Aguijan
Encyclopedia
Coral
Corals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...
line island in the Northern Mariana Islands
Northern Mariana Islands
The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , is a commonwealth in political union with the United States, occupying a strategic region of the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to the Philippines...
chain situated 8 kilometres (5 mi) southwest of Tinian
Tinian
Tinian is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.-Geography:Tinian is about 5 miles southwest of its sister island, Saipan, from which it is separated by the Saipan Channel. It has a land area of 39 sq.mi....
, from which it is separated by the Tinian Channel
Tinian Channel
The Tinian Channel is an eight kilometre-wide channel in the Northern Mariana Islands. It lies to the south of the island of Tinian is northeast of Aguijan Island , separating it from the island of Aguijan. Together, the two islands form the Tinian Municipality....
. It is only 7.09 km² (2.738 sq mi) in size and is nicknamed Goat Island due to the large number of feral
Feral
A feral organism is one that has changed from being domesticated to being wild or untamed. In the case of plants it is a movement from cultivated to uncultivated or controlled to volunteer. The introduction of feral animals or plants to their non-native regions, like any introduced species, may...
goats present there. Much of the native vegetation on Aguijan has been destroyed by goats.
Aguijan is uninhabited and is seldom visited because it is surrounded by sheer steep cliffs. However, a 2002 survey of the island did find a handful of native species there, including the Mariana Fruit Bat
Mariana Fruit Bat
The Mariana Fruit Bat , also known as the Mariana flying fox, and the fanihi in Chamorro is a megabat that is found only on Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and Ulithi . Habitat loss has driven it to endangered status and it is listed as threatened by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service...
, the Polynesian sheath-tailed bat and the Micronesian megapode
Micronesian Scrubfowl
The Micronesian Megapode or Micronesian Scrubfowl, Megapodius laperouse, is an endangered megapode which inhabits islands of the Western Pacific Ocean.-Description:...
Megapodius laperouse.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the Japanese
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
maintained a garrison on Aguijan. This garrison is noteworthy because of its surrender to U.S. forces September 4, 1945, two days after the surrender on the USS Missouri
USS Missouri (BB-63)
|USS Missouri is a United States Navy Iowa-class battleship, and was the fourth ship of the U.S. Navy to be named in honor of the U.S. state of Missouri...
. The surrender is unique because it was the only surrender hosted by a U.S. Coast Guard Cutter, USCG 83525. A US Navy admiral received the surrender of a Japanese Imperial Army second lieutenant.
Aguijan and neighboring Tinian
Tinian
Tinian is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.-Geography:Tinian is about 5 miles southwest of its sister island, Saipan, from which it is separated by the Saipan Channel. It has a land area of 39 sq.mi....
Island together form Tinian Municipality
Tinian Municipality
Tinian Municipality is one of the four constituent municipalities of the Northern Mariana Islands. It consists of the islands of Tinian and Aguijan and their offshore islets. The municipality is the second southernmost in the Northern Marianas and has a land area of 108.1 km²...
, one of the four main political divisions that comprise the Northern Marianas.