Solander Island, the main island, covers around, rising steeply to a peak above sea level. It is wooded save for its northeast end, mainly a bare, white rock. A deep cave is on the east side, Sealers Cave.
Little Solander Island is west. Steep, it reaches high yet covers. It has a barren appearance and is guano-covered.
Pierced Rock is south of the main island. It rises to and covers .
History
The island chain was sighted by Captain James Cook on 11 March 1770 and named by him after the Swedish naturalist Daniel Solander, one of the scientific crew aboard Cook's ship, Endeavour. The islands are geographically forbidding and weather conditions often confound the approach of ships. It is perhaps for this reason that the islands have only ever been briefly inhabited, and then only due to shipwreck or other marooning. Five men - four Europeans and one Australian aboriginal - were marooned there between 1808 and 1813, the longest continual period of habitation. They are thought to have been left ashore in two groups for seal hunting, but the sea prevented the approach of any ship to recover them. In 1810, sealing moved to Macquarie Island, farther to the west, and they were effectively abandoned. When rediscovered in 1813, it is likely that they had amassed many dried seal pelts.
Geology
The islands are remnants of an isolated extinct Pleistocene volcano with andesite rocks, one to two million years old. They lie on a bank with depths less than, separated from the continental shelf along Foveaux Strait by a but narrow trough deep. Therefore, the islands are included in the New Zealand Outlying Islands. The islands are the only volcanic land in the nation related to the subduction of the Australian Plate beneath the Pacific Plate.
Flora and fauna
There are 53 vascular plant species, one third of which are very rare. The flora is dominated by ferns and orchids. The southern, and nominate, subspecies of Buller's albatross breeds only on the Solanders and the Snares. The Solander Islands were historically a well-known area for migrating whales, especially southern right and sperm whales. Sperm whales in this area were said to be exceptionally large.
Bird life
The islands are home to a variety of bird life. The Solander group has been identified as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International because of its significance as a breeding site for Buller's albatrosses and common diving petrels.
