Discovery Bay, Greenwich Island

Discovery Bay is a bay three miles long and nearly two miles wide between Spark Point and Ash Point on the north coast of Greenwich Island, in the South Shetland Islands in the British Antarctic Territory.

The bay had been known to sealers in the area since about 1821. It was charted and named in 1935 by Discovery Investigations personnel on the RRS Discovery II. The bay was further charted by a Royal Navy Hydrographic Survey Unit from HMS Protector in 1964.

Antarctic Specially Protected Area

Two marine sites in the bay have collectively been designated an 'Antarctic Specially Protected Area' (ASPA No. 144), to protect the bay's benthic communities, which have relatively high species diversity and biomass and have been subject to a long-term research programme.

Location

• Location map: 62°28’59"S, 59°42’58"W

References

• Gazetteer and Map of The British Antarctic Territory: Discovery Bay, Greenwich Island