Cape Shirreff
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Cape Shirreff is a prominent cape forming the western entrance point of Hero Bay on the north coast of Livingston Island, in the South Shetland Islands of the British Antarctic Territory. The headland at the northern end of the rocky peninsula which separates Hero Bay from Barclay Bay
The cape was roughly charted by Bransfield on 17 January 1820, and named 'Shirreffs Cape' after Captain (later Rear-Admiral) William Henry Shirreff of the Royal Navy (1785-1847), Senior Naval Officer, West Coast of South America, 1817-21, who had despatched Bransfield (Master in his flagship HMS Andromache) to investigate the new discoveries reported by Smith in February 1819.
In subsequent usage the name has been written with a variety of spellings: 'Sheriffs Cape', 'Shireff Cape', 'Shireffs Cape', 'Cape Sherif', 'Cape Sheriff' and others.
The cape was recharted by Discovery Investigations in 1930-31. It was photographed from the air by the Falkland Islands and Dependencies Aerial Survey Expedition, 1956-57.
The seasonal scientific field station Doctor Guillermo Mann Base has been operated by Chile since 1991 and the Shirreff Base by the United States of America since 1996.
Description
The headland it at the end of a small ice-free peninsula of about a square mile. It is fifteen miles north-east of Essex Point, 21 miles west-south-west of Williams Point and 13 miles north-west of Siddins Point. Cape Shirreff is closest place in the British Antarctic Territory to the isles off South America.
Fauna
The cape has been identified as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International because it supports a large breeding colony of up to about 10,000 pairs of chinstrap penguins. Other birds nesting at the site in smaller numbers include gentoo penguins, kelp gulls, brown skuas, snowy sheathbills, Antarctic terns, imperial shags, Wilson's and black-bellied storm petrels, and Cape petrels. The site also contains the largest number of breeding Antarctic fur seals in the Antarctic Peninsula region.[1]
Antarctic Specially Protected Area
The cape, with nearby Telmo Island, has also been designated an 'Antarctic Specially Protected Area' (ASPA No. 149) for the diversity of its plant and animal life, especially its penguin and fur seal breeding colonies.[2]
Location
- Location map: 62°27’34"S, 60°47’33"W
See also
References
- ↑ Cape Robertson, Laurie Island IBA: BirdLife International
- ↑ "Cape Shirreff and San Telmo Island, Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands". Management Plan for Antarctic Specially Protected Area No. 149: Measure 2, Annex H. Antarctic Treaty Secretariat. 2005. http://www.ats.aq/documents/recatt/Att275_e.pdf.
- Gazetteer and Map of The British Antarctic Territory: Cape Shirreff