its competitors in the industry, it is not an insurance company; rather, Lloyd's is a corporate body gov ...

. On 21 September 1887, a 45-ton steamer, the ''Awarua'', arrived in

Hobson's Bay The City of Hobsons Bay is a local government area in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It comprises the south-western suburbs between 6 and 20 km from the Melbourne city centre. It was founded on 22 June 1994 during the amalgamation of l ...

, Victoria, Australia, returning from an illegal sealing expedition in the Auckland Islands. On board the ''Awarua'' were the remaining eight survivors from the ''Derry Castle''. The ''Derry Castle'' grave site was maintained for many years by the New Zealand government until it sank into the ground. However, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the ship's

figurehead In politics, a figurehead is a person who ''de jure'' (in name or by law) appears to hold an important and often supremely powerful title or office, yet ''de facto'' (in reality) exercises little to no actual power. This usually means that they ...

was resurrected by

coastwatchers The Coastwatchers, also known as the Coast Watch Organisation, Combined Field Intelligence Service or Section C, Allied Intelligence Bureau, were Allied military intelligence operatives stationed on remote Pacific islands during World War II t ...

stationed on the islands in the

Cape Expedition The Cape Expedition was the deliberately misleading name given to a secret five-year wartime program of establishing coastwatching stations on New Zealand’s more distant uninhabited subantarctic islands. The decision to do so was made by t ...

programme. The figurehead can now be viewed (along with other items from the wreck) at the Canterbury Museum in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, New Zealand. In its place, a tombstone now marks the site of the sailors' graves.

Fauna

Important Bird Area

Enderby Island was cleared of introduced species, such as cattle, pig, rabbit and rat in 1994, and by 2015 the abundance of wildlife was notable compared with Auckland Island. The island is part of the Auckland Island group

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), identified as such 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 ...

because of the significance of the group as a breeding site for several species of

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 as well as the endemic

Auckland shag The Auckland shag (''Leucocarbo colensoi'') or Auckland Islands shag is a species of cormorant from New Zealand. The species is endemic to the Auckland Islands archipelago. It is a sedentary bird that primarily eats various crustaceans and fish. ...

Auckland teal The Auckland teal (''Anas aucklandica''), also known as Auckland Islands teal or brown teal, is a species of dabbling duck of the genus ''Anas'' that is endemic to Auckland Islands south of New Zealand. The species was once found throughout the A ...

Auckland rail The Auckland rail (''Lewinia muelleri'') is a small nearly flightless rail endemic to the Auckland Islands 460 km south of New Zealand. It is somewhat of a biogeographical anomaly, being the only species in the genus '' Lewinia'' to have re ...

and

Auckland snipe The Auckland snipe (''Coenocorypha aucklandica aucklandica''), also known as the Auckland Island snipe, is a small bird in the sandpiper family. It is the isolated nominate subspecies of the subantarctic snipe that is endemic to the Auckland Isl ...

.BirdLife International. (2012). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Auckland Islands. Downloaded from on 2012-01-23. Other fauna include the

brown skua The brown skua (''Stercorarius antarcticus''), also known as the Antarctic skua, subantarctic skua, southern great skua, southern skua, or hākoakoa (Māori), is a large seabird that breeds in the subantarctic and Antarctic zones and moves furthe ...

New Zealand pipit The New Zealand pipit (''Anthus novaeseelandiae'') is a fairly small passerine bird of open country in New Zealand and outlying islands. It belongs to the pipit genus ''Anthus'' in the family Motacillidae. It was formerly lumped together with th ...

northern giant petrel The northern giant petrel (''Macronectes halli''), also known as Hall's giant petrel, is a large predatory seabird of the southern oceans. Its distribution overlaps broadly, but is slightly north of, the similar southern giant petrel (''Macrone ...

and

yellow-eyed penguin The yellow-eyed penguin (''Megadyptes antipodes''), known also as hoiho or tarakaka, is a species of penguin endemic to New Zealand. Previously thought closely related to the little penguin (''Eudyptula minor''), molecular research has shown it ...

. Dominant vegetation include rata forest and

megaherb Megaherbs are a group of herbaceous wildflowers growing in the New Zealand subantarctic islands and on the other subantarctic islands. They are characterised by their great size, with huge leaves and very large and often unusually coloured flowers ...

s such as the Campbell Island carrot.

Cattle

As with rabbits, cattle were introduced to Enderby Island in the late 19th century.Rare Breeds Conservation Society of New Zealand Incorporated (2006
Enderby Island cattle
/ref>

Shorthorn The Shorthorn breed of cattle originated in the North East of England in the late eighteenth century. The breed was developed as dual-purpose, suitable for both dairy and beef production; however, certain blood lines within the breed always emp ...

cattle were brought to the island by whalers in 1894 where they proceeded to survive on kelp and other island flora, becoming a distinctive wild variety. By the mid-1980s, the cattle had nearly denuded Enderby Island of its growth, a problem that came to the attention of New Zealand's Department of Conservation. In response, efforts were made to eradicate cattle on the island. By the mid-1990s, only one cow, 'Lady', remained. Lady was taken to mainland New Zealand in February 1993. Since then she has been the subject of intense efforts to save the variety, efforts that have included

cloning Cloning is the process of producing individual organisms with identical or virtually identical DNA, either by natural or artificial means. In nature, some organisms produce clones through asexual reproduction. In the field of biotechnology, cl ...

. Lady died in May 2009, aged more than twenty years.

Rabbits

A distinct variety of rabbit lived on Enderby Island.Rare Breeds Conservation Society of New Zealand Incorporated (2006
Enderby Island rabbits
/ref> Rabbits are not indigenous to the island; their ancestors were brought from Australia in October 1865 to serve as food for shipwreck survivors. Following their introduction, the population was isolated for almost 130 years. The rabbits were eradicated from the island in the early 1990s, though some were rescued and the breed survives in captivity. Enderby Island rabbits are predominantly silver-grey in colour but a recessive gene ensures that a small percentage is cream or beige.

References

External links

Flora and fauna of Enderby Island
{{Authority control Islands of the Auckland Islands Island restoration Former populated places in Oceania Important Bird Areas of the Auckland Islands