Powell Island

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Powell Island
Map of the South Orkney Islands
Map of the South Orkney Islands
Waters Southern ocean
Archipelago South Orkney Islands
Geographical location 60 ° 41 ′  S , 45 ° 2 ′  W Coordinates: 60 ° 41 ′  S , 45 ° 2 ′  W
Powell Island (Antarctica)
Powell Island
length 11 km
width 3 km
surface 20 km²
Highest elevation 620  m
Residents uninhabited

Powell Island is an uninhabited island in the Southern Ocean that belongs to the group of the Southern Orkney Islands .

geography

Powell Island lies between the two largest islands in the group -  Coronation Island and Laurie Island  - and is separated from these by the Lewthwaite Strait and the Washington Strait . The elongated, mostly ice-covered island has a length of about eleven kilometers in north-south direction, while in east-west direction it is only about three kilometers wide. Their area is 20 km².

history

Powell Island was discovered and mapped in December 1821 by seal hunters Nathaniel Palmer and George Powell (1794-1824). In 1839 the island was named after the latter.

natural reserve

In 1966, the southern tip of the Powell Islands, together with Fredriksen Island and some other offshore islands, were placed under the protection of the Antarctic Treaty as a "specially protected area (SPA-15)" in order to preserve the existing ecosystem of relatively rich vegetation, considerable bird life and a to maintain the growing population of Antarctic fur seals . Today the area is listed as a specially protected area of ​​the Antarctic ASPA-111 according to Appendix V (Protection and Management of Areas) of the Environmental Protection Protocol to the Antarctic Treaty.

BirdLife International also designates ASPA-111 as an Important Bird Area (AQ015). The reason for this are the breeding colonies of the bridle , donkey and Adelie penguins as well as the giant petrel and the blue-eyed shag .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ John Stewart: Antarctica - An Encyclopedia . Vol. 2, McFarland & Co., Jefferson and London 2011, ISBN 978-0-7864-3590-6 , p. 1245 (English)
  2. ↑ UNEP Islands (English)
  3. ^ John Stewart: Antarctica - An Encyclopedia . Vol. 2, McFarland & Co., Jefferson and London 2011, ISBN 978-0-7864-3590-6 , p. 1244 (English)
  4. ↑ Southern Powell Island and adjacent islands, South Orkney Islands (PDF; 652 kB), Management Plan for Antarctic Specially Protected Area No. 111, accessed on May 13, 2017 (English)
  5. ↑ Southern Powell Island and adjacent islands (AQ015) , datasheet on the BirdLife International website, accessed July 23, 2018.