People at Macquarie Island
A bloody start to human occupation
Uninhabited Macquarie Island was discovered in 1810 by Fredrick Hasselborough. An Australian, Hasselborough claimed the island for Britain and afterwards it was named after Colonel Lachlan Macquarie, Governor of New South Wales at the time. Hasselborough was searching for new sealing grounds and shortly after its discovery, sealing began at Macquarie Island. Between 1810 and 1919 144 vessels are recorded landing at Macquarie Island and seals and penguins were hunted almost to extinction.
Sealers lived and hunted on the island year-round, enduring harsh living and working conditions. An estimated 250,000 fur seals were taken for their pelts in less than five years before being driven almost to extinction. Sealers then shifted their focus to the island’s elephant seals, targeting their oil for use in lighting. Try-works for boiling down the blubber were established in 1813, becoming the island’s main industry for approximately 17 years until elephant seal numbers also collapsed. The sealing industry was briefly revised in 1870, but sealers abandoned the island less than a decade later. In 1890 the island was transferred from New South Wales to Tasmania. The Tasmanian Government leased the island to Joseph Hatch 1902-1920 for an oil industry based on penguins.
Sandy Bay hut in 1912 (Photo: H. Hamilton 1912 (Mitchell Library AAE H421) aae-report-sandy-bay-hut.1200x0.jpg.)
Oil processing operations at the Nuggets. 1913. (aae-report-1913-nuggets.120)
Scientists and conservation to the fore
Between 1911 and 1914 Macquarie Island became a base for the Australasian Antarctic Expedition led by Sir Douglas Mawson. As well as establishing the first radio link between Australia and Antarctica, the expedition undertook the first detailed studies of the island’s climate, geology, biology and geography. This information, combined with the disgust that Mawson and his men held for the slaughter of wildlife on the island, contributed to Macquarie Island being declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1933. On 21 March 1948, the Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition established Macquarie Island research station, which has been operating continuously ever since.
Macquarie Island Research Station, 1949 (macquarie-island-station-anare)
Researchers & Expeditioners
To this day, Macquarie Island remains a place of conservation and science. The island is inhabited year-round by expeditioners who live and work at the research station on the northern tip of the island. The number of expeditioners on station varies from 14 to around 40, depending on the season and on research or maintenance projects. Expeditioners typically include researchers (biologists, meteorologists, geologists etc.), tradespeople (carpenters, mechanics, electricians), chefs, doctors, communications and IT specialists, rangers and a station leader. Expeditioners can spend anywhere from a week to 18 months living on the island affectionately known as “Macca”. They quickly become accustomed to sharing their home with several million animals and all that it entails, such as dodging penguins and seals on the morning commute. Being a truly unique place to live and work, many expeditioners form a life-long connection with the island.
Macquarie Island expedition party, 1911-14. (Reproduced courtesy of National Library of Australia. vn3119203_nla.jpg)
Tourists
For those not lucky enough to make it to Macquarie Island as part of their work, a visit to this remarkable place is still possible as a tourist. Tourists visit as part of a limited number of expedition cruises, typically on small cruise ships departing from either New Zealand or Tasmania. Tourist visits are strictly controlled, with rangers from the Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service and guides accompanying visitors to a handful of locations where it is possible to land a small boat ashore. Although visits generally only last one-day, tourists are treated to some of the island’s most spectacular scenery and have ample opportunity to engage with the local wildlife and visit researchers at the station. Many tourists come specifically to see a certain species of plant or animal, while others just wish to be among the lucky few to visit this far-flung corner of the world.
