Speaking of Prince Edward Island, many people's first reaction is that the smallest province on the east coast of Canada, which is known as st. Lawrence Bay Park, is well known as Canada's most encouraged province for investment immigration. In fact, in the southwest Indian Ocean, near Antarctica, there is also a Prince Edward Island, which forms the Prince Edward Islands with the neighboring Marion Island, and this archipelago is South Africa's only overseas territory, the best springboard for exploring the Antarctic continent in the future.
The Prince Edward Islands are located at the southwestern tip of the Indian Ocean ridge, to the east of the Agaras Basin, 2,130 km southeast of Cape Town, South Africa.
The Prince Edward Islands in the Devil's West Wind Belt
The Prince Edward Islands are located at 37°51′09"E, 46°46′23"S, at the southwestern tip of the Indian Ocean Ridge, to the east of the Agaras Basin, 2,130 km southeast of Cape Town, South Africa, about 960 km from the French Croze Islands and about 2,300 km south of Embide, Antarctica. The archipelago consists of two islands, Prince Edward Island and Marion Island, which are about 22 kilometers apart.
The Prince Edward Islands are about 960 km from the French Croze Islands and about 2,300 km south of Embid, Antarctica.
The Prince Edward Islands are made up of two islands, Prince Edward Island and Marion Island, which are about 22 kilometers apart.
Marion Island is larger than Prince Edward Island, about 298 square kilometers, while Prince Edward Island is only 45 square kilometers, and because both are formed by volcanic activity, there are steep cliffs along the northwest and southwest coasts, with a central uplift at an altitude of 722 meters. Due to its location in the center of westerly drifting, Prince Edward Island has a subarctic oceanic climate, with cold and windy and rainy weather throughout the year, rare sunny weather, with an average annual rainfall of 2400-3000 mm, almost 320 days of the year, and an average annual temperature of only 4.4 °C.
Grey head falls on Marion Island in the Prince Edward Islands
However, due to the influence of the ocean, in addition to the rainy, the temperature in winter and summer is not much different, with the average temperature in February in summer being 8.3 °C, and the average temperature in August in winter being 3.9 °C. This cold and humid environment is the same as that of the French island of Kelguelan. In fact, the Prince Edward Islands, like Kay Island, are mostly covered with grass and moss, but also have a distribution of kyrgylange cabbage, but no trees. The island is home to many seabirds, seals and penguins, and is often inhabited by orcas.
The Prince Edward Islands are home to many seabirds, seals and penguins, and there are often orcas in the surrounding area.
The island is home to many seabirds, seals and penguins, and is often inhabited by orcas.
The solitary Territory of South Africa
Prince Edward Island was first discovered in 1663 by a Dutch merchant ship, but only by discovery. It was not until more than a hundred years later, in 1772, that the French explorer Mark Joseph Marion rediscovered the site and stayed on the island for five days, and in 1776 the British Captain Cook sailed there and named the island after Prince Edward, the fourth son of King George III of England. Later, in 1908, the British established their first village off the northern coast of Prince Edward Island and hunted walruses on the island to process walrus oil.
Boat Bay on Marion Island in the Prince Edward Islands
Marion Island, one of the main islands of the Prince Edward Islands
Prince Edward Island has been a British colony ever since, but after 1926, it remained unoccupied due to the evacuation of hunters on the island. It was not until After World War II, in order to seek national defense security and maritime safety, South Africa and the United Kingdom reached a transfer agreement with the Prince Edward Islands in 1947, and a year later, the island officially became An overseas territory of South Africa. In the same year, South Africa built a meteorological observatory on Marion Island, but only researchers were stationed on the island regularly.
In 1948, South Africa built a meteorological observatory on Marion Island, but only researchers were stationed on the island regularly.
In 2001, South Africa built a new research base on Marion Island and a helipad was established.
As an untapped virgin land, Prince Edward Island is an important biodiversity hotspot in the world, home to a variety of marine life such as albatrosses, penguins and killer whales, so from 1960 onwards, South Africa gradually increased its investigation of the Prince Edward Islands as a site for research, supervision and protection of genetic resources, and in 2001 a new research base was built and a helipad was established.
In 2009, South Africa will build one of the world's largest marine protected areas on Prince Edward Island.
A new research base was built in 2001 and a helipad was established.
In 2009, one of the world's largest marine protected areas will be built in Prince Edward Island, which is composed of no-fishing areas, restricted areas and controlled areas, of which any form of fishing activity is strictly prohibited in the no-fishing area, and only 3 of the 4 restricted areas can be used for limited fishing for scientific purposes. Although the waters of the Prince Edward Islands have been protected in an unprecedented manner, the situation on the islands is not optimistic.
The black-faced sheathed gull on Prince Edward Island
Giant petrels on Prince Edward Island
Due to the neglect of foreign species when early humans landed on the island, the rats that came with the ship bred on the island because of the lack of natural enemies, and the eggs and chicks of the island birds were deeply affected, and later humans introduced cats to solve the rat infestation, but unfortunately, because the seabirds on the Prince Edward Islands had never seen this creature, the cat gave up the mouse that was difficult to catch, and instead let more seabirds suffer. According to statistics, there are at least 2,500 cats on Marion Island alone, resulting in an average of 600,000 seabirds being eaten every year.
How should the sub-Antarctic animals that have lived here for thousands of years face this change?
This is the Prince Edward Islands, an island of the same name but with a different fate than the hot land of immigrants from the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada, and the strategic fulcrum of south Africa overseas for three seas. In the future, with the deepening of Antarctic meteorological research, the Prince Edward Islands will inevitably shoulder more scientific research projects, and how should those sub-Antarctic animals that have lived here for thousands of years face this change? You know, the world is going to change.
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