Oeno Island
Template:Short description Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox Islands
Oeno Island (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell)<ref>The name is not Polynesian but Greek. The island was named after the whaling ship Œno Template:IPAc-en. However, the islanders pronounce as if each vowel letter were a syllable, as in Polynesian names.</ref> or Holiday Island<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> is an uninhabited coral atoll in the South Pacific Ocean, part of the Pitcairn Islands overseas territory. It is part of the Pitcairn Island Group, together with Pitcairn, Henderson and Ducie islands.
Geography
Oeno Island is located Template:Convert northwest of Pitcairn Island, at Template:Coord. Oeno Atoll measures about Template:Convert in diameter, including the central lagoon, with a total area exceeding Template:Convert. There are two larger and three smaller islets on or within the rim of the atoll. Their aggregate land area is only Template:Convert. Oeno serves as a private holiday site for the few residents of Pitcairn Island, who travel there and stay for two weeks in January because Oeno has beaches while Pitcairn doesn't.<ref> Template:Cite book</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The main island (Oeno Island), about Template:Convert in area, has forest and scrub with pandanus and palm trees. It is located in the southwest part of the atoll's lagoon. There is a water tap installed on the island.<ref>Fresh water is pumped out of a well dug in the sand Template:Webarchive – library.puc.edu</ref> The maximum elevation is less than Template:Convert. Sandy Island (or Islands) is to the northeast, within the lagoon, and may be an ephemeral island. Three smaller islets are to the south and west of the main island.
Important Bird Area
The island has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA) principally for its colony of Murphy's petrels, which, at some 12,500 pairs, is estimated to be the second largest colony of these birds in the world.<ref name="BirdLife Oeno Island">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Maps
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Map of Oeno Island
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Map of Pitcairn Islands
History
- January 1819: Captain James Henderson of the British East India Company ship Hercules sights Oeno Island
- 1822–1823 Captain Ralph Bond in sealing brig Martha of London saw this island, presumably in the summer/autumn of 1822.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- 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 ship sailing from San Francisco, is wrecked on Oeno's reef<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- 1875: The Khandeish is wrecked on Oeno<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- 23 August 1883: The Oregon is wrecked on Oeno<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- April 1893: The Bowdon is wrecked on Oeno
- 10 July 1902: Oeno is annexed by the United Kingdom
- 1938: Oeno is incorporated into the Pitcairn Islands colony
- 1997: Polynesian rats are exterminated
- 2 July 2019: Oeno Island experienced a total solar eclipse<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref>
See also
References
External links
- Oeno Photo Tour – Pitcairners spending holidays on the island
- Island Evolution: Oeno Island from NASA Earth Observatory
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Template:Pitcairn Template:Outlying territories of European countries