The Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands are located in the southern Indian Ocean about two-thirds of the way between Madagascar and Antarctica. They cover 412 square kilometres. Heard Island is 42 km in length and is dominated by the active volcano Big Ben. This is Australia's highest mountain (2,745m). Permanent ice covers most of the island and glaciers descend to the sea on all sides of Big Ben. The McDonald Islands group is not permanently snow covered, but the steep cliffs around the coastline make access difficult from the sea. In 1992 McDonald Island began to erupt becoming Australia's second active volcano.
History
The earliest claimed sighting of Heard Island was by British sailor Peter Kemp in 1833. The next recorded sighting was in 1853 by an American whaler named Heard. The first landing was made in 1855 and regular visits took place over the next 30 years by which time the seals had been all but exterminated. Several American schooners were wrecked during this period.
Following a visit to the island by the German South Polar Expedition in 1902 and Norwegian inquiries about basing a whaling venture there, Heard Island and the McDonald Islands were annexed by Britain in 1908. In 1947 sovereignty over the island group was transferred to become Australia’s Territory of Heard and McDonald Islands and the first Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition established a base at Atlas Cove.
Both Heard Island and the McDonald Islands teem with wildlife, in particular seals, penguins and seabirds. The islands are some of the few remaining areas of the world free from introduced animals or plants. The island is commonly obscured by cloud, so that the first view of it from a ship is often of forbidding cliffs or abrupt headlands looming out of the mist. Fog is frequent around the island, and may prevent boat operations between ship and shore for several days at a time. Gales above 100 km/h are frequent in all seasons, and can arise astonishingly quickly. Travel on Heard Island is usually limited to walking. Atlas Cove, Corinthian Bay, West and Southwest Bay are separated by a flat area of shingle and sand.
Heard Island and nearby McDonald Islands were inscribed on the World Heritage List in December 1997 for their outstanding natural beauty and examples representing major stages of the earth's history and significant ongoing ecological and biological processes.
Figure 57 - Heard Island from Laurens Peninsula
Figure 58 - Heard Island
Figure 59 - Heard Island Location