Mercury Island is a small rocky island off The Diamond Coast, Namibia. Despite its small size it is recognised by Bird Life and other global conservation groups as one of the Important Bird Areas (IBAs) for its important coastal seabird breeding.

Situation

Mercury Island is situated in 800 metres offshore in Spencer Bay, 110 kilometres north of Lüderitz. The island is only 750 metres long (North-South) and about 270 metres wide, reaching a height of 38 metres above the sea. Steep, rocky, without vegetation, covered in a thick layer of bird guano, and riddled with a number of caves (one of which completely bisects the island), Mercury Island's name comes from the shaking which reverberates through the island during westerly wave action. Its nearest neighbour and like bird habitat is Ichaboe Island, about 65 kilometres to the south. With Ichaboe Island, Mercury is one of the two most important island seabird breeding sites along the Namibian coast. Consequently, it is permanently inhabited by a two-person bird research station, built on the remains of a bird guano mining dock along the northeast side of the island. The Island's 3 hectares are home to 16000 penguins, 1200 gannets and 5000 cormorants, which range tens of kilometres out to sea, and return to the island to breed.

Importance to wildlife

Together with Ichaboe Island, Halifax Island and the Possession Islands, these islands support the entire Namibian breeding population of Cape Gannets Morus Capensis, 96% of the Namibian population of the endangered African Penguin Spheniscus Demersus, and nearly one quarter of the global breeding population of Crowned Cormorants Phalacrocorax coronatus. Approximately 80% of the global population of the endangered Bank Cormorant Phalacrocorax neglectus breeds on Mercury Island and in the Ichaboe Islands.

There is a dwelling on the island, which is frequented by scientists and conservationists monitoring wildlife in the area.

credited to wikipedia

Lanzarote, a Spanish island, is the easternmost of the autonomous Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 125 km off the coast of Africa and 1,000 km from the Iberian Peninsula. Covering 845.9 km2, it stands as the fourth largest of the islands. The first recorded name for the island, given by Angelino Dulcert, was Insula de Lanzarotus Marocelus, after the Genoese navigator Lancelotto Malocello, from which the modern name is derived. The island's name in the native language was Titerro(y)gatra, which may mean "the red mountains".

Geography

It is located 11 km north-east of Fuerteventura and 1 mile from Graciosa. The dimensions of the island are 60 km from north to south and 25 km from west to east. Lanzarote has 213 km of coastline, of which 10 km are sand, 16.5 km are beach, and the remainder are rocky. Its dramatic landscape includes the mountain ranges of Famara (671m) in the north and Ajaches (608m) to the south. South of the Famara massif is the El Jable desert which separates Famara and Montañas del Fuego.

The mountainous area of Lanzarote is called Timanfaya National Park. The tallest mountain is Peñas del Chache elevating 670m above sea level. The "Tunnel of Atlantis" is the largest submerged volcanic tunnel in the world. The island is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve protected site.

Lanzarote is the easternmost island of the Canary Islands and has volcanic origin. It was born out of fiery eruptions and has solidified lava streams as well as extravagant rock formations.

Geology

Lanzarote is of volcanic origin. The island was created about 35 million years ago by the Canary hotspot. Alfred Wegener arrived in 1912 and studied the island and showed how it fitted in with his theory of continental drift. The island along with others was created after the breakup of the African and the American continental plates.

The greatest recorded eruptions occurred between 1730 and 1736.

Flora and fauna

There are five hundred different kinds of plants and lichen on the island. 17 of the plants are endemic and there are 180 different lichen. Lichens survive in the suitable areas like the rock and introduce its own weathering. These plants have adapted to the relative scarcity of water, the same as succulents. Plants include the Canary Island Date Palm (Phoenix canariensis), which are found in damper areas of the north, Canary Island Pine (Pinus canariensis), ferns, and wild olive trees (Olea europaea). Laurisilva trees which once covered the highest parts of Risco de Famara are rarely found today. After the winter rainfalls, the vegetation comes to a colorful bloom between February and March.

