Cape Melville

Cape Melville, is the south-eastern point of King George Island in the South Shetland Islands of the British Antarctic Territory. It is low-lying, ice-free headland.

Some 959 acres of the site have been identified as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International because it supports a large breeding colony of about 16,000 pairs of chinstrap penguins.

Half a nautical mile south of Cape Melville is a rock named Livonia Rock.

The cape was charted by Bransfield on 22 January 1820, and named after Robert Saunders Dundas, 2nd Viscount Melville (from whom also Cape Dundas is named). The name 'Cape Melville' was also applied to North Foreland, the island's north-eastern point, on some early charts.

The cape was recharted by Discovery Investigations in January 1937 and photographed from the air by the Falkland Islands and Dependencies Aerial Survey Expedition in December 1956.

Location

• Location map: 62°1’29"S, 57°34’51"W

References

• Gazetteer and Map of The British Antarctic Territory: Cape Melville