Marguerite Bay

Marguerite Bay or Margaret Bay is an extensive bay on the west side of Palmer Land, the southern part of the Antarctic Peninsula in the British Antarctic Territory. The bay is bounded on the north by Adelaide Island and on the south by Wordie Ice Shelf, George VI Sound and Alexander Island.

The mainland coast on the Antarctic Peninsula is Fallières Coast. Islands within the bay include Pourquoi Pas Island, Horseshoe Island and Lagotellerie Island.

Marguerite Bay was discovered in 1909 by the French Antarctic Expedition under Dr Jean-Baptiste Charcot, who named the bay for his wife.

About the bay

The Toadstool Rocks are a group of insular, ice-covered rocks that rise to about eight feet above sea level in the south-west part of Marguerite Bay, east-southeast of Terminal Island. The rocks were roughly charted from in 1977 and named descriptively, and in association with Mushroom Island and Puffball Islands.

Endurance Reef is a reef in Marguerite Bay, lying eight miles west of Red Rock Ridge. The name is after HMS Endurance which at this position in February 1972 struck a rock in a depth of six feet. The area was surveyed by boats from the Endurance in 1973 when similar depths were found up to one mile south-southwest of the rock.

Harvey Shoals are three shoal patches located between Miller Island and Northstar Island in Marguerite Bay. They were charted by the Hydrographic Survey Unit from RRS John Biscoe in 1966, and were named for Petty Officer Brian E. Harvey, the surveying recorder who carried out all the sounding for this survey.

Location

• Location map: 68°30’0"S, 68°30’0"W

References

• Gazetteer and Map of The British Antarctic Territory: Marguerite Bay