Hop Island is one of the largest of the
Rauer Islands
The Rauer Islands () are a group of rocky coastal islands which lie between Sorsdal Glacier Tongue and Ranvik Bay, in the southeast part of Prydz Bay. Discovered and roughly charted in February 1935 by a Norwegian expedition under Captain Klariu ...
, lying west-south-west of
Filla Island. It was charted by Norwegian cartographers from aerial photos taken by the
Lars Christensen Expedition
Lars is a common male name in Scandinavian countries.
Origin
''Lars'' means "from the city of Laurentum". Lars is derived from the Latin name Laurentius, which means "from Laurentum" or "crowned with laurel", and is therefore related to the name ...
(1936–37), who gave the name Hopoy. They charted the feature as being even larger, including a southern arm enclosing a
cove
A cove is a small bay or coastal inlet. They usually have narrow, restricted entrances, are often circular or oval, and are often situated within a larger bay. Small, narrow, sheltered bays, inlets, creek (tidal), creeks, or recesses in a coast ...
. The feature was more accurately delineated by
John H. Roscoe in 1952 from air photos taken by U.S. Navy
Operation Highjump
Operation HIGHJUMP, officially titled The United States Navy Antarctic Developments Program, 1946–1947, (also called Task Force 68), was a United States Navy (USN) operation to establish the Antarctic research base Little America (exploration b ...
(1946–47). The name Hop Island has been retained for the largest segment of the feature as suggested by Roscoe.
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]
Important Bird Area
A 532 ha site comprising the whole island has been designated 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 about 51,000 breeding 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 ...
s, estimated from 2011 satellite imagery, as well as a colony of south polar skua
The south polar skua (''Stercorarius maccormicki'') is a large seabird in the skua family, Stercorariidae. An older name for the bird is MacCormick's skua, after explorer and naval surgeon Robert McCormick, who first collected the type specime ...
s.[ ]
See also
* 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
External links
*
Important Bird Areas of Antarctica
Seabird colonies
Penguin colonies
Islands of Princess Elizabeth Land
{{PrincessElizabethLand-geo-stub