Ildefonso Islands
| Ildefonso Islands | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Waters | Drake Street | |
| Geographical location | 55 ° 44 ′ S , 69 ° 26 ′ W | |
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| Number of islands | 9 | |
| Total land area | 0.2 km² | |
| Residents | uninhabited | |
The Ildefonso Islands ( Spanish Islas Ildefonso ) are a small group of islands in southern Chile . They belong to the municipality of Cabo de Hornos in the Chilean region of Magallanes y de la Antártica Chilena .
The islands are located 27 km south of Isla Hoste , 96 km west of the to Tierra del Fuego (Spanish Tierra del Fuego belonging) Isla Hermite and 93 km north-northwest of the Diego Ramírez Islands .
They consist of nine rocks that rise up to 30 meters above the surface of the sea as the peaks of an underwater mountain range. The islands are divided into two groups and extend for 6 km in a north-west-south-east direction. The total land area is around 0.2 km². More than half of it is on the large southern rock, which is 970 m long and 80 to 200 m wide.
The Ildefonso Islands are steep, rocky and overgrown with tufted grass ( Poa flabellata ).
They are populated by penguins , especially rockhopper penguins ( Eudyptes chrysocome ) and magellanic penguins ( Spheniscus magellanicus ). There is also a large colony of black- browed albatrosses ( Thalassarche melanophris ) and some gray-headed albatrosses ( Thalassarche chrysostoma ). The blue-eyed shag (Antarctic cormorant, Phalacrocorax atriceps ) is also one of the widespread breeding species.
literature
- Shirihai, Hadoram (2002) A complete guide to Antarctic wildlife ISBN 951-98947-0-5