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Gough Island
last update: Feb 05, 2008 01:02 PM
UK
Gough Island (40°20'S, 10°0'W) was first sighted in 1505 by the Portuguese Gonçalo Alvarez when he was blown south after trying to round the Cape of Good Hope. Because of this, the island is sometimes called Gonzalo Alvarez. British Captain Charles Gough rediscovered the island on 3 March 1732, naming it for himself even though he did not make a landing. Antoine de la Roche made the first landing in May 1675, and sealers first arrived in 1804. A territorial claim was made during a British naval visit in 1938. In 1955 to 1956, British scientists built a small scientific station. In May 1956, the station was transferred to the South African Weather Bureau, and it still makes meteorological observations today. In 1976, Gough Island was declared a Wildlife Reserve, and in 1995, it was also declared a World Heritage Site (the first sub-Antarctic island to become one). Gough Island covers about 65 sq km (14 km long; 7 km wide), and it's highest point, Edinburgh Peak, rises up to 910m. There are no glaciers on the island, and wildlife on it includes the long-crested rockhopper penguin, the Gough bunting, the Gough flightless moorhen, the wandering albatross and the southern elephant seal.
