Starbuck Island (also referred as Volunteer Island), an uninhabited island located in the Pacific Ocean was first sighted in 1823 by an American, Valentine Starbuck, who hailed from the famous whaling family of Starbuck of the USA. In the 19th century up until the 1970’s, this island was claimed by both America and British until a treaty made this island part of independent Kiribati in 1979. The island is home to several species of seabirds and is preserved by the Kiribati government, which established a 12-nautical fishing exclusion zone around the area in 2014. There is another island by the name of Starbuck in New York, which unlike the one in Kiribati, is residential.
