Location of Oeno Island in the Pacific Ocean
Oeno Island (
/oʊˈiːnoʊ/ oh-EE-noh)[1] or Holiday Island is a coral atoll in the South Pacific Ocean, part of the Pitcairn Islands overseas territory.
[edit] Geography
Located 143 kilometres (89 mi) northwest of Pitcairn Island, at 23°55′26″S 130°44′03″W / 23.92389°S 130.73417°W / -23.92389; -130.73417. Oeno Island measures about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) in diameter, including the central lagoon, with a total area exceeding 20 square kilometres (7.7 sq mi). There are two larger and three smaller islets on the rim of the atoll. Their aggregate land area is only 0.69 square kilometres (170 acres). Oeno Island serves as a private holiday site for the few residents of Pitcairn Island, who will travel there and stay for two weeks in January.[2]
The main island (Oeno), about 0.5 square kilometres (120 acres) in area, has forest and scrub with pandanus and palm trees. It is located on the southwest rim of the atoll. There is a water tap installed on the island.[3] The maximum elevation is less than 5 metres (16 ft). Three smaller islets are to the south and west of the main island.
[edit] Important Bird Area
The island has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA) principally for its colony of some 12,500 pairs of Murphy's, the second largest in the world.[4]
[edit] History
- June 1819
- Captain James Henderson of the British East India Company ship Hercules sights Oeno Island.
- 26 January 1824
- Captain George Worth aboard the American whaler Oeno names the atoll after his ship.
- 5 March 1858
- The Wild Wave, a 1500 ton clipper sailing from San Francisco, is wrecked on Oeno's reef.[5]
- 1893
- The Bowdon is wrecked on Oeno
- 10 July 1902
- Oeno annexed by the United Kingdom
- 1938
- Incorporated into the Pitcairn Islands colony
- 1997
- Polynesian Rats exterminated
[edit] References
- ^ The name is not Polynesian but Greek. The island was named after the whaling ship Œno.. However, the islanders pronounce it with three syllables, as if it were Polynesian.
- ^ South Pacific & Micronesia. Lonely Planet. 2006. p. 427. ISBN 1-74104-304-2. "Unless you've got your own yacht, your only chance of getting to Oeno is in January, when Pitcairners fit out two of their longboats with essential supplies and swap everyday life on Pitcairn for a fortnight's summer holiday on Oeno."
- ^ Fresh water is pumped out of a well dug in the sand – library.puc.edu
- ^ BirdLife International. (2012). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Oeno Island. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 2012-01-21.
- ^ http://www.winthrop.dk/wildwave.html
[edit] External links
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/oʊˈiːnoʊ/ oh-EE-noh)[1] or Holiday Island is a coral atoll in the South Pacific Ocean, part of the Pitcairn Islands overseas territory.
