Brownsea Island It is within the South Dorset constituency of the House of Commons and the South West England constituency of the European Parliament. Brownsea Island has built up on a bare sand and mud bank deposited in the shallow harbour. Ecological succession has taken place on the island to create topsoil able to support ecosystems. The nature reserve on the island is leased from the National Trust by Dorset Wildlife Trust. This reserve includes a brackish lagoon and area of woodland. Other ecosystems on the island include salt marsh, reedbed, two freshwater lakes, alder carr, coniferous woodland, deciduous woodland and arboretum.
Action off James Island Action off James Island The Action off James Island was a naval engagement of the War of 1812. In May 1813 an American frigate captured three British whalers off James Island in the South Pacific. Only one of the whalers resisted and the resultant single-ship action was one of the few fought in Pacific waters during the war. The British later recovered all the whalers involved. Following Captain David Porter's passage of Cape Horn in a year earlier, the United States Navy vessel focused on commerce raiding by attacking British whalers off the coast of South America. After taking several