Manra (previously: ''Sydney Island''), is one of the

Phoenix Islands The Phoenix Islands, or Rawaki, are a group of eight atolls and two submerged coral reefs that lie east of the Gilbert Islands and west of the Line Islands in the central Pacific Ocean, north of Samoa. They are part of the Kiribati, Republic ...

in the Republic of

Kiribati Kiribati (), officially the Republic of Kiribati ( gil, ibaberikiKiribati),Kiribati
''The Wor ...

. It lies at . longitude, and has an area of . and an elevation of approximately six metres. Together with the seven other Phoenix Islands, it forms part of the

Phoenix Islands Protected Area The Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA) is located in the Republic of Kiribati, an ocean nation in the central Pacific approximately midway between Australia and Hawaii. PIPA constitutes 11.34% of Kiribati's exclusive economic zone (EEZ), an ...

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

visited the island during his five-year voyage (1831-1836), following which in 1842 he published an explanation for the creation of coral atolls in the South Pacific. Though it has been occupied at various times in the past (including as late as 1963), Manra is currently uninhabited.

Flora and fauna

Manra's flora and fauna

Manra is approximately triangular in shape, measuring approximately . It completely surrounds a hyper-saline lagoon without outlet to the sea, containing depths of . The island is covered with

coconut palm The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the f ...

s, scrub forest, herbs and grasses, including the species ''Tournefortia, Pisonia, Morinda, Cordia, Guettarda,'' and ''Scaevola''. Manra was formerly a functioning

copra Copra (from ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted from copr ...

plantation, though it is no longer. Bird life is similar to the other Phoenix Islands, but has been described as "less abundant".

Hermit crab Hermit crabs are anomuran decapod crustaceans of the superfamily Paguroidea that have adapted to occupy empty scavenged mollusc shells to protect their fragile exoskeletons. There are over 800 species of hermit crab, most of which possess an as ...

s and rats are plentiful on the island, which also supports colonies of

feral A feral () animal or plant is one that lives in the wild but is descended from domesticated individuals. As with an introduced species, the introduction of feral animals or plants to non-native regions may disrupt ecosystems and has, in some ...

dogs, pigs and cats. According to E.H. Bryan, "insects are abundant, including a blue and white butterfly, several kinds of moths, dragonflies, ants, flies, leafhoppers, bugs, beetles, wasps, and spiders". Mosquitoes arrived in the late 19th century, on a ship from Tahiti.

Manra's reefs

The lagoon is too salty to support marine life, but fish are abundant around the fringing reef and offshore waters. H.E. Maude, in his 1937 report: ''Colonization of the Phoenix Islands'', indicated that visitors to the island refused to eat any fish caught off the reef because of

ciguatera Ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP), also known simply as ciguatera, is a foodborne illness caused by eating reef fish whose flesh is contaminated with certain toxins. Such individual fish are said to be ciguatoxic. Symptoms may include diarrhea, vomi ...

poisoning. Bryan, on the other hand, insisted that the reef contains other fish species that made "excellent eating". The 2000 surveys (Obura, et al.) identified that the coral communities at Manra were dominated by submassive and branching corals. The leeward site had a significant abundance of massive coral heads and the northern windward site had significant quantities of mushroom coral. The leeward sites showed typical coral communities for the Phoenix Islands with ≈ 30% Live Coral Cover and 20%

coralline algae Coralline algae are red algae in the order Corallinales. They are characterized by a thallus that is hard because of calcareous deposits contained within the cell walls. The colors of these algae are most typically pink, or some other shade of re ...

, followed by a mixture of fleshy algae, coral rubble and sand. The most abundant coral species at Manra were: ''

Cyphastrea ''Cyphastrea'' is a genus of massive reef building stony corals in the family Merulinidae Merulinidae is a family of reef-building stony corals. Characteristics All the genera in this family are colonial, reef-building corals. Skeletal struc ...

chalcidicum'', ''

Echinopora ''Echinopora'' is a genus of stony corals in the family Merulinidae. Species The following species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A ...

lamellosa'', ''

Goniastrea stelligera ''Goniastrea stelligera'', commonly known as knob coral, is a species of stony coral in the family Merulinidae. It occurs in shallow water on the coast of East Africa and in the Indo-Pacific region. This is a common species of coral but it seems ...

