Signy Island

Signy Island
Geography
Signy Island base and panorama
Signy Island
Location	Southern Atlantic Ocean
Coordinates	60°43′S 45°36′W / 60.717°S 45.600°W / -60.717; -45.600
Archipelago	South Orkney Islands
Total islands	1
Area	19 km² (7.3 sq mi)
Length	6.5 km (4.04 mi)
Width	5 km (3.1 mi)
Administration
Antarctica
Largest settlement	Signy Research Station (population 5)
Demographics
Population	5
Pop. density	0.26 /km² (0.67 /sq mi)
Additional information
Administered under the Antarctic Treaty System

Penguins on Signy Island

Signy Island is a small subantarctic island in the South Orkney Islands of Antarctica. It was named by the Norwegian whaler Petter Sørlle after his wife Signy Therese.

Description

The island is about 6.5 km (4.0 mi) long and 5 km (3.1 mi) wide and rises to 288 m (945 ft) above sea level. Much of it is permanently covered with ice. The average temperature range is 0 °C (32 °F) to about −10 °C (14 °F) in winter (i.e. in July). The extremes extend to 12 and −44 °C (53.6 and −47.2 °F).

Signy Research Station

Main article: Signy Research Station

The British Antarctic Survey maintains the Signy Research Station, a scientific station for research in biology. The base was opened on 18 March 1947, on the site of an earlier whaling station that had existed there in the 1920s. The station was staffed year-round until 1996; since that year it has been occupied only from November to April. It houses 10 people.^[1]

Important Bird Area

The island has been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports substantial and varied seabird breeding colonies. Birds for which the site is of conservation significance are southern giant petrels (2300 pairs), Wilson's storm petrels (200,000 pairs), imperial shags (800 pairs) and brown skuas (100 pairs). Other birds nesting on the island include chinstrap penguins (19,500 pairs), Adélie penguin (16,900 pairs), gentoo penguins (750 pairs), Antarctic prions (50,000 pairs), south polar skuas, snow petrels, Cape petrels, black-bellied storm petrels, snowy sheathbills, kelp gulls and Antarctic terns. Antarctic fur seals haul out in large numbers varying up to over 20,000. Weddell seals breed in winter on the sea ice around the island.^[2]

References

↑ "Who We Are" (Web). Natural Environment Research Council. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
↑ "Signy Island". BirdLife data zone: Important Bird Areas. BirdLife International. 2013. Retrieved 2013-01-18.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Signy Island.

Important Bird Areas of Antarctica

Graham Land	Apéndice Island Armstrong Reef Arthur Harbour Avian Island Bates Island Breaker Island Brown Bluff Cape Evensen Cape Wollaston Cierva Point Cockburn Island Cormorant Island Cuverville Island D'Urville Monument Danger Islands Devil Island Dion Islands Dream Island Duroch Islands Eden Rocks Elephant Rocks Gerlache Island Ginger Islands Gourdin Island Guépratte Island Hope Bay Humble Island Joubin Islands Litchfield Island Madder Cliffs Midas Island Moss Islands Murray Island Norsel Point Paulet Island Pearl Rocks Penguin Point Petermann Island Pursuit Point Snow Hill Island Stonington Island Torgersen Island Trinity Island Tupinier Islands Uruguay Island

South Shetlands	Admiralty Bay Ardley Island Aspland Island Baily Head Barnard Point Byers Peninsula Cape Bowles Cape Garry Cape Hooker Cape Lookout Cape Melville Cape Shirreff Cape Wallace Chinstrap Cove Davey Point Eadie Island East of Nelly Point Escarpada Point False Round Point Fur Seal Point Gibbs Island Half Moon Island Harmony Point Heywood Island Jameson Point Kellick Island Lions Rump Milosz Point Mount Elder North Foreland O'Brien Island Owen Island Penguin Island Point Wordie Potter Peninsula Pottinger Point Saddleback Point Seal Islands Stigant Point Stinker Point Tartar Island Vapour Col Yankee Harbour

South Orkneys	Atriceps Island Buchanan Point Cape Davidson Cape Geddes Cape Hansen Cape Robertson Cape Whitson Cheal Point Christoffersen Island Eillium Island Ferguslie Peninsula Ferrier Peninsula Fraser Point Fredriksen Island Gibbon Bay Gosling Islands Graptolite Island Grey Island Inaccessible Islands Larsen Islands Matthews Island Michelsen Island Moe Island Moreton Point Pirie Peninsula Point Martin Return Point Robertson Islands Signy Island Skilling Island Southern Powell Island Watson Peninsula

Coordinates: 60°43′01″S 45°36′00″W / 60.717°S 45.600°W / -60.717; -45.600

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/18/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.