Scotia Bay is a

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

wide, lying immediately east of

Mossman Peninsula Mossman Peninsula is a narrow peninsula long, extending south from the western part of Laurie Island and separating Scotia Bay and Wilton Bay, in the South Orkney Islands of Antarctica. Point Martin lies on the eastern side of the peninsula. I ...

on the south side of

Laurie Island Laurie Island is the second largest of the South Orkney Islands. The island is claimed by both Argentina as part of Argentine Antarctica, and by the United Kingdom as part of the British Antarctic Territory. Under the Antarctic Treaty System a ...

, in the

South Orkney Islands The South Orkney Islands are a group of List of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic islands, islands in the Southern Ocean, about north-east of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

. It was discovered and roughly charted in the course of the joint cruise by Captain George Powell and Captain

Nathaniel Palmer Nathaniel Brown Palmer (August 8, 1799 – June 21, 1877) was an American seal hunter, explorer, sailing captain, ship designer, and a whale hunter. He gave his name to Palmer Land, Antarctica, which he explored in 1820 on his sloop ''Hero''. ...

in 1821. It was surveyed in 1903 by the

Scottish National Antarctic Expedition The Scottish National Antarctic Expedition (SNAE), 1902–1904, was organised and led by William Speirs Bruce, a natural scientist and former medical student from the University of Edinburgh. Although overshadowed in terms of prestige by Robe ...

under

William Speirs Bruce William Speirs Bruce (1 August 1867 – 28 October 1921) was a British Natural history, naturalist, polar region, polar scientist and Oceanography, oceanographer who organised and led the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition (SNAE, 1902–0 ...

who named it for the expedition ship .

Historic site

An area of the bay contains a stone hut built in 1903 by the Scottish expedition and known as Ormond House; an Argentine meteorological hut and magnetic observatory, built in 1905 and known as Moneta House; and a graveyard with twelve graves, the oldest dating from 1903. These have been designated a Historic Site or Monument (HSM 42), following a proposal by Argentina to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting.

References

Laurie Island Bays of the South Orkney Islands Historic Sites and Monuments of Antarctica Cemeteries in Antarctica Ports and harbours of the South Orkney Islands {{SouthOrkneys-geo-stub