to 80 individuals survived and the population has now fully recovered. Plastic debris Research published in April 2017 looked at debris on several beaches, and reported "the highest density of plastic rubbish anywhere in the world" as a result of the South Pacific Gyre. The beaches contain an estimated 37.7 million items of debris together weighing 17.6 tonnes. In a study transect on North Beach, each day 17 to 268 new items washed up on a 10-meter section. The study noted that purple hermit crabs (Coenobita spinosus) make their homes in plastic containers washed up on beaches, and the debris may reduce shoreline gastropod diversity, may contribute to a reduction in the number of sea turtle laying attempts and may increase the risk of entanglement for coastal-nesting seabirds. In June 2019, an expedition organised by the UK Government attempted to remove some of the plastic debris from the island's East beach. The team collected six tonnes of rubbish, but weather conditions hampered efforts to take the rubbish off the island. A further expedition, planned for April 2020, was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Gallery See also Desert island List of islands References Further reading Jared Diamond (2005), Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, ch. 3. Nathaniel Philbrick (2001), In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex, Penguin Books 2001. New York. Kelly, Celsus (1966), La Austrialia del Espíritu Santo: the journal of Fray Martin de Munilla, O.F.M., and other documents relating to the voyage of Pedro Fernández de Quirós to the South Sea (1605-1606) and the Franciscan Missionary Plan (1617-1627), Cambridge, published by the Hakluyt Society at Cambridge University Press, (Works issued by the Hakluyt Society, 2nd ser., no. 126–127). External links The Henderson Island Website Henderson Island – UNESCO Isla Henderson (Spanish) Google Street View of the north and north-east beaches, May 2013 Islands of the Pitcairn Islands World Heritage Sites in the Pitcairn Islands Uninhabited islands of the Pitcairn Islands Important Bird Areas of the Pitcairn Islands Former populated places in Oceania 2nd-millennium establishments in the Pitcairn Islands 1902 establishments in the British Empire Atolls of the Pitcairn Islands Endemic Bird Areas