The fauna of Lanzarote is more monotonous than the plant life, except for bats and other types of mammals which accompanied humans to the island, including the dromedary which was used for agriculture and is now a tourist attraction. Lanzarote has thirty-five types of animal life, including birds (such as falcons), and reptiles. Some interesting endemic creatures are the Gallotia lizards, and the blind deep-water Remipedia crabs found in the Jameos del Agua lagoon, which was created by a volcanic eruption.

The vineyards of La Gería (a sub-zone of the Lanzarote Denominación de Origen wine region), with their traditional methods of cultivation, are a protected area. Single vines are planted in pits 4-5m wide and 2-3m deep, with small stone walls around each pit. This agricultural technique is designed to harvest rainfall and overnight dew and to protect the plants from the winds. The vineyards are part of the World Heritage Site as well as other sites on the island.

Notables

Among the notables who have lived on the island are César Manrique, an artist; José Saramago, a Portuguese Nobel Prize for Literature winner who died there, and Princess Alexia of Greece and Denmark and her husband, Carlos Morales Quintana.

The movies Krull (1983), Enemy Mine (1985), One Million Years B.C. (1966) and Broken Embraces (2009) were partially filmed on Lanzarote.

credited to wikipedia

La Digue is the fourth largest inhabited island of the Seychelles, lying east of Praslin and west of Felicite Island. It has a population of about 2,000 people, who mostly live in the west coast villages of La Passe (linked by ferry to Praslin and Mahé) and La Réunion. It has an area of 10 km². La Digue is named after a ship in the fleet of French explorer Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne, who visited the Seychelles in 1768.

Today, the island's main industry is tourism and it is known for its beaches, especially Anse Source d'Argent. In former times, copra and vanilla production were mainstays of the local economy, which is commemorated in the island's museum. Veuve Nature Reserve, in the island's interior, is home to the rare Black Paradise Flycatcher, of which there are only about 100 in existence. La Digue's tallest peak, Belle Vue (Eagle's Nest Mountain), is also in the central part of the island, with a summit more than 300 meters above sea level.

credited to wikipedia

The main part of Guadeloupe consists of two islands separated by a salt river and whose combined shape resembles a butterfly. The western island is Basse-Terre Island and the eastern island is Grande-Terre. Grande-Terre's northernmost point, Pointe de la Grande Vigie, is also the northernmost point in Guadeloupe.

Despite its name, Grande-Terre (literally "Large Land" in French) is smaller than its sister island Basse-Terre Island. This is because its name was given in contrast with the much smaller Petite Terre Islands ("Small Land" Islands), two very small islands located about 10 km (6 miles) south-east of the Grande-Terre (see map to the left).

Grande-Terre's indented coastline is surrounded by coral reefs and the island itself is a limestone plateau. Its surface is a series of rolling hills, white sand beaches and cliffs. The island's beaches consist of both white and black sands, as well as beaches of golden sand. Of the two islands, Grande-Terre is home to the majority of Guadeloupe's farmlands and tourist resorts.

The island has a land area of 586.68 km² (226.52 sq mi). At the 2006 census the population of Grande-Terre was 197,603 inhabitants living in 10 communes (municipalities). The population density was 337 inhabitants per km² (872 inh. per sq. miles). The most populated communes are, in descending order of population, Les Abymes (part of the Pointe-à-Pitre urban area), Le Gosier (part of the Pointe-à-Pitre urban area), Pointe-à-Pitre (part of the Pointe-à-Pitre urban area), Le Moule, Sainte-Anne, and Morne-à-l'Eau.

credited to wikipedia

Gran Canaria (in English, "Grand (or Great) Canary") is an island of the Canary Islands. Located in the Atlantic Ocean about 150 kilometers (~93 miles) off the northwestern coast of Africa and about 1350 km (~838 miles) from Europe. Gran Canaria is the second most populous island of the Canary Islands after Tenerife. Gran Canaria is also the third in extension Canary Islands.

