Today we're going to be looking at a bit of a special place. The most populated island in the
world, and here's the kicker. This island doesn't have a permanent human population,
and is also considered one of the most remote islands on earth, and today,
we will be delving into the history of Henderson Island.
Henderson Island was first settled by the Polynesians in the 9th century, though by
the time of European arrival in the 17th century, the island had been fully abandoned. While the
reason isn't fully known as to the reason for the abandonment, it is expected that the 11th
century civil war on Mangareva, prevented regular supplies to the outlaying Polynesian colonies,
and they left due to the need for survival. The first European to spot the island would be
Portuguese captain Pedro Fernandes de Queir s in 1606, who was on an expedition to find the fabled
southern land of... Australia. Ya know, standards for fabled lands really went downhill fast,
first it was Atlantis, then it was the Fountain of Youth, and now.. Australia.
It would be another 200 years before Europeans took note of the island again,
when Englishmen Captain Henry King landed on March the 18th of 1819.
Henry King would name the island Henderson after his ship, and planted the kings colors.
Historical fun fact time! On November the 20th of 1820, a sperm whale sank the American whaling ship
Essex off the coast of the island, stranding 20 men on Henderson, due to limited supplies,
17 of the 20 men went off in small whaling boats to South America,
leaving behind Thomas Chappel, Seth Weeks and William Wright to survive on the island
until their eventual rescue in April the following year. The tale of the Essex sinking
and the survival of these three men, inspired Novelist Herman Melville to write Moby-Dick.
Now, after the three survivors left in 1821, no one would return to Henderson island until 1902,
when Captain G. F. Jones came cross the island and went hey,
this is British now , formally annexing the island into the British empire, with it joining
the other three islands of Pitcairn, Ducie, and Oeno to form the British Pitcairn island colony.
A few Americans would attempt to use the island either as a publicity stunt
or try to build a mansion on the island, but ultimately,
the local ecosystem has been largely untouched by human hands. Well.. That is except for this.
Henderson Island holds the title for the most polluted island on earth, and it's shocking
to think about considering that it hasn't had an established human presence for hundreds of years.
Yet, plastic will always find a way. The island is located right within the South Pacific Gyre
pattern of ocean currents on earth. Even though Henderson was designated as a UNESCO site in
1988, It's estimated that roughly 18 tonnes worth of debris is on the island,
with hundreds of items washing ashore every single day. The UK government did sent an
expedition in 2019 to clean up the island as much as they could, but weather conditions only
allowed 6 tonnes to be removed at the time, with future expeditions being delayed due to COVID.
It came into the news recently, when researchers on HMS Spey discovered that the island had been
incorrectly marked for the last 85 years, being a mile off from original charts.
Regardless, Henderson Island shows that even an area that doesn't have a permanent population, is
affected by our actions, and why it is important to realize that your actions have an impact.