Cormorant Island
| Cormorant Island | |
| Location | |
| Location: | 64°47’38"S, 63°57’58"W |
| Area: | 25 acres |
| Data | |
Cormorant Island is a 25-acre island lying in the Bismarck Strait, in the Palmer Archipelago off Graham Land in the British Antarctic Territory
The island east-south-east of Arthur Harbour, a bay of Anvers Island, and two and a half miles east-south-east of Bonaparte Point
Following air photography by the Falkland Islands and Dependencies Aerial Survey Expedition and survey by a Royal Navy Hydrographic Survey Unit from HMS Protector in 1956-57, the island was so named from the large number of cormorants (Phalacrocorax atriceps) observed there [1]
Important Bird Area
The island has been identified as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International because it supports a breeding colony of over 700 pairs of Antarctic shags, one of the largest such colonies in the Antarctic Peninsula region. Other birds nesting at the site include Adélie penguins and southern giant petrels. The IBA is defined by the border of a Restricted Zone, under the Management Plan for Antarctic Specially Managed Area 'ASMA 7: - Southwest Anvers Island and Palmer Basin', which includes, as well as the island, the surrounding marine area up to 50 yards from the shoreline.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Cormorant Island IBA: BirdLife International
- Gazetteer and Map of The British Antarctic Territory: Cormorant Island