Lobos de Tierra

Lobos de Tierra Island
Isla Lobos de Tierra (Spanish)
Satellite view of the island.
Lobos de Tierra Island is located in Peru
Lobos de Tierra Island
Lobos de Tierra Island
Location of the island
Geography
LocationPacific Ocean
Coordinates6°25′40″S 80°51′29″W / 6.42778°S 80.85806°W / -6.42778; -80.85806
Area16 km2 (6.2 sq mi)[1]
Length10 km (6 mi)
Width3 km (1.9 mi)
Administration
RegionLambayeque
Additional information
Time zone

Lobos de Tierra is a Peruvian island situated 19 km from the mainland close to the Illescas Peninsula and the boundary between the departments of Piura and Lambayeque regions.[1] Its area is 16 km2,[1] its approximate length is 10 km, and its approximate width is 3 km. Around the island there are several islets such as El León and Albatros. It is part of Peru’s Guano Islands, Islets, and Capes National Reserve System.

History

In 1863 the island was estimated to have guano deposits of almost 7 million metric tons,[2] which were then exploited without any control. The number proved to be an overestimate[2] and today that wealth has almost disappeared and the little remaining guano does not have the same quality as before.

Environment

The climate of Lobos de Tierra is warm and dry. It owes its name to its proximity to the coast and the presence of eared seals ("lobo marino" in Spanish, or "sea wolves"). At times blue whales can be seen.[3]

The island is home to birds such as the kelp gulls,[4] boobies[5][6] and cormorants[5] who were the primary producers during the heyday of guano collecting. It has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports significant populations of resident or breeding seabirds, including Humboldt penguins, Peruvian diving-petrels, Peruvian pelicans, blue-footrd and Peruvian boobies, and red-legged and guanay cormorants.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática (Peru). Perú: Compendio Estadístico 2008. 1.11: Superficie insular, según departamento (p. 25)
  2. ^ a b Cushman, Gregory T. (2013). Guano and the Opening of the Pacific World: A Global Ecological History. Cambridge University Press. p. 59. ISBN 9781107004139. An 1863 survey of the islands north of Lima identified 6.8 million metric tons of phosphatic guano on Isla Lobos de Tierra alone. All of those proved to be gross overestimates.
  3. ^ Marine Ornithology - Volumes 33-34 - Page 81 - 2005 - Peruvian Boobies on Lobos de Tierra are currently scarce, but their population in the middle of the last century probably exceeded 400000 individuals (Nelson I978).
  4. ^ Hince, Bernadette (2000). The Antarctic Dictionary: A Complete Guide to Antarctic English. Csiro Publishing. p. 199. ISBN 9780643102323.
  5. ^ a b Schulenberg, Thomas S.; Stotz, Douglas F.; Lane, Daniel F.; O'Neill, John P.; Parker, Theodore A. III (2010). Birds of Peru. Princeton Field Guides (Revised and updated ed.). Princeton University Press. pp. 68, 70, 72. ISBN 9781400834495.
  6. ^ Glynn, P. W., ed. (1990). Global Ecological Consequences of the 1982–83 El Niño-Southern Oscillation. Elsevier. pp. 382–383. ISBN 9780080870908.
  7. ^ "Isla Lobos de Tierra". BirdLife Data Zone. BirdLife International. 2024. Retrieved 30 September 2024.


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