Current Casey Temperature

Macquarie Island is a sub-Antarctic island located in the Southern Ocean. Part of the state of Tasmania, it is 1500 kilometers south east of the island of Tasmania and 1300 kilometers north of the Antarctic continent.

The island is a long, narrow ridge of land 37km long and 5km wide

Macquarie Island is part of Tasmania, it is a nature reserve and is administered by National Parks and Wildlife.

Major scientific programs undertaken in and around Macquarie Island are upper atmospere physics, biology, geoscience, mdicine, meterology and climate change studies.

The station is built on a narrow isthmuth at the north end of the island and consists of more than 30 seperate buildings.

History

vintage pots

On 11th July 1810 the ship 'Perserverence" under Fredrick Hasselberg was taking a sealing gang south to Campbel Island when he discovered another island which he called after Governor Lauchlan MacquarieHasselbergs 's landing lead to the islands exploitation. Its beaches and rocky shores were thick with seals, and it was obviously a potential goldmine.

This was the beginning of several years of intensive slaughter when up to 100,000 fur seals were clubbed to death indiscriminately in a season, when their numbers dwindled the sealers attention turned to the elephant seal, who's copious blubber was boiled down to produce lamp oil.

Bowden. T, The Silence Calling. 1997