Curtis Island (New Zealand)

Curtis Island

Geography
Coordinates	30°33′S 178°34′W
Archipelago	Kermadec Islands
Area	40 ha (99 acres)
Highest elevation	130 m (430 ft)
Administration
New Zealand

Curtis Island Crater

Curtis Island is an island in the southwest Pacific (located at 30°33′S 178°34′W). It is a volcanic island with an elevation of 130 m (427 ft) and an area of 40 ha (99 acres). Together with neighboring Cheeseman Island it belongs to the Kermadec Islands. Politically it is part of New Zealand. The Kermadec Islands lie halfway between North Island, New Zealand and Tonga at approximately the latitude of the Gold Coast, Queensland.

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. 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. 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.

See also

• List of islands of New Zealand
• List of volcanoes in New Zealand

References

• Greene, T.C.; Scofield, R.P.; Dilks, P.J. (July 2004). Status of Kermadec red-crowned parakeets and the likely effects of a proposed kiore eradication programme. Macauley Island expedition July 2002 (PDF). DOC Science Internal Series 179. Wellington: Department of Conservation, New Zealand. ISBN 0-478-22579-2.

External links

• Kermadec Marine Reserve (New Zealand Department of Conservation)