Text by Nicole Bouglouan
Sources of the text:
Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia
The Salas y Gómez and Nazca ridges: a global diversity hotspot in need of protection
The mysterious flora of the small and remote island of Motu Motiro Hiva – Salas y Gómez
Seabirds of Easter Island, Salas y Gómez Island and Desventuradas Islands, southeastern Pacific Ocean
Isla Salas y Gomez – David Grant
Bird species list:
Name of the species: Avibase (Denis Lepage)
Black-bellied Storm-Petrel - Fregetta tropica - Océanite à ventre noir
Brown Noddy - Anous stolidus - Noddi brun
Cape Petrel - Daption capense - Damier du Cap
Christmas Shearwater – Puffinus nativitatis – Puffin de la Nativité
Cocos Booby – Sula brewsteri – Fou des Cocos
Cook's Petrel - Pterodroma cookii - Pétrel de Cook
Chatham Island Albatross - Thalassarche eremita - Albatros des Chatham
Great Frigatebird - Fregata minor - Frégate du Pacifique
Grey-backed Tern or Spectacled Tern - Onychoprion lunatus - Sterne à dos gris
Grey Noddy - Anous albivitta - Noddi gris
Herald Petrel – Pterodroma heraldica – Pétrel du Herald
Juan Fernandez Petrel - Pterodroma externa - Pétrel de Juan Fernandez
Kermadec Petrel - Pterodroma neglecta - Pétrel des Kermadec
Lesser Noddy - Anous tenuirostris - Noddi marianne
Masked Booby - Sula dactylatra - Fou masqué
Murphy’s Petrel – Pterodroma ultima – Pétrel de Murphy
Polynesian Storm-Petrel – Nesofregetta fuliginosa – Océanite à gorge blanche
Red-billed Tropicbird – Phaethon aethereus – Phaéton à bec rouge
Red-footed Booby – Sula sula – Fou à pieds rouges
Red-tailed Tropicbird - Phaethon rubricauda - Phaéton à brins rouges
Slender-billed Prion or Thin-billed Prion - Pachyptila belcheri - Prion de Belcher
Sooty Shearwater - Ardenna grisea - Puffin fuligineux
Sooty Tern - Onychoprion fuscatus - Sterne fuligineuse
Southern Giant Petrel - Macronectes giganteus - Pétrel géant
White-bellied Storm-Petrel - Fregetta grallaria - Océanite à ventre blanc
White Tern – Gygis alba – Gygis blanche
Wilson’s Storm-Petrel - Oceanites oceanicus - Océanite de Wilson
SALAS Y GOMEZ ISLAND BIRD SPECIES
Lost in the Pacific Ocean, the small, uninhabited Chilean Salas y Gomez Island is sometimes considered the easternmost point in the Polynesian Triangle. It is located 3,210 km W of Chile, 2,490 km W of Desventuradas Islands, 2,656 km W of Juan Fernández Islands, 3,226 km S of the Galapagos Islands, and 391 km E-NE of Easter Island.
Cocos Booby
Roger Ahlman
Pbase Galleries Peru and Ecuador
Salas y Gomez Island consists of two rocks, the smaller one in the west with an area of 4 hectares, and the larger one in the east, measuring 11 hectares, both connected by a narrow isthmus in the north of about 30 metres in width.
The highest point is 30 metres above the sea-level, less than 30 metres from the shore. It is above a cliff of 10 metres high, in the south of the eastern rock. On the western rock, the highest point is 26 metres high.
Salas y Gomez is a volcanic island. It is the summit of a large mountain rising about 3,500 metres from the sea bed.
The name Salas y Gomez pays tribute to the Spanish José Salas Valdés and José Manuel Gomez who described the island for the first time, following a visit beginning in October 1805.
Tom Merigan
Tom Merigan’s Photo Galleries
Several seabirds use the island as a rookery. A total of 20 species have been recorded, with at least 10 of them which have been observed breeding and nesting on the island.
There are no permanent sources of fresh water, but this large population can survive thanks to an intermittent rainwater pool in a depression located on the eastern rock.
Among the species frequently seen on the island, the Christmas Shearwater, the Masked Booby, the Brown Noddy, the Sooty Tern and the Great Frigatebird are of special interest.
Otto Plantema
Trips around the world
Salas y Gomez Island is largely barren with no forests. Between the only four species of terrestrial plants, we can find Asplenium obtusatum (Aspleniaceae), a small fern with coriaceous fronds growing in protected areas at higher elevation. A second species, Portulaca oleracea (Portulacaceae), is a succulent herb with thick fleshy stems and small yellow flowers. The third one is the succulent herb Sesuvium portulacastrum (Aizoaceae) with red to green stems and pale lavender flowers forming dense mats on the ground. And finally, another plant was found, related, but very different from Parietaria debilis (Urticaceae). It is small, less than 20 cm, with fleshy stems and small flowers without a corolla, found in axillary short inflorescences.
On October 6, 2010, a Marine Protected Area of 150,000 km² was created by President Sebastián Piñera, and named Parque Sala y Gomez or Parque Marino Motu Motiro Hiva (local name).
Alan & Ann Tate
AA Bird Photography