Disappointment Island

Disappointment Island is one of seven uninhabited islands in the Auckland Islands archipelago. It is 8km from the northwest end of Auckland Island and 290km south of New Zealand. It is home to a colony of white-capped albatrosses. About 65,000 pairs – nearly the entire world population – nest there. Also on the island is the Auckland rail, endemic to the archipelago; once thought to be extinct, it was rediscovered in 1966.HistoryOn 14 May 1866, the General Grant, a full-rigged ship of 1,103 tons, crashed into the towering cliffs of nadia on the west coast of Auckland Island. Sixty-eight passengers died. Fifteen survivors made their way to the island, where they waited eighteen months for rescue.On 7 March 1907, the Dundonald, a steel, four-masted barque, sank after running ashore on the west side of Disappointment Island. Twelve men drowned and sixteen survivors waited seven months for rescue. They survived on supplies from the castaway depot on Auckland Island.Important Bird AreaThe island is part of the Auckland Island group Important Bird Area (IBA), identified as such by BirdLife International because of the significance of the group as a breeding site for several species of seabirds as well as the endemic Auckland shag, Auckland teal, Auckland rail, and Auckland snipe.