Ball’s Pyramid
Ball’s Pyramid is a remnant of a shield volcano and caldera lying 20 kilometres southeast of Lord Howe Island in the Pacific Ocean. The pyramid is named after Royal Navy Lieutenant Henry Lidgbird Ball, who reported discovering it in 1788. In 2014 an unauthorised climbing team saw live stick insects in an exposed range of plants on the summit of the pyramid. Two pairs were brought to mainland Australia and new populations have been successfully bred with the ultimate goal of reintroduction.
About Ball’s Pyramid in brief
Ball’s Pyramid is a remnant of a shield volcano and caldera lying 20 kilometres southeast of Lord Howe Island in the Pacific Ocean. It is 562 metres high, while measuring only 1,100 metres in length and 300 metres across, making it the tallest volcanic stack in the world. The pyramid is named after Royal Navy Lieutenant Henry Lidgbird Ball, who reported discovering it in 1788. Ball’s Pyramid was first climbed on 14 February 1965 by Bryden Allen, John Davis, Jack Pettigrew and David Witham of the Sydney Rock Climbing Club. In 1979, Dick Smith returned to the pyramid, together with climbers John Worrall and Hugh Ward.
They successfully reached the summit and unfurled a flag of New South Wales provided to them by Premier Neville Wran, declaring the island Australian territory. In 2014 an unauthorised climbing team saw live stick insects in an exposed range of plants on the summit of the pyramid. The insect population was extremely small, with only 24 individuals. Two pairs were brought to mainland Australia and new populations have been successfully bred with the ultimate goal of reintroduction.
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This page is based on the article Ball’s Pyramid published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 25, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