History

Gran Canaria was populated by the Canarii (Guanches), who may have arrived as early as 500 BC. The Canarii called the island Tamarán or Land of the Brave. After over a century of European (French, Portuguese...) incursions and attempts at conquest, the island was conquered on April 29, 1483, after a campaign that lasted 5 years, by the Kingdom of Castile, with the support of Queen Isabella I, a conquest which turned out to be an important step towards the expansion of the unified Spain.

The capital city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria was founded on June 24, 1478, under the name "Real de Las Palmas", by Juan Rejón, head of the invading Castilian army. In 1492, Cristopher Columbus anchored in the Port of Las Palmas (and spent some time on the island) on his first trip to the Americas. Some reports suggest that Gran Canaria was formerly named, due to the island's shape, El Rondo (The Circle) by English explorer Paul C. Reilly who landed on the island in 1451.

Geography

Gran Canaria is located southeast of Tenerife and west of Fuerteventura. The island is of volcanic origin, mostly made of fissure vents. Gran Canaria is the second most populous island of the Canary Islands after Tenerife. Gran Canaria's surface area is 1,560 km² and its maximum altitude is 1,949 meters (Pico de Las Nieves). It has a round shape, with a diameter of approximately 50 km.

Gran Canaria is divided into twenty-one municipalities:

*Agaete

*Agüimes

*Artenara

*Arucas

*Firgas

*Gáldar

*Ingenio

*Mogán

*Moya

*Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

*San Bartolomé de Tirajana

*San Nicolás de Tolentino

*Sta. Brígida

*Sta. Lucía de Tirajana

*Santa María de Guía

*Tejeda

*Telde

*Teror

*Valleseco

*Valsequillo

*Vega de San Mateo

The island has a population of 820,257 with 378,628 (year 2005) of those in the capital city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is the capital of the province of Las Palmas, and also one of the two capitals of the autonomous community of the Canary Islands, along with Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

Climate

Gran Canaria's average daytime highs range from 20 °C in winter, to 26 °C in summer. Some cool nights occur in winter, but lows below 10 °C are unknown near the coast. Inland the climate is still mild but mountains areas see the occasional frost or snow. Annual rainfall averages 228 mm, most of this falling in the cooler months, with July, August and September normally rainless. Rainfall is unevenly distributed through the island with some areas being much drier than others. Cloud cover and sunshine is often quite variable during the cooler months, and in fact there can be several rather cloudy days at times in winter. Summers are generally quite sunny however, with the south of the island being most favoured.

credited to wikipedia

Fogo (Portuguese for "fire") is an island in the Sotavento group of Cape Verde. It is the most prominent of the group, rising to nearly 3,000 m (10,000 ft) above sea level at Pico do Fogo.

Geography

The island is located between the islands of Santiago and Brava. Practically the whole island is an active volcano that has been periodically active, last erupting in 1995, forming a new crater called Pico Pequeno. Its largest feature is a 9 km wide caldera, which has walls 1 km high. The caldera has a breach in its eastern rim, and a large peak rises in the centre. The central cone forms the highest point of the island and its summit is about 100 m higher than the surrounding wall of the caldera. Lava from the volcano has reached the eastern coast of the island within historical times.

A small village, called Chã das Caldeiras, exists within the caldera of the volcano, and the residents are periodically evacuated during eruptions.

The island's main city is São Filipe, near which is an airport. First settled in the 1480s, it is largely an agricultural island. The islands also houses schools, a gymnasium, banks, a post office, some hotels and squares (praças).

Fogo has fertile land in the southwest with a slope of about 10 to 15 degrees. The north and the east are slopey. The entire island is a seamount, called the Cadamosto Seamount, and the surrounding ocean can be as deep as 5,300 m at a distance of 5 km from the shoreline. The exception is to the west, but it is connected with another seamount further west in Brava.

The slopes in the northeastern part are green and grassy all-year round. The rest of the mountain is dry and barren. One of the southernmost islands in Cape Verde, Fogo receives the most precipitation. The creeks and streams are dry all-year round.

