The Shag Rocks ( es, Islas Aurora) are six small

islet An islet is a very small, often unnamed island. Most definitions are not precise, but some suggest that an islet has little or no vegetation and cannot support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/or hard coral; may be permanen ...

s, as opposed to islands, in the westernmost extreme of

South Georgia South Georgia ( es, Isla San Pedro) is an island in the South Atlantic Ocean that is part of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It lies around east of the Falkland Islands. Stretching in the east� ...

, west of the main island of South Georgia and off the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouze ...

. The Shag Rocks are located at . further southeast is Black Rock, which is located at . The Shag Rocks cover a total area of less than . Situated on the South Georgia Ridge, they have a peak elevation above sea level of , and stand in water approximately deep. Temperatures average , rarely climbing above . There is no significant vegetation, but the rocks are covered by the

guano Guano (Spanish from qu, wanu) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. As a manure, guano is a highly effective fertilizer due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. G ...

of seabirds. The main wildlife found on the rocks are the South Georgia shags,

prions Prions are misfolded proteins that have the ability to transmit their misfolded shape onto normal variants of the same protein. They characterize several fatal and transmissible neurodegenerative diseases in humans and many other animals. It i ...

and

wandering albatross The wandering albatross, snowy albatross, white-winged albatross or goonie (''Diomedea exulans'') is a large seabird from the family Diomedeidae, which has a circumpolar range in the Southern Ocean. It was the last species of albatross to be desc ...

es.

History

The Shag Rocks were discovered by Jose de la Llana in 1762 with the Spanish ship ''

Aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

'', and originally named the

Aurora Islands The Aurora Islands was a group of three phantom islands first reported in 1762 by the Spanish merchant ship ''Aurora'' while sailing from Lima to Cadiz. The Aurora's officers reported sighting them again in 1774. The Spanish ship ''San Miguel'' ...

, after his ship. They were visited by the Spanish ship '' San Miguel'' in 1769, again by the ''Aurora'' in 1774, and in 1779 by the '' Princesa'' and the ''Dolores''. In 1794 the Auroras were finally mapped by the Spanish corvette '' Atrevida''. However, the Aurora Islands are considered by many to have been a mistaken sighting that was coincidentally near the Shag Rocks, which were known to sealers prior to 1823. They were later rediscovered by James P. Sheffield and given their current name, probably because shags and other seabirds frequent them. They were charted by

Discovery Investigations The Discovery Investigations were a series of scientific cruises and shore-based investigations into the biology of whales in the Southern Ocean. They were funded by the British Colonial Office and organised by the Discovery Committee in London, ...

personnel on the '' William Scoresby'' in 1927. The first known landing was made in 1956 when Argentine geologist Mario Giovinetto was lowered from a helicopter to collect rock samples.

Government

The Shag Rocks form part of the

British overseas territory The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remnants of the former Br ...

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song_type = , song = , image_map = South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands in United Kingdom.svg , map_caption = Location of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands in the southern Atlantic Oc ...

. Before 1985 they came within the

Falkland Islands Dependencies The Falkland Islands Dependencies was the constitutional arrangement from 1843 until 1985 for administering the various British territories in Sub-Antarctica and Antarctica which were governed from the Falkland Islands and its capital Port Sta ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

lays claim to the Shag Rocks and Black Rock. Black Rock and Shag Rocks are on the route from the Falkland Islands to South Georgia Island, on a

seamount A seamount is a large geologic landform that rises from the ocean floor that does not reach to the water's surface (sea level), and thus is not an island, islet or cliff-rock. Seamounts are typically formed from extinct volcanoes that rise a ...

of Scotia Ridge. Britain in 1985 formed its overseas territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, which includes Black Rock and Shag Rocks. It now assumes responsibility for preservation and defence of the area.

References

External links

CIA World Factbook Entry ''South Georgia''The Shag Rocks, South Atlantic Ocean at Britlink.ONC U-19 South Georgia; South Sandwich Islands
(map including the Shag Rocks) {{SGSSI Uninhabited islands of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Islands of South Georgia

History

Government

See also

References

External links