'', '' Herpolitha limax'', ''

Favites pentagona ''Favites pentagona'' is a species of Scleractinia, stony coral in the family (biology), family Merulinidae, sometimes known as larger star coral. It is native to the Indo-Pacific region and its range extends from the Red Sea through the Indian O ...

'', ''

Fungia ''Fungia'' is a genus of corals in the family Fungiidae. It is monotypic with the single species ''Fungia fungites'', which is found growing on reefs in the Indo-Pacific. Taxonomy Until 2015, the genus ''Fungia'' had more than 30 species, but b ...

danai'', ''Fungia fungites'' and ''Fungia scutaria''.

History

Sydney Island Gilbert and Eliice postmark

Unlike some of the other Phoenix Islands, Manra contains definite evidence of prehistoric inhabitation, in the form of at least a dozen platforms and remains of enclosures in the northeast and northwest portions of the island. K.P. Emory, ethnologist at Honolulu's

Bishop Museum The Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, designated the Hawaii State Museum of Natural and Cultural History, is a museum of history and science in the historic Kalihi district of Honolulu on the Hawaiian island of Oʻahu. Founded in 1889, it is the lar ...

, estimated that two groups of people were present there, one from eastern Polynesia, the other from Micronesia. Wells and pits from these early inhabitants were also found. Manra was discovered in 1823 from the London whaling ship , T. Emmett Master, and was called ''Sydney''. It is the birthplace of Sydney Aris (1884–1966) née Arundel, daughter of Lillie Arundel and

John T. Arundel John T. Arundel (1 September 1841 – 30 November 1919) was an English entrepreneur who was instrumental in the development of the mining of phosphate rock on the Pacific islands of Nauru and Banaba (Ocean Island). Williams & Macdonald (1985) ...

. At that time John T. Arundel & Co. was then engaged in mining guano on the island. Manra was turned into a

Burns, Philp & Co Burns Philp (properly Burns, Philp & Co, Limited) was once a major Australian shipping line and merchant that operated in the South Pacific. When the well-populated islands around New Guinea were targeted for blackbirding in the 1880s, a new ...

coconut plantation in the early 20th century. Later, in 1938, it became one of the islands involved in the

Phoenix Islands Settlement Scheme The Phoenix Islands Settlement Scheme was begun in 1938 in the western Pacific ocean and was the last attempt at human colonisation within the British Empire. History Conceived by Henry E. "Harry" Maude, lands commissioner of the Gilbert and Ell ...

, the final colonial expansion of the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

. Approximately 130 settlers were imported, and a village constructed complete with radio shack, cement cistern and 15 water wells. Each adult settler was given fifty coconut palms, and each child granted two unplanted sections, 150 feet (80 m) square. Ultimately, the colony failed, due to prolonged drought and the declining world market for copra. Sydney Island Post Office opened on 11 January 1939 and closed in 1958. Manra was depopulated between 1958 and 1963 and has remained uninhabited since. The island was declared a bird sanctuary in 1938, and a wildlife sanctuary in 1975. Kiribati declared the

in 2006, with the park being expanded in 2008. The 164,200-square-mile (425,300-square-kilometre) marine reserve contains eight coral atolls including Manra.

Photo gallery

File:Manra.jpg, NASA astronaut image of Manra File:Manra Scaevola AKK.jpg, Scaevola thicket on Manra Island File:Manra Lagoon Shore AKK.jpg, Lagoon shore on Manra Island

References

Sources

*Maude, Henry Evans: Of islands and men : studies in Pacific history; Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1968 *Jones, A. G. E.: Ships employed in the South Seas trade Vol. 1: 1775 - 1861; Canberra 1986 & Vol. 2: 1775 - 1859; Burwood, Vic.

992 Year 992 ( CMXCII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Worldwide * Winter – A superflare from the sun causes an Aurora Borealis, with visibility as fa ...

External links

A color photo of Manra can be seen at under "The MPA", subheading "The Islands"

National Geographic

*
photo of Manra shoreline

photo of Manra explorers

photo of narrow escape from Manra
{{Authority control Phoenix Islands (Kiribati) Uninhabited islands of Kiribati Pacific islands claimed under the Guano Islands Act Former populated places in Oceania Phoenix Islands Settlement Scheme Islands of Kiribati Former disputed islands