Australian Government - Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population & Communities - Australian Antarctic DivisionAustralian Government - Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population & Communities - Australian Antarctic Division Heard Island
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History
Trypots at Try Pot Beach
Trypots at Try Pot Beach
Photo: E Woehler
Human activities at Heard Island and McDonald Islands (HIMI) have a relatively short but diverse history.

Wild and isolated Heard Island currently has no resident population but this has not always been the case.

The pages in this History section discuss the discovery of the islands, give a summary of subsequent human activities, including 19th century sealing, research expeditions, and private expeditions, and talk about the cultural heritage items relating to those early activities.



Cool Facts
Early maps of Heard Island from the late 1890s showed Heard Island as being long and thin, stretching from northwest to southeast. The map was not corrected to show the more symmetrical and circular coastline around Big Ben until until the 1947-54 ANARE expedition.
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