Rottumerplaat
Observation post at Rottumerplaat | |
Location of Rottumerplaat in the Wadden Sea | |
Geography | |
---|---|
Coordinates | 53°32′30″N 6°28′51″E / 53.54167°N 6.48083°ECoordinates: 53°32′30″N 6°28′51″E / 53.54167°N 6.48083°E |
Archipelago | (West) Frisian Islands |
Adjacent bodies of water | North Sea, Wadden Sea |
Area | 6–7[1] km2 (2.3–2.7 sq mi) |
Administration | |
Netherlands | |
Province | Groningen |
Municipality | Het Hogeland |
Demographics | |
Population | Uninhabited[1] |
Rottumerplaat (Dutch pronunciation: [ˌrɔtɵmərˈplaːt]) is one of the three islands that make up Rottum in the West Frisian Islands. The island is located in the North Sea off the Dutch coast. It is situated between the islands of Simonszand and Rottumeroog.[1] Rottumerplaat started as a shoal in the 1830, and was declared an island in 1950. Sediment deposition has caused the island to become significantly larger in recent years.[1]
Access to the island is prohibited since Rottumerplaat is a resting and forage area for numerous bird species.[1] Rijkswaterstaat and Staatsbosbeheer are responsible for the administration of the island.[2]
Rottumerplaat is the northernmost point of the Netherlands.[3]
Fauna[]
Rottumerplaat is a resting and forage area for sanderling, dunlin and Kentish plovers. Common eider, common shelduck, Arctic tern, common tern, little tern, Kentish plover, and ringed plover nest on the island. From 1996 the Sandwich tern nested on Rottumerplaat, but has since stopped doing so.
Godfried Bomans and Jan Wolkers[]
In 1971 writers Jan Wolkers and Godfried Bomans each spent a week on the island. Their only connection with the outside world was a short daily radio relay with VARA radio presenter Willem Ruis, who stayed at a hotel in nearby Warffum.[4] The interviews were broadcast as a radio programme, Alone On An Island.[1] For Godfried Bomans, the stay on the island was a disaster; he could not cope with the noise the many seagulls made and he was troubled by loneliness. Jan Wolkers however experienced his stay on the island as an adventure and kept himself alive by catching shrimps and eel, and boiling sea sandwort. He also rescued a young seal. Both authors published a book about their stay on the island.[4]
References[]
- ^ a b c d e f "Rottumerplaat". Waddenzee (in Dutch). Retrieved 12 April 2021.
- ^ "Rottum". Staatsbosbeheer. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
- ^ "Barwolt Ebbinge – Rottumerplaat". Alles over boeken en schrijvers (in Dutch). Retrieved 12 April 2021.
- ^ a b "Godfried Bomans en Jan Wolkers op Rottum". De Wadden Clubs (in Dutch). Retrieved 12 April 2021.
External links[]
Media related to Rottumerplaat at Wikimedia Commons
- Het Hogeland
- Islands of Groningen (province)
- Protected areas of the Netherlands
- West Frisian Islands
- Uninhabited islands of the Netherlands