The Vedel Islands () are a group of small islands lying west of Hovgaard Island in the

Wilhelm Archipelago The Wilhelm Archipelago is an island archipelago off the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula in Antarctica. Wilhelm Archipelago consists of numerous islands, the largest of which are Booth Island and Hovgaard Island (Antarctica), Hovgaard Is ...

, Antarctica.

Location

The Vedel Islands are off the

Graham Coast Graham Coast is the portion of the west coast of Graham Land in 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 Palm ...

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. ...

. They are in the

, southwest of Hovgaard Island and

Booth Island Booth Island (or Wandel Island; ) is a Y-shaped island, long and rising to in the northeast part of the Wilhelm Archipelago, Antarctica. Location Booth Island is off the east end of the Graham Coast on the west side of the Antarctic Peninsul ...

, and northeast of the French Passage. They are northwest of

Mount Shackleton Mount Shackleton () is a mountain, 1,465 m, with perpendicular cliffs facing west, standing east of Chaigneau Peak between Leay and Wiggins Glaciers on Kyiv Peninsula, the west side of Graham Land in Antarctica. It was discovered by the 1908� ...

on the mainland.

Sailing directions

The US Defense Mapping Agency's ''Sailing Directions for Antarctica'' (1976) describes the Vedel Islands as follows:

Discovery and name

The largest island of this group was discovered in 1898 and given the name Vedel Island by the

Belgian Antarctic Expedition The Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1897–1899 was the first expedition to winter in the Antarctic region. Led by Adrien de Gerlache de Gomery aboard the RV ''Belgica'', it was the first Belgian Antarctic expedition and is considered the fir ...

(BelgAE) under

Adrien de Gerlache Baron Adrien Victor Joseph de Gerlache de Gomery (; 2 August 1866 – 4 December 1934) was a Belgian officer in the Belgian Royal Navy who led the Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1897–99. Early years Born in Hasselt in eastern Belgium as t ...

. The

French Antarctic Expedition The French Antarctic Expedition is any of several French expeditions in Antarctica. 1837–1840 In 1837, during an 1837–1840 expedition across the deep southern hemisphere, Captain Jules Dumont d'Urville sailed his ship ''Astrolabe'' alo ...

(FrAE) under Charcot charted the remaining islands in 1904, and again in 1909, when the name was extended to include the entire group.

Islands

Islands in the group, and nearby islands, include

Bager Island

. A rocky island long in W-E direction and wide in the Vedel Islands group. Surface area . Situated southwest of Rak Island, west by north of Hovgaard Island, north of Klamer Island, and east-southeast of

Flank Island Flank Island () is the southernmost of the Myriad Islands, lying east-northeast of the Snag Rocks in the Wilhelm Archipelago. It was mapped by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey from photos taken by Hunting Aerosurveys Ltd in 1956–57 and ...

in the

Myriad Islands Myriad Islands () is a scattered group of small islands and rocks extending for about 5 nautical miles (9 km), lying west of the Dannebrog and Vedel Islands in the Wilhelm Archipelago. Charted by the British Graham Land Expedition (BGLE) und ...

group. So named because of its shape supposedly resembling an excavator ('bager' in Bulgarian), and in association with other descriptive names of islands in the area.

Friedburginsel

. An island west of Booth Island. Discovered during German Antarctic Expedition 1873/74 under Captain Eduard Dallmann (1830-1896). Named after a Hamburg patron of the expedition.

Kamera Island

. A mostly ice-covered island long in SW-NE direction and wide. Surface area . Situated northwest of Petermann Island, northwest of Kormoran Island, southeast of Klamer Island and west of Pate Island. So named because of its shape supposedly resembling a TV camera ('kamera' in Bulgarian), and in association with other descriptive names of islands in the area.

Klamer Island

. A rocky island long in SW-NE direction and wide in the Vedel Islands. Surface area . Situated northwest of Petermann Island, northwest of Kamera Island and south of Bager Island. So named because of its shape supposedly resembling a paper clip ('klamer' in Bulgarian), and in association with other descriptive names of islands in the area.

Kormoran Island

. A mostly ice-free rocky island extending in a south–north direction and in a west–east direction in the Vedel Islands. Surface area . Situated northwest of Petermann Island, southeast of Kamera Island and southwest of Pate Island. So named because of its shape supposedly resembling a cormorant ('kormoran' in Bulgarian), and in association with other descriptive names of islands in the area.

Kostenurka Island

. A mostly ice-covered island long in southwest–northeast direction and wide in the Vedel Islands. Surface area . Situated northwest of Hovgaard Island, northwest of Friedburginsel, east-southeast of Rak Island and south of Lapa Island. So named because of its shape supposedly resembling a turtle ('kostenurka' in Bulgarian), and in association with other descriptive names of islands in the area.

Lapa Island

. A mostly ice-covered island long in W-E direction and wide in the Vedel Islands. Surface area . Situated northwest of Hovgaard Island, north of Kostenurka Island, east-northeast of Rak Island, and southwest of Lamya Island in the

Dannebrog Islands The Dannebrog Islands are a group of islands and rocks lying between the Wauwermans Islands and the Vedel Islands in the Wilhelm Archipelago. The Wilhelm Archipelago was first sighted and named by a German expedition under Eduard Dallmann, 18 ...

group. So named because of its shape supposedly resembling an animal paw ('lapa' in Bulgarian), and in association with other descriptive names of islands in the area.

Pate Island

. A mostly ice-free rocky island long in west–east direction and wide in the Vedel Islands. Surface area . Situated northwest of Petermann Island, northeast of Kormoran Island, southeast of Bager Island and southwest of Friedburginsel. So named because of its shape supposedly resembling a baby duck ('pate' in Bulgarian), and in association with other descriptive names of islands in the area.

Rak Island

. A rocky island long in west–east direction and wide in the Vedel Islands. Surface area . Situated west-northwest of Hovgaard Island, west-northwest of Kostenurka Island, northeast of Bager Island and west-southwest of Lapa Island. So named because of its shape supposedly resembling a crab ('rak' in Bulgarian), and in association with other descriptive names of islands in the area.

Stray Islands

. A scattered but distinct group of islands lying west of

Petermann Island Petermann Island () is an island long, lying southwest of Hovgaard Island in the Wilhelm Archipelago, Antarctica. Location Petermann Island is off the Graham Coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. It is in the Wilhelm Archipelago, southwest of ...

. Mapped by the FIDS from photos taken by Hunting Aerosurveys Ltd. in 1956-57 and from the helicopter of HMS Protector in March 1958. So named by the UK-APC because the group is scattered.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * {{refend Islands of the Wilhelm Archipelago