Canton Island

Coordinates: 02°48′38″S 171°40′32″W / 2.81056°S 171.67556°W / -2.81056; -171.67556
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Canton Island
Native name:
Kanton or Abariringa
Canton Island, visible color satellite image
Canton Island location map
Canton Island is located in Kiribati
Canton Island
Canton Island
Location in Kiribati
Canton Island is located in Oceania
Canton Island
Canton Island
Location in Oceania
Canton Island is located in Pacific Ocean
Canton Island
Canton Island
Location in the Pacific
Geography
LocationPacific Ocean
Coordinates02°48′38″S 171°40′32″W / 2.81056°S 171.67556°W / -2.81056; -171.67556
Area9.2 km2 (3.6 sq mi)
Kiribati
Administrative divisionKanton
Largest Island settlementTebaronga (pop. 41)

Canton Island (also known as Kanton or Abariringa), previously known as Mary Island, Mary Balcout's Island or Swallow Island, is the largest, northernmost, and as of 2020, the sole inhabited island of the Phoenix Islands, in the Republic of Kiribati. It is an atoll located in the South Pacific Ocean roughly halfway between Hawaii and Fiji. The island is a narrow ribbon of land around a lagoon; an area of 40 km2 (15 sq mi). Canton's closest neighbour is the uninhabited Enderbury Island, 63 km (39 mi) west-southwest. The capital of Kiribati, South Tarawa, lies 1,765 km (1,097 mi) to the west. As of 2015, the population was 20, down from 61 in 2000.[1][2] The island's sole village, Tebaronga, is located on the northwest point, below the airstrip.

Kiribati declared the Phoenix Islands Protected Area in 2006, with the park being expanded in 2008. The 425,300 km2 (164,200 sq mi) marine reserve contains eight coral atolls, including Canton.[3][4] Because it is inhabited, management of Canton Island is described in the Canton Resource Use Sustainability Plan (KRUSP), which covers a 12 nmi (22 km; 14 mi) radius around the atoll. Over 50% of the island and lagoon are protected in a conservation zone.[5]

Discovery and toponymy of Canton Island

Mary (Hill) Boulcott (1786 - 1858)
John E. Boulcott (1784 -1855)

On 5 August 1824, the whaler Phœnix of London (master John Palmer) in the company of whaler Mary of London, came to a low and barren island with a spacious lagoon, in latitude 2° 48ʹ S and longitude 172° 10ʹ W, and it was named "Mary Ballcotts Island". H.E. Maude and Niel Gunson both assumed this to be the whaler Mary, owned by John Lydekker (1778–1832), and that her captain Edward Reed Lacy had reported the island. The entry for 5 August 1824 of that Mary's logbook, however, mentions no discovery, nor a ship Phœnix. The ship Mary truly there that day (her master presumably Abijah Lock) was another whaler from London, owned by Hill, Boulcott & Hill, a firm consisting of the two brothers James & Amon Hill and their brother-in-law John Ellerker Boulcott. The latter was married to a Mary Boulcott, née Hill, and it was she for whom this island was named. Ever since it was incorrectly penned down as "Mary Ballcotts Island" in William Dalton's journal, it has appeared with deviated spelling in books and on charts as Mary-Bulrock, Mary Balcout, Marie Ballcout, etc.[6][7]

Modern Canton derives its name from the New Bedford whaler Canton, which was wrecked on its outer shore in early March 1854. Captain Andrew Johnson Wing (1820–1897) and his full crew managed to save not only themselves but also four small whaleboats and scanty provisions. In late March, the 31 men tried their luck by putting to sea in the four open boats and made their way northwest for 49 days straight when finally they reached safety in Guam, 2,900 nautical miles from where they had started.[8] Kanton is spelled with a K in the Gilbertese language, which has no letter C. The two versions of the name exist in the Constitution of 1979.

Geography, flora and fauna

Canton's flora and fauna

Canton has been described as being shaped like a large pork chop.[9] From its northwest to southeast points is a distance of 14.5 km (9.0 mi), while the land rim varies in width from 50–600 m (160–2,000 ft) and 1.5–7 m (5–25 ft) in elevation. The southeast corner of the island is known as "Pyramid Point." The sole entrances to the lagoon are on the west side, with the main channel exhibiting currents of 6–8 knots (3–4 m/s).[10] The lagoon itself is filled with marine life, holding 153 different species of fish,[11] including tuna, sharks, stingrays and eels. An unpaved road runs around the island, though its current state of repair is uncertain. Canton Island Airport (IATA: CIS, ICAO: PCIS) lies at the northwest corner of the island, but it currently lacks any commercial scheduled service. The World Port Index number of Canton Island is 56025.[12]

Entrance to Kanton Island's lagoon. Village site is to the left.