São Filipe's buildings use classic Portuguese colonial architecture. Mosteiros in the northeast is the island's second most important town.

A violent eruption took place in 1680. The mountain of the island was visible over hundreds of kilometres and lasted for a few years. It was during this eruption that the island earned its name.

Flora

There are various endemic plants on Fogo:

Crabo bravo (Erysimum caboverdiana)

Língua de vaca (Echium vulcanorum)

Losma (Artemisia gorgonum), a medical plant with a bitter taste.

Totolho (Euphorbia tuckeyana).

History

Fogo was discovered in 1460 by a Genovese captain António Noli and was first called São Filipe meaning Saint Philip in Portuguese.

The Portuguese settled the island in 1500. The island used to have slavery. Emigration started in 1850, mainly to North America. The 1910 civil revolution in Portugal drew aristocracy and large landowners back to Portugal and left civilians behind. A small museum on Fogo explains many of these connections.

credited to wikipedia

Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island in the equatorial waters of the South Atlantic Ocean, around 1,600 kilometres (994 mi) from the coast of Africa, and 2,250 kilometres (1,398 mi) from the coast of South America which is roughly midway between the horn of South America and Africa. It is politically organized and governed as part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha from the capital Saint Helena, which is 1,287 kilometres (800 mi) to the southeast and the protectorate also includes the "remotest populated archipelago" on earth, the sparsely populated Tristan da Cunha archipelago some thirty-degrees farther south — about half the way to the Antarctic circle.

Historically, it has played a role as an important safe haven and coaling station to mariners and for commercial airliners during the days of international air travel by flying boats and during World War II was an important naval and air station especially providing antisubmarine warfare bases in the Battle of the Atlantic and throughout the war. Ascension Island was garrisoned by the British Royal Navy on 22 October 1815.

Geography and ecology

The main island has an area of approximately 91 km2. A volcanic peak rising from just west of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, much of the island is a wasteland of lava flows and cinder cones; no fewer than forty-four distinct craters have been identified.

While the island was barren with few plants as recently as 1843, Ascension Island's Green Mountain is now one of the few large-scale planned forests, and is gradually growing with each year. Its highest point is at 2,817 feet (859 m).

Off the east coast of Ascension is the tiny island of Boatswain Bird Island. It is a haven for sea birds, to get away from the rats, cats and people that came to Ascension Island from Europe and Africa. Following a successful campaign headed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the main island was in 2006 declared free of feral cats, and sea birds are now once again nesting on Ascension Island.

Ascension's climate is tropical, with temperatures at the coast ranging from about 68 to 88 degrees Fahrenheit (20–31 °C), and about 10 degrees Fahrenheit (5 to 6 degrees Celsius) cooler at the highest point. Rain showers may occur at any time during the year, but tend to be heavier between January and April.

Flora and fauna

The protected green turtle is perhaps the most notable of the wildlife, coming ashore to lay their eggs on the beaches from November to May. Sooty Terns or "Wideawake Birds" nest in great seashore lava "fairs". Other seabirds include some types of boobies, petrels and tropicbirds (named boatswain (pronounced BO-sun) birds by the inhabitants of the island), White Tern, Brown Noddy, Black Noddy and Ascension Frigatebird. On land are found such non-native birds such as canaries, francolins, mynahs, sparrows, and waxbills. A variety of mammals have been introduced: donkey, sheep, cats and rats among others. Reptiles consist of two species of lizards (geckos - easily caught by tilting a rock, spotting the lizard and placing your hand over it. Then just pick it up. In summer, flies are known to be problematic. Crowning Green Mountain is a lush halo of bamboo, while on one flank is a large stand of tall Norfolk pine trees which were planted by British mariners for use as replacement masts for sailing ships should the need arise. A few wild flowers narrowly abound such as periwinkle; cactus is present with land crabs in several large colonies near the sea and mountains.

Following the eradication of feral cats from the island, several species of seabird previously confined to Boatswain Bird Island are making a return to the main island. The Ascension Flightless Crake became extinct around the beginning of the 19th century.

