The Curzon Islands are a small group of rocky islands lying close off
Cape Découverte
Cape Découverte or Cape Discovery () is the point of rocks which marks the northwest extremity of the Curzon Islands along the Adélie Coast. It was discovered on 21 January 1840, by the French Antarctic Expedition, 1837–40, under Captain Ju ...
,
Adélie Coast. They were probably sighted in January 1840 by a French expedition under Captain
Jules Dumont d'Urville
Jules Sébastien César Dumont d'Urville (; 23 May 1790 – 8 May 1842) was a French List of explorers, explorer and French Navy, naval officer who explored the south and western Pacific, Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica. As a botanist an ...
, though not identified as islands on d'Urville's maps. The islands were roughly charted in 1912 by Captain
J.K. Davis of the
Australasian Antarctic Expedition ship ''
Aurora
An aurora ( aurorae or auroras),
also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...
'' and named by
Mawson for
Lord Curzon, the
President of the Royal Geographical Society, 1911–14. The islands were mapped in detail by the
French Antarctic Expedition, 1950–52.
Important Bird Area
A 359 ha site comprising the island group and the intervening marine area has been designated an
Important Bird Area (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 it supports about 13,000 breeding pairs of
Adélie penguins, mainly on Retour Island, the largest of the group.
South polar skuas and
Wilson's storm-petrels also breed in the islands. The closest permanent station is the French
Dumont d'Urville, some 70 km to the west.
[ ]
See also
*
List of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic islands
References
External links
*
Important Bird Areas of Antarctica
Penguin colonies
Seabird colonies
Islands of Adélie Land
{{AdélieLand-geo-stub