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O'Brien Island
O'Brien Island is a small rocky island in the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica. It lies south-west of Aspland Island and rises to 540 m. A strong marine channel, named Tasman Rip, runs between O'Brien Island and Eadie Island. The name dates back to the survey of the South Shetlands carried out by Edward Bransfield and William Smith in 1820, when it was applied to O'Brien, Eadie and Aspland Islands as a group. It is now established in international usage. Important Bird Area The island has been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because there are records (from 1977) of it supporting large breeding colonies of chinstrap penguins (21,000 pairs) and southern fulmar The southern fulmar (''Fulmarus glacialoides'') is a seabird of the Southern Hemisphere. Along with the northern fulmar, ''F. glacialis'', it belongs to the fulmar genus ''Fulmarus'' in the family Procellariidae, the true petrels. It is also kno ...s (8000 pairs). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest continent, being about 40% larger than Europe, and has an area of . Most of Antarctica is covered by the Antarctic ice sheet, with an average thickness of . Antarctica is, on average, the coldest, driest, and windiest of the continents, and it has the highest average elevation. It is mainly a polar desert, with annual precipitation of over along the coast and far less inland. About 70% of the world's freshwater reserves are frozen in Antarctica, which, if melted, would raise global sea levels by almost . Antarctica holds the record for the lowest measured temperature on Earth, . The coastal regions can reach temperatures over in summer. Native species of animals include mites, nematodes, penguins, seals and tardigrades. Where vegetation o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antarctic Treaty System
russian: link=no, Договор об Антарктике es, link=no, Tratado Antártico , name = Antarctic Treaty System , image = Flag of the Antarctic Treaty.svgborder , image_width = 180px , caption = Flag of the Antarctic Treaty System , type = Condominium , date_drafted = , date_signed = December 1, 1959"Antarctic Treaty" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 439. , location_signed = Washington, D.C., United States , date_sealed = , date_effective = June 23, 1961 , condition_effective = Ratification of all 12 signatories , date_expiration = , signatories = 12 , parties = 55 , depositor = Federal government of the United States , languages = English, French, Russian, and Spanish , wikisource = Antarctic Treaty The Antarctic Treaty an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Shetland Islands
The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the nearest point of the South Orkney Islands. By the Antarctic Treaty of 1959, the islands' sovereignty is neither recognized nor disputed by the signatories and they are free for use by any signatory for non-military purposes. The islands have been claimed by the United Kingdom since 1908 and as part of the British Antarctic Territory since 1962. They are also claimed by the governments of Chile (since 1940, as part of the Antártica Chilena province) and Argentina (since 1943, as part of Argentine Antarctica, Tierra del Fuego Province). Several countries maintain research stations on the islands. Most of them are situated on King George Island, benefitting from the airfield of the Chilean base Eduardo Frei. There are sixteen research stations in different parts of the islands, with Chilean stations being ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aspland Island
Aspland Island is a small island west of Gibbs Island in the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica. The name dates back to at least 1821. Moonlight Point () is the northwest point of Aspland Island. It was so named by a Joint Services Expedition to the Elephant Island Group (JSEEIG) party canoeing from O'Brien Island to Aspland Island on January 3, 1977, because the point appeared silhouetted against a full moon. The name was approved by the UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee in 1980. Birds The island forms part of the Aspland Island and Eadie Island Important Bird Area, identified as such by BirdLife International because both islands support large colonies of chinstrap penguins and southern fulmar The southern fulmar (''Fulmarus glacialoides'') is a seabird of the Southern Hemisphere. Along with the northern fulmar, ''F. glacialis'', it belongs to the fulmar genus ''Fulmarus'' in the family Procellariidae, the true petrels. It is also kno ...s. See also * List of An ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tasman Rip
Tasman Rip () is a marine channel in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica running east–west between O'Brien Island and Eadie Island and characterized by strong tidal rips and whirlpools. The channel was crossed by a party of the U.K. Joint Services Expedition to Elephant Island Elephant Island is an ice-covered, mountainous island off the coast of Antarctica in the outer reaches of the South Shetland Islands, in the Southern Ocean. The island is situated north-northeast of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, west-so ... in January 1977, and so named after the Tasman canoes used in the crossing. Channels of the Southern Ocean {{SouthShetlands-geo-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eadie Island
