Murray Island () is an island long lying at the south-west side of

Hughes Bay Hughes Bay () is a bay lying between Cape Sterneck and Cape Murray along the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. Location Hughes Bay is on the Danco Coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, on the west side of Graham Land. It is west of the so ...

, off the west coast of

Graham Land Graham Land is the portion of the Antarctic Peninsula that lies north of a line joining Cape Jeremy and Cape Agassiz. This description of Graham Land is consistent with the 1964 agreement between the British Antarctic Place-names Committee ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

Location

Murray Island is also known as Bluff Island. It lies at the southwest end of Hughes Bay, on the

Danco Coast The Danco Coast () is the portion of the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula between Cape Sterneck and Cape Renard. This coast was explored in January and February 1898 by the Belgian Antarctic Expedition under Adrien de Gerlache, who named it ...

of the

Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic Peninsula, known as O'Higgins Land in Chile and Tierra de San Martin in Argentina, and originally as Graham Land in the United Kingdom and the Palmer Peninsula in the United States, is the northernmost part of mainland Antarctica. ...

, on the west side of

. It is in the

Gerlache Strait Gerlache Strait or de Gerlache Strait or Détroit de la Belgica is a Channel (geography), channel/strait separating the Palmer Archipelago from the Antarctic Peninsula. The Belgian Antarctic Expedition, under Lt. Adrien de Gerlache, explored the ...

Brabant Island Brabant Island is the second largest island of the Palmer Archipelago within the British Antarctic Territory, lying between Anvers Island and Liège Island. Brabant Island is long north-south, wide, and rises to in Mount Parry. The interi ...

is across the strait to the west, and

Two Hummock Island Two Hummock Island () is an ice-covered island, long in a north–south direction, conspicuous for its two rocky summits high, lying southeast of Liège Island in the Palmer Archipelago. Location Two Hummock Island is in the Palmer Archip ...

is to the north. Murray Island lies between Hughes Bay to the northeast and

Charlotte Bay Charlotte Bay is a bay on the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula indenting the west coast of Graham Land in a southeast direction for , between Reclus Peninsula and Cape Murray. Its head is fed by the glaciers Nobile, Bozhinov, Krebs, We ...

to the southwest. The Herbert Plateau is to the southeast.
Copernix satellite view

Discovery and name

Murray Island has been known to seal hunters operating in the area since the 1820s, although it was shown on charts as part of the mainland. In 1922 the whale catcher ''Graham'' passed through the channel separating it from the mainland, proving its insularity. It was named in association with Cape Murray, the seaward extremity of the island.

Important Bird Area

A ice-free site on the western side of a small peninsula on the northern coast of the island was designated the Bluff Island

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA) by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

because, in 1989, it supported a breeding colony of about 180 pairs of Antarctic shags (Phalacrocorax Atriceps Bransfieldensis).

Features

Features, and nearby features, include:

Cape Murray

. A cape forming the western end of Murray Island. First charted by the

Belgian Antarctic Expedition The Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1897–1899 was the first expedition to winter in the Antarctic region. Led by Adrien de Gerlache de Gomery aboard the RV ''Belgica'', it was the first Belgian Antarctic expedition and is considered the fir ...

(BelgAE) under Lieutenant

Adrien de Gerlache Baron Adrien Victor Joseph de Gerlache de Gomery (; 2 August 1866 – 4 December 1934) was a Belgian officer in the Belgian Royal Navy who led the Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1897–99. Early years Born in Hasselt in eastern Belgium as t ...

(1897-99) and at the time considered to be joined to Graham Land. Named by Gerlache, presumably for Sir John Murray, British marine zoologist and oceanographer, an ardent advocate of Antarctic research.

Murray Harbor

. A small harbor lying east of Cape Murray on the north side of Murray Island. The name was used by whalers in the area in 1922.

Challenger Island

. An island lying just north of Murray Island. The name was used in 1906 by

Johan Gunnar Andersson Johan Gunnar Andersson (3 July 1874 – 29 October 1960)"Andersson, Johan Gunnar" in '' The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 385. was a Swedish archaeologist, geomorphologist, ...

of the

Swedish Antarctic Expedition The Swedish Antarctic Expedition of 1901–1903 was a scientific expedition led by Otto Nordenskjöld and Carl Anton Larsen. It was the first Swedish endeavour to Antarctica in the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Background Otto Nordensk ...

(SwedAE) under

Otto Nordenskjöld Nils Otto Gustaf Nordenskjöld (6 December 1869 – 2 June 1928) was a Swedish geologist, geographer, and polar explorer. Early life Nordenskjöld was born in Hässleby in Småland in eastern Sweden, in a family that included his maternal unc ...

, 1901-04.

Graham Passage

. A passage separating Murray Island from the west coast of Graham Land. Named by Captain Skidsmo after his whale catcher ''Graham'', which was the first to pass through it, on March 20, 1922.

References

Sources

* * * {{Important Bird Areas of Antarctica Islands of Graham Land Danco Coast Important Bird Areas of Antarctica Seabird colonies