The Eden Rocks are two rocks lying 1.5 km off the east coast of

Dundee Island Dundee Island () is an ice-covered island lying east of the northeastern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula and south of Joinville Island, Antarctica. Location Dundee Island is in the Joinville Island group in Graham Land. It is south of Joinvi ...

, at the northern end 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. ...

. A small island was reported there on 30 December 1842 by Captain

James Clark Ross Sir James Clark Ross (15 April 1800 – 3 April 1862) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer of both the northern and southern polar regions. In the Arctic, he participated in two expeditions led by his uncle, Sir John Ross, John ...

of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

, who named it "Eden Island" for Captain Charles Eden. Following a survey by the

Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey The Falkland Islands and Dependencies Aerial Survey Expedition (FIDASE) was an aerial survey of the Falkland Islands Dependencies The Falkland Islands Dependencies was the constitutional arrangement from 1843 until 1985 for administering the v ...

in 1953, it was reported that the feature consists of two rocky islets rising to about 90 m in height and lying close together.

Important Bird Area

An 73 ha site, comprising the rocks and the intervening sea, has been identified as an

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 it supports a large breeding colony of about 45,000 pairs of

Adélie penguin The Adélie penguin (''Pygoscelis adeliae'') is a species of penguin common along the entire coast of the Antarctic continent, which is the only place where it is found. It is the most widespread penguin species, and, along with the emperor peng ...

References

Rock formations of the Joinville Island group Important Bird Areas of Antarctica Penguin colonies {{JoinvilleIsland-geo-stub