Offshore, there is a variety of open-ocean fish, including sharks, wahoo, tuna, bonito, barracuda, marlin, blackfish and sailfish.

The endemic flora includes plants like Pteris adscensionis, Asplenium ascensionis, Euphorbia origanoides as well as the extinct species Oldenlandia adscenionis, Sporobolus durus and Dryopteris ascensionis. In June 2005 the first ever National Park on Ascension Island, the Green Mountain National Park, was opened. Prosopis juliflora or the Mexican Thorn, has thrived on the barren lava of the island in recent years: growing on the edges of beaches this threatens the green turtle.

credited to wikipedia

Fraser Island, Batjala K'Gari, is an island located along the southern coast of Queensland, Australia, approximately 300 km north of Brisbane. Its length is about 120 km. It was inscribed as a World Heritage site in 1992. The island is considered to be the largest sand island in the world at 1840 km². Its resident human population was 360 at the census of 2006, of which were 11 Aborigines. It is administered by the Fraser Coast Regional Council.

Administration

Fraser Island is part of the Local Government Area Fraser Coast Regional Council, which was created in March 2008 as a result of the report of the Local Government Reform Commission released in July 2007. Before the local government reorganization, the island was split up evenly betwen the City of Hervey Bay (northern part) and the City of Maryborough (southern part).

Fraser Island South is Local Area 8 of the City of Maryborough, and includes the existing village community of Eurong, the Kingfisher Bay Resort, and Dilli Village.

Access & tourism

The island can be reached by ferry from Hervey Bay or Inskip Point north of Rainbow Beach, or by chartered flight via Maroochydore Airport. Four-wheel drive is required for some landings, and travel on the island. A RAM permit is required for vehicles. Several firms provide four-wheel drive vehicles for rent. Tour buses travel the island as well.

The Fraser Island Great Walk offers an opportunity to explore the island on foot.

Bodies of water

Fraser Island has over 100 dune lakes, as well as the second highest concentration of lakes in Australia after Tasmania. The freshwater lakes on Fraser Island are some of the cleanest lakes in the world. A popular tourist area is Lake McKenzie which is located inland from the small town of Eurong. It is a "perched" lake sitting on top of compact sand and vegetable matter 100 metres above sea level. Lake McKenzie has an area of 150 hectares and is just over five metres in depth. The beach sand of Lake McKenzie is nearly pure silica and it is possible to wash hair, teeth, jewelry, and exfoliate one's skin. The lakes have very few nutrients and pH varies, though sunscreen and soaps are a problem as a form of pollution.

Eli Creek is the largest creek on the east coast of the island with a flow of 80 million litres per day. There is a boardwalk for visitors to reach the top of the creek and swim or ride down the creek if they wish.

Central Station remains as a popular tourism destination on the island. The station is surrounded by bushwalking tracks to enable full appreciation of the variety of plants living on the island. Some of the rarest ferns grow along the rainforest near the station. With year-round south-easterly wind, huge sand dunes on the island move at the rate of 1 - 2 metres a year, burying away everything on the way, thus making sand on the island extremely rich with nutrients. Sand is constantly washed ashore from as far as New South Wales.

The 75 mile beach

This runs along most of the east coast of Fraser Island. It is noted for its beauty and has a number of highlights such as Champagne Pools, Indian Head, the Maheno Wreck and Eli Creek. Eli Creek has its own unique and varied wild life. Tiger Sharks are known to inhabit the sea in the area.

The beach also acts as both a highway and a runway. The hard packed sand below the high tide mark can make for quite smooth driving. Aircraft often land on the beach and the highway rules state that vehicles must give way to aircraft if they are oncoming.

History

Name

The original name of the island is 'K'gari' in the Butchulla people's language. It means paradise.

According to Aboriginal legend, when humans were created and needed a place to live, the mighty god Beeral sent his messenger Nendingie with the goddess K’gari down from heaven to create the land and mountains, rivers and sea. K’gari fell in love with the earth’s beauty and did not want to leave it. So Yendingie changed her into a heavenly island – Fraser Island.