Much of Canton's land surface is bare

Heliotropium foertherianum) and kou (Cordia subcordata) trees, and coconut palms.[9][13] Geoffrey Buddle of the New Zealand solar eclipse expedition of 1937 reported 23 bird species on Canton, together with Polynesian rats, lizards, hermit crabs and turtles. Two species of spiders were found on the island.[14]

Hydnophora rigida corals on Kanton, part of the Phoenix Islands Protected Area

There is no

Pan American World Airways had a large distillation plant on the island when it operated there during the 1940s and 1950s. Rainfall is sparse, averaging 8.71–35.97 in (221–914 mm) between 1938 and 1953,[15]
though later reports suggest a wetter climate in recent years.

Canton's reefs

The 2000 surveys (Obura, et al.) identified that at the entrance to the lagoon very strong tidal flows pass through with extensive coral gardens extending for a radius of approximately two km (1.2 mi) from the channel. At about 4 km (2.5 mi) inside of the channel, the lagoon is crossed by four north–south reef ledges, which reduce water flow and suppress coral growth.[16] The coral gardens zone contains Acropora tables and Acroporidae (staghorn corals), growing over a sandy bottom. Coral communities were more highly developed on the Kanton reefs than on other islands in the Phoenix Group. The high end LCC for some sites was greater than 50% and approaching 100% on some small patch reefs.[16] The average conditions with 30-40% LCC, with a relatively high abundance of coral rubble, sand, with turf and fleshy algae. Coralline algae and Halimeda were less abundant than at Nikumaroro or McKean.[16] The most abundant coral species at Kanton included: Acroporidae (staghorn corals), Acropora cytherea, Montipora efflorescens, Goniastrea stelligera, Echinopora lamellosa, Leptastrea purpurea, Pocillopora verrucosa, Millepora platyphylla, Pavona explanulata and Pavona varians.[16]

History

British claims

The

order in council issued in March 1937 including Canton and other Phoenix Islands in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands
Colony, with the British making several visits to the island culminating in the placement of two radio operators on Canton on 31 August 1937.

Americans arrive

Rusting fire truck on Canton Island, 2008.

On

HMS Wellington fired a shot across the bow of the USS Avocet, when the latter refused to cede the choicest anchorage spot to the British vessel.[17] The American ship allegedly responded in kind, following which both captains agreed to "cease fire" until instructions could be received from their respective governments. Washington and London quickly ordered no further escalation, and both parties observed the solar eclipse together, "though officially a bit cool."[18]

In response to the British reoccupation of Canton in August 1937, seven Americans from the

Franklin Roosevelt had formally placed the island under control of the U.S. Interior department on 3 March 1938. Both parties continued to press their competing claims until 6 April 1939, when the U.S. and Britain agreed to hold Canton under joint control for the next fifty years as the Canton and Enderbury Islands condominium. The U.S./U.K. tenure proved cordial and cooperative thereafter, with each party enjoying the other's hospitality and working together to ensure smooth operation of island facilities. A United States office was open between 1940 and 1965 and from 1970.[19]
Canton Island Post Office opened on 25 January 1941 and closed around February 1968.

Airplane oasis

Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) arrived on Canton on 18 May 1939, to build facilities for their planned New Zealand flying boat service.[9] Service commenced on 12 July 1940 with the Boeing 314 Clipper flying boat aircraft. On 4 December 1941, the Pacific Clipper departed Kanton for New Caledonia
as the final civilian flight before the United States joined the war.

Aerial view of Canton Island showing SS President Taylor grounded in an entrance to the lagoon (1945)

World War II

During

Roman Catholic chaplain in this area of the Pacific.[23]

Post War Administration and international airline service

In November 1946,

National Geographic magazine visited the island and highlighted it in the magazine's January 1955 issue.[25]

Vice-president

flag stop service on demand into Canton Island via its scheduled passenger flight between Honolulu and Pago Pago operated with Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation propliners.[29]

Ultimately, the introduction of long-range jet aircraft spelled the end of Canton's usefulness as an aircraft refueling station, and all airlines ended their operations there by the late 1950s—except for Pan Am, which continued a monthly service with

Douglas DC-7C prop aircraft via Auckland, Nadi, Pago Pago, Kanton, Honolulu and return. This service was conducted using the outbased DC-7C aircraft N743PA and N744PA, which provided feeder service from Auckland to three points on the jet service schedules. The last Pan Am flight was in November 1965 when the final DC-7C returned to Miami after the opening of a new airport in Auckland, enabling New Zealand to be added to Pan Am's Boeing 707
jet routes. Canton's airport remained operational, however, as an emergency landing field.

