Starbuck Island, Close to Nowhere

 Starbuck Island

March 2019

South Pacific
Somewhere Between Hawaii and Fanning Island

Starbuck Island is a little 5 x 2 mile island of uplifted reef in the South Pacific close to nothing else. Our captain was excited that we were to pass close to this uninhabited island and announced for all to go to the starboard side with binoculars and cameras. Cruise ships do not normally pass by as the captain had obtained permission to veer off course to entertain us with this "island in the making."

Incidentally, the palm trees are the only discernable vegetation able to be seen with binoculars or zoom lenses so, most of the shots were of the trees.

Starbuck was not named after the coffee company rather, it was named after Valentine Starbuck, a whaler, who sighted the island in 1823.

There is no fresh water on the island and the little vegetation consists of stunted sida fallax scrub, low herbs, and bunch grass.

(picture by Angela Kepler, and public domain)

Starbuck's claim to fame was the harvesting of the Sooty Tern guano from 1870 to 1893. It has been estimated that the Sooty Tern population there ranges from three to six million birds.

I hope the people who mined the guano were well paid as the island was noted for the unbearable screaming of seabirds, extreme heat, and blinding sunlight. (Not even the palm trees were on the island back in the 1800's.)

The close up photos illustrate that the highest point on the island is 5 meters (about 16 feet). Maybe the island will have more shade by the next time we get to go past.