The name Fraser Island comes from Eliza Fraser and her story of survival from a shipwreck on the island. Captain James Fraser and his wife, Eliza Fraser, were shipwrecked on the island in 1836. The name of the ship was the Stirling Castle. Captain Fraser died but Eliza was rescued off the island. Eliza later made money traveling around England and Australia telling her story of the events that had occurred while the Stirling Castle’s officers were on the island. As she is known to have told several versions of the story, it is unknown which version is the most accurate.

Aboriginal Australians

Archaeological research and evidence shows that Aboriginal Australians occupied Fraser Island at least 5000 years ago. There was a permanent population of 400-600 that grew to 2000-3000 in the winter months due to abundant seafood resources. The arrival of European settlers in the area was an overwhelming disaster for the Butchulla people. Documented aggression between the Europeans and Aboriginal Australians occurred when the officers of the 'Stirling Castle', including Captain James Fraser and his wife Eliza Fraser were shipwrecked on the island. European settlement in the 1840s overwhelmed the Aboriginal lifestyle with weapons, disease and lack of food.[8] By the year 1890, Aboriginal numbers had been reduced to only 300 people. Most of the remaining Aborigines, the Butchulla tribe, left the island in 1904 as they were relocated to missions in Yarrabah and Durundur, Queensland.

Europeans

Initial European contact was limited to explorers and shipwrecks. The first European to sight Fraser Island was Captain James Cook who passed along the coast of the island between the 18th and 20th May 1770. He named it Indian Head after viewing a number of Aboriginal people gathered on the island. Matthew Flinders sailed past the island in 1799 and again in 1802. He mapped both voyages, but did not confirm it was separate from the mainland. In 1836, a number of survivors from the shipwreck of the 'Stirling Castle', including Captain James Fraser and his wife Eliza Fraser, lived for about six weeks on the island before being rescued.

Logging and sand mining industry

The trees on Fraser island were logged extensively as they made excellent timber. Logging took place starting in 1863, being initiated by American Jack Piggott. Railroad tracks were laid through the forest to facilitate logging, but were later removed. The logging industry continued right through until 1991 following the concerns of the Fraser Island Fitzgerald Inquiry, led by the Honourable Justice Gerald Edward Fitzgerald. The wealth of the island lay in its rich deposits of rutile, ilmenite, zircon and monazite. Sand mining leases were first granted in 1950 and lasted until 1977 following an environmental battle.

Wreck of the Maheno

A major landmark of Fraser Island is the shipwreck of the S.S. Maheno. The S.S. Maheno was originally built in 1905 in Scotland as a luxury passenger ship for trans-Tasman crossings. During the First World War the ship served as a hospital ship in the English Channel, before returning to a luxury liner. In 1935, the ship was declared outdated and on June 25, 1935 the ship was being towed from Melbourne when it was caught in a strong cyclone. A few days later, on July 9, 1935 she drifted ashore and was beached on Fraser Island. During the Second World War the Maheno served as target bombing practice for the RAAF. The ship has since become severely rusted, with almost three and a half storeys buried under the sand. Climbing on the shipwreck is not permitted.

Nauru resettlement proposition

As part of ongoing meetings in the United Nations Trusteeship Council on the Conditions in the Trust Territories, the Republic of Nauru expressed concern that its phosphate mining exportation would be depleted by the end of the century, endangering the future of the island. In 1961, Fraser Island was proposed by Australia as a location for the resettlement of the entire population of the Republic of Nauru. The timber industry on Fraser Island managed to ensure that resettlement on Fraser Island did not proceed. In 1964 in the 31st session of United Nations Trusteeship Council meetings it was concluded that Curtis Island could provide a more satisfactory resettlement for the population of Nauru. Nauru rejected the offer of moving the entire population to Curtis Island due to political independence considerations that Australia would not agree to.

Although a resettlement never did occur, the Republic of Nauru went on to achieve independence on January 31, 1968.

