View source for North Keeling

{{Short description|Island in Indian Ocean}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Use Australian English|date=September 2014}}
{{Designation list
| designation1 = Ramsar
| designation1_offname = Pulu Keeling National Park
| designation1_date = 17 March 1996
| designation1_number = 797<ref>{{Cite web|title=Pulu Keeling National Park|website=[[Ramsar Convention|Ramsar]] Sites Information Service|url=https://rsis.ramsar.org/ris/797|access-date=25 April 2018}}</ref>}}
[[File:Cocos (Keeling) Islands-CIA WFB Map.png|thumb|right|Map of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. North Keeling is the uppermost of the islands in the group.]]
[[File:North Keeling Island 01.JPG|thumb|right|North Keeling Island]]
'''North Keeling''' is a small, uninhabited coral atoll, approximately {{convert|1.2|km2}} in area, about {{convert|25|km}} north of [[Horsburgh Island]]. It is the northernmost atoll and island of the [[Australia]]n territory of the [[Cocos (Keeling) Islands]]. It consists of just one C-shaped island, a nearly closed atoll ring with a small opening into the lagoon, about {{convert|50|m}} wide, on the east side. The lagoon is about {{convert|0.5|km2}} in area. The island is home to the only surviving population of the endemic, and endangered, [[Cocos buff-banded rail]], as well as large breeding colonies of [[seabird]]s. Since 1995, North Keeling Island and the surrounding sea to {{convert|1.5|km}} from shore have been within the Pulu Keeling National Park.

==History==
The Cocos (Keeling) Islands are believed to have first been seen by Europeans in 1609 by Captain [[William Keeling]], after whom they are named, of the [[Honourable East India Company|East India Company]] on a journey from [[Java]] in the [[Dutch East Indies]].  North Keeling was sketched by Ekeberg, a Swedish captain, in 1749, showing the presence of [[coconut|coconut palm]]s.  It also appears on a 1789 chart produced by British hydrographer [[Alexander Dalrymple]].<ref name=PKNPMP>{{cite book |year=2004 |title=Pulu Keeling National Park Management Plan |publisher=Australian Government |isbn=0-642-54964-8}}</ref>

North Keeling was visited in 1836 by Captain [[Robert FitzRoy]] and his companion [[Charles Darwin]] in {{HMS|Beagle}}, who was, as with many other visitors, unable to land on the island.

In the 19th century many people suffering from [[Beriberi]] were put ashore at the island. Several graves are present, some from these people, but also from [[shipwreck]]s.

===Battle of Cocos===
{{main|Battle of Cocos}}
[[File:SMS Emden wreck.jpg|thumb|right|The wreck of the ''Emden''; illustration published c. 1925]]
On 9 November 1914, the German cruiser {{SMS|Emden|1906|6}} attacked a wireless and cable station at [[Direction Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands|Direction Island]], attracting the attention of Australian cruiser {{HMAS|Sydney|1912|6}}.<ref name=Frame>{{cite book |last=Frame |first=Tom |author-link=Tom Frame (bishop) |title=No Pleasure Cruise: the story of the Royal Australian Navy |year=2004 |publisher=Allen & Unwin |location=Crows Nest, NSW |isbn=1-74114-233-4 |oclc=55980812 |pages=110–14}}</ref> At 11:20, after an hour-and-a-half-long battle, the heavily damaged ''Emden'' was beached on North Keeling Island.<ref name=Frame/> In 1915, a Japanese company proposed that the ship be repaired and refloated, but an inspection by {{HMAS|Protector|1884|6}} concluded that wave damage to ''Emden'' made such an operation unfeasible.<ref name=Jose>{{Cite book|last=Jose |first=Arthur W. |title=The Royal Australian Navy 1914–1918 |publisher=Angus and Robertson |location=Sydney, NSW |orig-year=1928 |year=1941 |edition=9th |series=The Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918 |volume=IX |oclc=215763279 |url=http://www.awm.gov.au/histories/first_world_war/volume.asp?levelID=67895 |access-date=22 March 2010 |page=207}}</ref> By 1919, there were reports that the wreck had almost completely broken up and disappeared.<ref name=Jose/>

===Seabird hunting===
Between the First and Second World Wars, groups of about 20 [[Cocos Malays]] were stationed on the island for up to a fortnight at a time to harvest timber, coconuts and birds to take back to [[Home Island]]. In the 1970s and 1980s, the acquisition of more efficient boats and [[firearm]]s led to an increase in seabird hunting and concern about its impact on the seabird breeding colonies.

===Pulu Keeling National Park===
{{Anchor|Pulu Keeling National Park}}
In 1986, an agreement was reached between the [[Director of National Parks|Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service]] and the Cocos Malay people to restrict and sustainably manage any further hunting on North Keeling.  In 1989 [[Cyclone John (1989)|Cyclone John]] devastated the [[red-footed booby]] colony on North Keeling and legal hunting ceased to allow the population to recover.  Since then no legal hunting has taken place.<ref name=PKNPMP/>

The Pulu Keeling National Park was established on 12 December 1995. It is important as a breeding island for [[seabird]]s and marine [[turtle]]s. It is home to the endemic [[Cocos buff-banded rail]], ''Gallirallus philippensis andrewsi'' and to the [[Centropyge|Cocos angelfish]].

The national park was declared for the following purposes:
* the preservation of the area in its natural condition, and
* the encouragement and regulation of the appropriate use, appreciation and enjoyment of the area by the public

Access is by permit only.

===Other protected area status===
The island is listed as a [[wetland]] of international importance under the [[Ramsar Convention]] on 17 March 1996, as Ramsar Site 797. The island has also been identified by [[BirdLife International]] as an [[Important Bird Area]] because it supports over 1% of the world populations of [[red-footed booby|red-footed boobies]], [[lesser frigatebird]]s and [[common noddy|common noddies]]. It has what is possibly the largest red-footed booby colony in the world as well as the second largest population of lesser frigatebirds in Australian territory.<ref>BirdLife International. (2011). Important Bird Areas factsheet: North Keeling Island. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 2011-12-24.</ref>

==See also==
* [[Fauna of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
* Boudewijn Büch, Eenzaam, 1992, pp.&nbsp;84–94. {{ISBN|978-90-413-3103-8}}

==External links==
* [http://www.deh.gov.au/parks/cocos/index.html Pulu Keeling National Park]

{{Ramsar sites in Australia}}
{{Protected areas managed by the Australian Government |state=collapsed}}

{{coord|11|50|S|96|49|E|type:waterbody_region:AU|display=title}}

[[Category:Islands of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands]]
[[Category:Ramsar sites in Australia]]
[[Category:1995 establishments in Australia]]
[[Category:Important Bird Areas of Australian External Territories]]
[[Category:Uninhabited islands of Australia]]
[[Category:Important Bird Areas of Indian Ocean islands]]