Dion Islands
The Dion Islands are a group of small islands and rocks lying in the northern part of Marguerite Bay, 6 nautical miles south-west of Cape Alexandra, Adelaide Island, off the west coast of the Palmer Land in the British Antarctic Territory.
They are to be found to the south of Woodfield Channel.
The islands include:
- Consort Island
- Courtier
- Embassy Islands
- Emperor Island
- Envoy Rock
- Jester Rock
- Noble Rock
- Consul Reef
- Regent Reef
The islands were charted by the French Antarctic Expedition, 1908-10, and named Îles de Dion after Albert de Dion, Marquis de Dion (1856-1946), the French engineer who developed a high-speed, light oil engine in 1895 and who donated to the French Antarctic Expedition equipment produced in the de Dion-Bouton works.
The islands were surveyed by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey from "Stonington Island" in 1948-49, at which time an emperor penguin colony was discovered on Emperor Island. The islands and rocks in the group are named after members of an emperor's court.
In 1967 the Dion Islands were designated a Specially Protected Area, SPA No. 8, under the Antarctic Treaty.
Important Bird Area
One of the islands of the Dion Islands, Emperor Island, has been identified as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International because the islands support a breeding colony of about 500 pairs of imperial shags.[1] There is also a small colony of about 150 pairs of emperor penguins, the second-most northerly known of this species (the most northerly being Snow Hill Island) and one of only two on land.
The site has been designated an Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA 107) because of the penguin colony. However, this colony was reported lost due to climatic changes in 2011. [2][3]
Location
- Location map: 67°52’31"S, 68°42’9"W
References
- ↑ Emperor Island, Dion Islands IBA: BirdLife International
- ↑ Trathan, P. N., Fretwell, P. T., & Stonehouse, B. (2011). First recorded loss of an emperor penguin colony in the recent period of Antarctic regional warming: implications for other colonies. PLoS One, 6(2), e14738. http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0014738
- ↑ "Emperor Island, Dion Islands, Marguerite Bay, Antarctic Peninsula". Management Plan for Antarctic Specially Protected Area No. 107: Measure 1. Antarctic Treaty Secretariat. 2002. http://www.ats.aq/documents/recatt/Att178_e.pdf. Retrieved 2013-09-10.
- Gazetteer and Map of The British Antarctic Territory: Dion Islands