Fauna

Dingoes

Dingoes were once common on the island, but are now decreasing. They are some of the last remaining pure dingoes in Eastern Australia and to prevent cross-breeding, dogs are not allowed on the island. There was no recorded history of dingoes attacking humans on Fraser Island up until 1995. In April 2001, a boy wandered away from his family and was discovered dead, with indications of a dingo attack. Forty dingoes were killed by authorities as a result of the incident. In 2004, a dingo entered a hotel room on the island where a baby was lying on a bed. It was chased off before any incident occurred. The relationship between dingo attacks on humans on Fraser Island has been documented on National Geographic. Caution with dingoes when on Fraser Island is mandatory for all people on the island. Feeding or attracting the attention of dingoes remains illegal. The remaining number of dingoes on the island is estimated to be 120 to 150 as of January 2008 and sightings are becoming rarer.

Other

Mammals

Besides dingoes, other mammals found on Fraser Island include swamp wallabies, echidnas, possums, sugar gliders (a gliding possum) and flying foxes (Pteropus, a bat). There are no kangaroos on the island. A few brumbies on the island are descendants of Arab stock turned loose for breeding purposes and they were joined later by horses brought over for the logging industry in 1879. Cetaceans, such as Humpback Whales or some species of dolphins are frequent visitors to this area. Dugongs can also be found.

Reptiles & Amphibians

Goannas, snakes, lizards, skinks and frogs are all present on the island. Frog species have adapted to the acidic lakes and swamps on the island, and are appropriately called acid frogs.

Birds

There are over 350 different species of birds on the island. Birds of prey include sea eagles, peregrine falcon, osprey and kites. Other common birds include pelicans, terns, honeyeaters, gulls, kingfishers and cockatoos. A rare, endangered bird on the island is the ground parrot, already extinct in some parts of Australia.

credited to wikipedia

Ellesmere Island is part of the Qikiqtaaluk Region of the Canadian territory of Nunavut. Lying within the Canadian Arctic Archipelago it is considered part of the Queen Elizabeth Islands, with Cape Columbia being the most northerly point of land in Canada. It comprises an area of 196,235 km2 (75,767 sq mi), making it the world's tenth largest island and Canada's third largest island. The Arctic Cordillera mountain system covers much of Ellesmere Island, making it the most mountainous in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The Arctic willow is the only woody species to grow on Ellesmere Island.

History

The first inhabitants of Ellesmere Island were small bands drawn to the area for Peary caribou, muskox, and marine mammal hunting about 2000–1000 BC.

As was the case for the Dorset (or Palaeoeskimo) hunters and the pioneering Neoeskimos, the Post-Ruin Island and Late Thule culture Inuit used the Bache Peninsula region extensively both summer and winter until environmental, ecological and possibly social circumstances caused the area to be abandoned. It was the last region in the Canadian High Arctic to be depopulated during the "Little Ice Age", attesting to its general economic importance as part of the Smith Sound culture sphere of which it was occasionally a part and sometimes the principal settlement component.

Vikings from the Greenland colonies reached Ellesmere Island, Skraeling Island and Ruin Island during hunting expeditions and trading with the Inuit groups. Unusual structures on Bache peninsula may be the remains of a late-period Dorset stone longhouse.

The first European to sight the island after the height of the "Little Ice Age" was William Baffin, in 1616; said "Age" lasted until roughly 1850. Ellesmere Island was named in 1852 by Edward Inglefield's expedition after Francis Egerton, 1st Earl of Ellesmere. The American expedition led by Adolphus Greely in 1881 crossed the island from east to west. The Greely expedition found fossil forests on Ellesmere Island in the late 1880s. Stenkul Fiord was first explored in 1902 by Per Schei, a member of Otto Sverdrup's 2nd Norwegian Polar Expedition.

The Ellesmere Ice Shelf was documented by the British Arctic Expedition of 1875–76, in which Lieutenant Pelham Aldrich's party went from Cape Sheridan west to Cape Alert, including the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf. In 1906 Robert Peary led an expedition in northern Ellesmere Island, from Cape Sheridan along the coast to the western side of Nansen Sound . During Peary's expedition, the Ice Shelf was continuous; a modern estimate is that it covered 8,900 km2 (3,400 sq mi).