House on Canton Island, 2008.

After the airlines

In 1960 a tracking station for the

Mercury program was built on Canton, and used through November 1965. The U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Space and Missile Systems Organization continued to use the island for missile-tracking operations through 1976. That year marked the complete end of the American presence; the airfield was abandoned and all U.S. personnel were removed.[30] The British closed their post office, ending their presence on Canton as well. With the independence of Kiribati from Britain in 1979, the Anglo-American condominium was formally terminated, and the island transferred to Kiribati sovereignty. Canton's post office was reopened by the Kiribati government, and the island was repopulated with a few people from the more crowded atolls of the Gilbert Islands

Canton is occasionally visited by Republic of Kiribati vessels, the

Global Seismographic Network, IU KNTN, hosted by the Kiribati Weather Service was established in 2007 with current data shown as of August 2016.[33]

In 2010, a British yachtsman and his crew, who were sailing from Hawaii to Australia, stopped at Canton and discovered the 24 islanders (14 adults and 10 children

UK Coastguard, who contacted the U.S. Coast Guard to arrange relief supplies.[34][35]

See also

Notes

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kanton Island.
  1. ^ "Pacific Regional Statistics - Secretariat of the Pacific Community" (PDF). www.spc.int. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  2. ^ Morate, Orebwa (1 September 2016). "2015 Population and Housing Census" (PDF). Bairiki: National Statistics Office. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  3. ^ Howard, Brian Clark (16 June 2014). "Pacific nation bans fishing in one of world's largest marine parks". National Geographic News. Archived from the original on 19 June 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  4. ^ "Phoenix Islands Protected Area". Government of Kiribati. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  5. doi:10.13140/RG.2.2.34466.99528.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  6. ^ Dehner, Steve (2019). THE ARMCHAIR NAVIGATOR I: Supplements to Post-Spanish Discoveries in The Pacific.
  7. ISBN 9780642105059
    .
  8. ^ Dehner, Steve (2019). The Armchair Navigator I.
  9. ^ a b c d Resture, Jane. "Canton Island (Kanton - Abariringa) Phoenix Group, Kiribati". Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  10. ^ Degener & Gillaspy, p. 2.
  11. ^ Coral and Fish Summary, pcrf.org "Phoenix Islands". Archived from the original on 22 November 2008. Retrieved 29 June 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  12. ^ "World Port Index" (PDF).
  13. ^ Bryan, p. 46.
  14. ^ Degener & Gillaspy, pp. 47–48.
  15. ^ Degener & Gillaspy, p. 5.
  16. ^
    doi:10.5479/si.00775630.589.1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 3 April 2021.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  17. ^ Degener & Gillaspy, pp. 8–9.
  18. ^ Degener & Gillaspy, p. 10.
  19. ^ Premier Postal History. "Post Office List". Premier Postal Auctions. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  20. ^ "Pacific Wrecks". PacificWrecks.com. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  21. ^ Degener & Gillaspy, p. 11.
  22. ^ "Account by Harold Mendelson, who was stationed on Canton during World War II".
  23. S2CID 159945058
    .
  24. ^ Degener & Gillaspy, p. 12.
  25. National Geographic Magazine
    . pp. 117–132.
  26. ^ "RNZI Airs new Radio Heritage Feature - The Lost Nixon Tape - KIBS Canton Island 1953" (PDF). Radio Heritage Foundation. 8 October 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  27. ^ "Sounds Historical - 16 June 2013 - Show Notes - 8:23 Mr and Mrs Nixon". Radio New Zealand. 16 June 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  28. ^ "Pan American World Airways system timetable". 1 July 1956.
  29. ^ "South Pacific Air Lines - SPAL".
  30. ^ The Kanton Missiontighar.org
  31. ^ "Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA)". www.phoenixislands.org. Archived from the original on 5 August 2011. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  32. ^ "Unesco: Tentative entry for Phoenix Islands World Heritage Area".
  33. ^ "Seismic Network Operations, IU KNTN, Kanton, Kiritibat (Site)". Global Seismographic Network. U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  34. ^ a b Morris, Steven (10 May 2010). "British sailor saves Kanton islanders from starvation". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  35. ^ a b c "Kanton islanders resupplied thanks to Cornwall sailor". BBC News. 9 May 2010. Retrieved 9 May 2010.

References

External links

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