Christmas Island Christmas Stamps. Australia 2023 Editorial Photo

This stamp issue takes us back in time to 1643, the year Captain William Mynors of the East India vessel the Royal Mary sailed past a small green island in the remote Indian Ocean. Because it was Christmas Day, Mynors named the lush, uninhabited volcanic isle Christmas Island. The island and surrounding waters are home to a rich variety of birds, reptiles, crustaceans and mammals, many of which greet Santa and join in the Christmas festivities. These include booby birds, a frigatebird, the Emerald Dove, the Golden Bosun, crabs, Green Turtles and a friendly Dugong. Today, the Christmas Island National Park offers some protection to the island’s extraordinary and unique biodiversity, which has been threatened by historical phosphate mining and invasive introduced species.