Geography

Protected areas

More than one-fifth of the island is protected as Quttinirpaaq National Park (formerly Ellesmere Island National Park Reserve), which includes seven fjords and a variety of glaciers, as well as Lake Hazen, North America's largest lake north of the Arctic Circle. Barbeau Peak, the highest mountain in Nunavut (2,616 m (8,580 ft)) is located in the British Empire Range on Ellesmere Island. The most northern mountain range in the world, the Challenger Mountains, is located in the northeast region of the island. The northern lobe of the island is called Grant Land.

In July 2007, a study noted the disappearance of habitat for waterfowl, invertebrates, and algae on Ellesmere Island. According to John P. Smol of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, and Marianne S. V. Douglas of the University of Alberta in Edmonton, warming conditions and evaporation have caused low water levels changes in the chemistry of ponds and wetlands in the area. The researchers noted that "In the 1980s they often needed to wear hip waders to make their way to the ponds...while by 2006 the same areas were dry enough to burn.

Glaciers and ice caps

Large portions of Ellesmere Island are covered with glaciers and ice, with Manson Icefield and Sydkap in the south; Prince of Wales Icefield and Agassiz Ice Cap along the central-east side of the island, along with substantial ice cover in Northern Ellesmere Island. The northwest coast of Ellesmere Island was covered by a massive, 500 km (310 mi) long ice shelf until the 20th century. The Ellesmere Ice Shelf was reduced by 90 percent in the twentieth century due to global warming, leaving the separate Alfred Ernest, Ayles, Milne, Ward Hunt, and Markham Ice Shelves. A 1986 survey of Canadian ice shelves found that 48 km2 (19 sq mi) 3.3 km3 (0.79 cu mi) of ice calved from the Milne and Ayles ice shelves between 1959 and 1974. The Ward Hunt Ice Shelf, the largest remaining section of thick (>10 m, >30 ft) landfast sea ice along the northern coastline of Ellesmere Island, lost 600 km (370 mi) of ice in a massive calving in 1961-1962. It further decreased by 27% in thickness (13 m (43 ft)) between 1967 and 1999.

The breakup of the Ellesmere Ice Shelves has continued in the 21st century: the Ward Ice Shelf experienced a major breakup during summer 2002; the Ayles Ice Shelf calved entirely on August 13, 2005; the largest breakoff of the ice shelf in 25 years, it may pose a threat to the oil industry in the Beaufort Sea. The piece is 66 km2 (25 sq mi). In April 2008, it was discovered that the Ward Hunt shelf was fractured into dozens of deep, multi-faceted cracks and in September 2008 the Markham shelf (50 sq km / 20 square miles) completely broke off to become floating sea-ice.

Paleontology

Schei and later Nathorst described the Paleocene-Eocene (ca. 55 Ma) fossil forest in the Stenkul Fiord sediments. The Stenkul Fiord site represents a series of deltaic swamp and floodplain forests. The trees stood for at least 400 years. Individual stumps and stems of >1 m (>3 ft) diameter were abundant. Abundance of Metasequoia and possibly Glyptostrobus trees.

In 2006, University of Chicago paleontologist Neil H. Shubin reported the discovery of the fossil of a Paleozoic (ca. 375 Ma) fish, named Tiktaalik roseae, in the former stream beds of Ellesmere Island. The fossil exhibits many characteristics of fish, but also indicates a transitional creature that may be a predecessor of amphibians, reptiles, dinosaurs, mammals, and eventually humans.

Insect ecology

Ellesmere Island is noted as being the northernmost occurrence of eusocial insects; specifically, the bumblebee Bombus polaris. Interestingly, there is a second species of bumblebee occurring there, Bombus hyperboreus, which is a parasite in the nests of B. polaris.

credited to wikipedia and flickr: greenpeaceusa09, wrk2trvl, janrobts@att.net