Curtis Island, New Zealand

Curtis Island is an island in the southwest Pacific. It is a volcanic island with an elevation of 47 m (154 ft) and an area of 40 ha (99 acres). Together with neighbouring Cheeseman Island it belongs to the Kermadec Islands, an outlying island group of New Zealand, located halfway between New Zealand's North Island and the nation of Tonga.

Curtis Island
Curtis Island (left) and Cheeseman Island from north
Map
Geography
Coordinates30°32′30″S 178°33′25″W
ArchipelagoKermadec Islands
Area40 ha (99 acres)
Highest elevation47 m (154 ft)
Administration
Curtis Island Crater

History

Lieutenant John Watts, RN was the first European to visit the Macauley and Curtis Islands – which he named after patrons George Mackenzie Macaulay and William Curtis – on the Lady Penrhyn in late 1788.[1] Lady Penryn had delivered convicts to New South Wales as part of the First Fleet and was proceeding to Macao.

Count von Luckner, Commander of the German raider Seeadler during the First World War, stopped off at Curtis Island to replenish his stores from the castaway depot left there by the New Zealand Marine Department (for the use of shipwrecked crews) while attempting to make good his escape from New Zealand to South America.

Environment

The island is a breeding site for the masked booby.[2] It forms part of the Kermadec Islands Important Bird Area, identified as such by BirdLife International because it is an important site for nesting seabirds.[3]

See also

References
  1. Alderman Macaulay 1750–1803, The Worshipful Company of Bowyers, archived from the original on 18 January 2013, retrieved 23 February 2012
  2. Greene et al. (2004).
  3. BirdLife International. (2012). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Kermadec Islands. Downloaded from "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 10 July 2007. Retrieved 1 April 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) on 3 February 2012.
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