L'Esperance Rock, formerly known as French Rock and Brind Rock,(named after
William Brind) is the southernmost islet in the
Kermadec Islands
The Kermadec Islands ( ; ) are a subtropical island arc in the South Pacific Ocean northeast of New Zealand's North Island, and a similar distance southwest of Tonga. The islands are part of New Zealand. They are in total area and uninhabit ...
, to the north of
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
. It is south of
Curtis Island and northeast of
East Cape
East Cape is the easternmost point of the main islands of New Zealand. It is at the northern end of the Gisborne District of the North Island. East Cape was originally named "Cape East" by British explorer James Cook during his 1769–1779 voy ...
on New Zealand's
North Island
The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...
. The smaller L'Havre Rock lies to the north-west of L'Esperance; it is a reef that barely reaches the surface. L'Esperance Rock is in diameter with an area of . It rises to a height of .
Important Bird Area
The island forms part of the Kermadec Islands
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 ...
, 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 i ...
because it is an important site for nesting
seabird
Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adaptation, adapted to life within the marine ecosystem, marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent ...
s. It is the site of a substantial
breeding colony of
grey noddies.
Masked boobies have also been recorded breeding there.
Flora
As well as other plants, there is an endemic species on the rock, ''Senecio esperensis''.
See also
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2012 Kermadec Islands eruption and pumice raft
The 2012 Kermadec Islands eruption was a major undersea volcanic eruption that was produced by the previously little-known Havre Seamount near the L'Esperance Rock, L'Esperance and L'Havre Rocks in the Kermadec Islands of New Zealand. The large ...
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New Zealand outlying islands
*
List of islands of New Zealand
New Zealand consists of more than six hundred islands, mainly remnants of Zealandia, a larger land mass now beneath the sea. New Zealand is the List of island countries#UN member states and states with limited recognition, sixth-largest island ...
*
List of islands
This is a list of the lists of islands in the world grouped by country, by continent, by body of water
A body of water or waterbody is any significant accumulation of water on the surface of Earth or another planet. The term most often refer ...
*
Desert island
An uninhabited island, desert island, or deserted island, is an island, islet or atoll which lacks permanent human population. Uninhabited islands are often depicted in films or stories about shipwrecked people, and are also used as stereotypes ...
References
*
Islands of the Kermadec Islands
Uninhabited islands of New Zealand
Important Bird Areas of the Kermadec Islands
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