Gough Island

The island was first named Ilha de Gonçalo Álvares on Portuguese maps. Gonçalo Álvares was a Portuguese explorer who discovered the island 1505. Confusion of the unusual Portuguese saint name Gonçalo with Spanish Diego led to the misnomer Diego Alvarez Island in English-language sources from the 1800s to 1930s.[5][6][7] However, the most likely explanation is that it was simply a misreading of "Is de Go Alvarez", the name by which the island is represented on some of the early charts, the "de Go" mutating into "Diego".[8]

The name "Gough island" refers to the British mariner Captain Charles Gough of the Richmond, who sighted the island in 1732.

The details of the discovery of Gough Island are unclear, but the most likely occasion is July 1505 by the Portuguese explorer Gonçalo Álvares.[9] Maps during the next three centuries named the island after him. On some later maps, this was erroneously given as Diego Alvarez.

According to some historians, the British merchant Anthony de la Roché was the first to land on the island, in the austral autumn of 1675.[10][11][12]

Charles Gough rediscovered the island on 3 March 1732, thinking it was a new find.[13] It had been named Gonçalo Álvares since 1505 after the captain of Vasco da Gama's flagship on his epic voyage to the east, and under this name it was marked with reasonable accuracy on the charts of the South Atlantic during the following 230 or so years. Then, in 1732, Captain Gough of the British ship Richmond reported the discovery of a new island, which he placed 400 miles to the east of Gonçalo Álvares. Fifty years later cartographers realised that the two islands were the same, and despite the priority of the Portuguese discovery, and the greater accuracy of the position given by them, "Gough's Island" was the name adopted.[14]

In the early 19th century, sealers sometimes briefly inhabited the island. The earliest known example is a sealing gang from the U.S. ship Rambler (Captain Joseph Bowditch) which remained on the island in the 1804–1805 season.[15] The sealing era lasted from 1804 to 1910 during which 34 sealing vessels are known to have visited the island, one of which was lost offshore.[16]

The Scottish National Antarctic Expedition on the Scotia made the first visit to the island by a scientific party on 21 April 1904, when William Speirs Bruce and others collected specimens.[17] The Shackleton–Rowett Expedition also stopped at the island in 1922.[18] There was a brief period of human occupation for two years from 1936 to 1938 when farming was done to hunt for birds, their eggs, and to extract driftwood, guano and apples.[19]

Gough Island was formally claimed in 1938 for the United Kingdom, during a visit by HMS Milford of the Royal Navy.[20]

In 1995, the island was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 2004, the site was extended to include Inaccessible Island and the marine zone of Gough Island was extended from 3 to 12 miles. The site was renamed Gough and Inaccessible Islands. The selection criteria for the site do not include its geomorphic interest. As it happens, Gough and Inaccessible Islands are included in a possible "serial trans-boundary nomination" for the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which would include other volcanic sites in the Atlantic.[21]

Gough Island is the only land outside South America from which the solar eclipse of 12 September 2034 (excluding partial phases), will be visible; the centre of the path of totality crosses over the island.

One of the most remote islands in the world, Gough Island is in the South Atlantic Ocean. While the central part of the island is a plateau, the western part has a highland with the peaks and cliffs rising over 350 metres. Gough Island is roughly rectangular with a length of 13 km (8.1 mi) and a width of 7 km (4.3 mi). It has an area of 91 km² (35 sq mi) and rises to a highest point over 900 m (3,000 ft) above sea level.[22] Glens cut deep into the inland mountains from the northern and eastern sides.[23] Geological formations on the island are of volcanic origin.[23]

Topographic features include its highest peak, Edinburgh Peak (2,986 ft (910 m)), as well as Hags Tooth, Mount Rowett, Sea Elephant Bay, Quest Bay, and Hawkins Bay.[24][23]

Surrounding Gough are small satellite islands and rocks, such as Southwest Island, Saddle Island (to the South), Tristiana Rock, Isolda Rock (West), Round Island, Cone Island, Lot's Wife, Church Rock (North), Penguin Island (Northeast), and The Admirals (East).[24]

The average temperature is 12 °C (54 °F) while the average rainfall is 3,000 mm (120 in). Snow falls in the highlands in winter.[25]

The fern Blechnum and tree Phylica on Gough Island

Gough and Inaccessible Island are a protected wildlife reserve, which has been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.[30] It has been described as one of the least disrupted ecosystems of its kind and one of the best shelters for nesting seabirds in the Atlantic. In particular, it is host to almost the entire world population of the Tristan albatross (Diomedea dabbenena) and the Atlantic petrel (Pterodroma incerta).[31] The island is also home to the almost flightless Gough moorhen,[32] and the critically endangered Gough bunting.

Birds

A male Gough Bunting on the island

The island has been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International for its endemic landbirds and as a breeding site for seabirds. Birds for which the IBA has conservation significance include northern rockhopper penguins (30,000 breeding pairs), Tristan albatrosses (1,500–2,000 pairs), sooty albatrosses (5,000 pairs), Atlantic yellow-nosed albatrosses (5,000 pairs), broad-billed prions (1,750,000 pairs), Kerguelen petrels (20,000 pairs), soft-plumaged petrels (400,000 pairs), Atlantic petrels (900,000 pairs), great-winged petrels (5,000 pairs), grey petrels (10,000 pairs), great shearwaters (100,000 pairs), little shearwaters (10,000 pairs), grey-backed storm petrels (10,000 pairs), white-faced storm petrels (10,000 pairs), white-bellied storm petrels (10,000 pairs), Antarctic terns (500 pairs), southern skuas (500 pairs), Gough moorhens (2,500 pairs) and Gough buntings (3,000 individuals).[33]

Mammals

Elephant seal at Gough Island depicted on a 1954 Tristan da Cunha stamp

The island has a large breeding population of subantarctic fur seals and some southern right whales still migrate around the island.

House mice are currently present on the island (see Invasive Species).

A weather station has been operating on Gough Island since 1956. It is operated as part of the network of the South African Weather Service. Because cold fronts approach South Africa from the south-west, the Gough station is particularly important in forecasting winter weather. Initially it was housed in the station at The Glen, but moved in 1963 to the South lowlands of the island, more precisely 40°20′59″S 9°52′49″W. The new location improved the validity and reliability of the data acquired for use in modelling.

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  Relief map
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  Orthographic projection
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  Satellite map

• South African National Antarctic Programme – Government research programme
• SANAE – South African National Antarctic Expedition
• Marion Island – The larger of the Prince Edward Islands
• S. A. Agulhas – South African ice-strengthened training ship and former polar research vessel
• S. A. Agulhas II – Icebreaking polar supply and research ship
• Nigel Morritt Wace – British Royal Marine, botanist and subantarctic guide

• www.goughisland.com – The Gough Island Restoration Project website
• Gough Island Gallery
• Facebook Groups – Gough Island team discussions
• Gough and Inaccessible Islands – UNESCO wildlife reserve publication
• Photographs of Gough Island – Flickr publication by Chantal van Staden.