Gibbs Island () lies southwest of
Elephant Island
Elephant Island is an ice-covered, mountainous island off the coast of Antarctica in the outer reaches of the South Shetland Islands, in the Southern Ocean. The island is situated north-northeast of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, west-so ...
in the
South Shetland Islands
The South Shetland Islands are a group of List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands, Antarctic islands located in the Drake Passage with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the n ...
of Antarctica.
James Weddell
James Weddell (24 August 1787 – 9 September 1834) was a British sailor, navigator and seal hunter who in February 1823 sailed to latitude of 74° 15′ S—a record 7.69 degrees or 532 statute miles south of the Antar ...
, whose chart of the islands appeared in 1825, was apparently the first to use the current name of this island, discovered in 1821 by Russians who then named it Rozhnov Island (as it is known in Russia today).
Description
Gibbs is a slender, east–west aligned island, some long, wide and in area. It is bordered to the south by
Bransfield Strait
Bransfield Strait or Fleet Sea () is a body of water about wide extending for in a general northeast – southwest direction between the South Shetland Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula.
History
The strait was named in about 1825 by James W ...
and to the north by the
Loper Channel. The isthmus of
The Spit joins the main part of Gibbs Island in the west to
Furse Peninsula in the east.
[
]
Important Bird Area
A 369 ha tract of land comprising Furse Peninsula, The Spit and a small ice-free area on Gibbs Island west of The Spit 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 breeding colonies of about 1700 pairs of macaroni
Macaroni (), known in Italian as ''maccheroni'', is a pasta shaped like narrow tubes.Oxford DictionaryMacaroni/ref> Made with durum wheat, macaroni is commonly cut in short lengths; curved macaroni may be referred to as "elbow macaroni". Some ...
and 190 pairs of chinstrap penguin
The chinstrap penguin (''Pygoscelis antarcticus'') is a species of penguin that inhabits a variety of islands and shores in the Southern Pacific and the Antarctic Oceans. Its name stems from the narrow black band under its head, which makes it a ...
s, as well as over 18,000 pairs of southern fulmar
The southern fulmar (''Fulmarus glacialoides'') is a seabird of the Southern Hemisphere. Along with the northern fulmar, ''F. glacialis'', it belongs to the fulmar genus ''Fulmarus'' in the family Procellariidae, the true petrels. It is also kn ...
s.
See also
* Cape Plenty Cape Plenty () is the southeast cape of Gibbs Island (actually marks south point of the island), in the South Shetland Islands. Visited by JSEEIG in January 1977 and so named because a reef east of the cape causes upwelling of water which attracts ...
* List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands
This is a list of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic islands.
* Antarctic islands are, in the strict sense, the islands around mainland Antarctica, situated on the Antarctic Plate, and south of the Antarctic Convergence. According to the terms of the A ...
References
{{Important Bird Areas of Antarctica
Islands of the South Shetland Islands
Important Bird Areas of Antarctica
Seabird colonies
Penguin colonies