Eadie Island is an island long which lies between Aspland Island and O'Brien Island, in the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica. A strong marine channel, named Tasman Rip, runs between Eadie Island and O'Brien Island. The island was first charted with its neighbours in February 1820, as the three 'O'Brien Islands', during a survey of the South Shetlands carried out by Edward Bransfield and William Smith (mariner). A year later they were rediscovered by a Russian expedition under Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, who used the name "Ostrova Tri Brata" (Three Brothers) for the present Aspland, Eadie and O'Brien Islands. Eadie Island was then named for the dockyard manager of the Melbourne Harbor Trust of Williamstown, Australia, by Lieutenant L. C. Hill of the Royal Naval Reserve, captain of the '' Discovery II'', which engaged in survey work in the area in 1936–37. Birds The island forms part of the Aspland Island and Eadie Island Important Bird Area, identified as suc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Important Bird Area
An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife International. There are over 13,000 IBAs worldwide. These sites are small enough to be entirely conserved and differ in their character, habitat or ornithological importance from the surrounding habitat. In the United States the Program is administered by the National Audubon Society. Often IBAs form part of a country's existing protected area network, and so are protected under national legislation. Legal recognition and protection of IBAs that are not within existing protected areas varies within different countries. Some countries have a National IBA Conservation Strategy, whereas in others protection is completely lacking. History In 1985, following a specific request from the European Economic Community, Birdlife International ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BirdLife International
BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding important sites for birds, maintaining and restoring key bird habitats, and empowering conservationists worldwide. It has a membership of more than 2.5 million people across 116 country partner organizations, including the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the Wild Bird Society of Japan, the National Audubon Society and American Bird Conservancy. BirdLife International has identified 13,000 Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas and is the official International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List authority for birds. As of 2015, BirdLife International has established that 1,375 bird species (13% of the total) are threatened with extinction ( critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable). BirdLife International p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bird Colony
A bird colony is a large congregation of individuals of one or more species of bird that nest or roost in proximity at a particular location. Many kinds of birds are known to congregate in groups of varying size; a congregation of nesting birds is called a breeding colony. Colonial nesting birds include seabirds such as auks and albatrosses; wetland species such as herons; and a few passerines such as weaverbirds, certain blackbirds, and some swallows. A group of birds congregating for rest is called a communal roost. Evidence of colonial nesting has been found in non- neornithine birds ( Enantiornithes), in sediments from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of Romania. Variations on colonial nesting in birds Approximately 13% of all bird species nest colonially. Nesting colonies are very common among seabirds on cliffs and islands. Nearly 95% of seabirds are colonial, leading to the usage, seabird colony, sometimes called a rookery. Many species of terns nest in colonie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southern Fulmar
The southern fulmar (''Fulmarus glacialoides'') is a seabird of the Southern Hemisphere. Along with the northern fulmar, ''F. glacialis'', it belongs to the fulmar genus ''Fulmarus'' in the family Procellariidae, the true petrels. It is also known as the Antarctic fulmar or silver-grey fulmar. It is largely pale grey above and white below with a distinctive white patch on the wing. It breeds on the coast of Antarctica and on surrounding islands, moving north in winter. It nests in colonies on cliffs, laying a single egg on a ledge or crevice. Its diet includes krill, fish and squid picked from the water's surface. Taxonomy The southern fulmar formally described and illustrated in 1840 by the Scottish zoologist Andrew Smith in his major work ''Illustrations of the Zoology of South Africa''. He placed it with all the other petrels in the genus ''Procellaria'' and coined the binomial name ''Procellaria glacialoides''. The southern fulmar is now placed with the northern fulmar in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
