Willis Islands

Willis Islands
Waters	South Atlantic
archipelago	South Georgia
Geographical location	54 ° 0 ′  S , 38 ° 11 ′  W Coordinates: 54 ° 0 ′  S , 38 ° 11 ′  W
Number of islands	over 10
Main island	Main Island
Residents	uninhabited

The Willis Islands ( English Willis Islands ) are a small and uninhabited group of islands off the west coast of South Georgia in the South Atlantic . The islands are 3.2 km west of Bird Island and about 4 km west of the main island of South Georgia and thus - not taking Shag Rocks into account - represent the westernmost land mass of South Georgia. The group consists of a larger island in the west ( Main Island ), one slightly smaller island in the east ( Trinity Island ) and numerous very small islets.

Politically, the archipelago belongs to the British overseas territory " South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands ", but is also claimed by Argentina .

The islands were discovered on January 14, 1775 on James Cook's second voyage to the South Seas and named after the seaman Thomas Willis (1756–1797), who first sighted them.

The larger of the Willis Islands is a popular territory for the Antarctic fur seals ( Arctocephalus gazella ).

Web links

• Willis Islands ( Memento of January 29, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) on the official website of South Georgia
• Willis Islands in the Geographic Names Information System of the United States Geological Survey (English)
• Willis Islands on geographic.org (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Captain Cook Society, Cook's Log, January - March 1775 (English)