The Willis Islands are a small archipelago to the west of

South Georgia Island South Georgia ( es, Isla San Pedro) is an island in the South Atlantic Ocean that is part of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It lies around east of the Falkland Islands. Stretching in the east� ...

in the

South Georgia Islands ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = , song = , image_map = South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands in United Kingdom.svg , map_caption = Location of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands in the southern Atlantic Oce ...

. They are west of Bird Island, separated by the Stewart Strait. They were discovered on 14 January 1775 by Captain

James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...

and named for Cook's midshipman

Thomas Willis Thomas Willis FRS (27 January 1621 – 11 November 1675) was an English doctor who played an important part in the history of anatomy, neurology and psychiatry, and was a founding member of the Royal Society. Life Willis was born on his pare ...

, the crew member who first sighted them. The Willis Islands were charted in greater detail and individually named by

Discovery Investigations The Discovery Investigations were a series of scientific cruises and shore-based investigations into the biology of whales in the Southern Ocean. They were funded by the British Colonial Office and organised by the Discovery Committee in London, wh ...

(DI) personnel between 1926-1930.

Geography

Main Island

The archipelago's largest island is called Main Island, so-named because at long and high, it is the principal island in the group. Its southwestern point is called Johannesen Point, originally "All Johannesens Point," likely by DI personnel. Following a survey of the island in 1951–52, the

South Georgia Survey The South Georgia Survey was a series of expeditions to survey and map the island of South Georgia, led by Duncan Carse between 1951 and 1957. Although South Georgia had been commercially exploited as a whaling station during the first half of ...

(SGS) reported that the cumbersome name was seldom used locally. On that basis, the

UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee The UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee (or UK-APC) is a United Kingdom government committee, part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, responsible for recommending names of geographical locations within the British Antarctic Territory (BAT) and ...

(UK-APC) recommended the present shortened form of the name.

West and south of Main Island

West of Main Island are several named rocks, groups of rocks, and shoals. Acorn Rock rises above sea level, northwest of Main Island. The descriptive name was applied during a

hydrographic survey Hydrographic survey is the science of measurement and description of features which affect maritime navigation, marine construction, dredging, offshore oil exploration/ offshore oil drilling and related activities. Strong emphasis is placed ...

from in 1960–61. northwest of Main Island is Holgate Shoal, an area of

shoal In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. It ...

s named by the UK-APC for Able Seaman Ralph A. Holgate of the ''Owen'', which charted the shoal in 1961. A pair of rocks named the Tiger Rocks are located west of Main Island, southwest of the shoal. The descriptive name was applied during the surveys from the ''Owen''. The westernmost point of the Willis Islands is a group of three barren rocks called the Ramp Rocks, northwest of Johannesen Point on Main Island. The largest of them was originally called ''laavebrua'' ("threshing floor ramp") by Norwegian whalers, but to avoid confusion with Låvebrua Island, UK-APC named the trio the Ramp Rocks. west-southwest of the south end of Main Island is a small group of rocks named the Bryde Rocks. Positioned by the SGS between 1951–57, the group was named by UK-APC for Thorleif Bryde, a gunner of the South Georgia Whaling Co. Pugh Shoal is an area of shoal south of Main Island, named by UK-APC for Able Seaman

Peter J. Pugh Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

of the ''Owen'', which charted this shoal in 1961.

East of Main Island

Heron Passage separates Main Island from Vaughan Island close to the east, and Trinity Island to the northeast. The existence of the passage was first reported in the 1930s, and confirmed by HMS ''Owen'' during a

of the area in 1961. It was named by UK-APC after one of the ''Owen'''s survey motor boats, the ''Heron''. Vaughan Island is a small, conical tussock-covered island close east of Main Island. It was named by UK-APC for Lieutenant Commander Hugh L.F. Vaughan,

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

First Lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a s ...

of the ''Owen''. The much larger Trinity Island was so-named by DI because it has three peaks. To the southeast are a pair of small tussock-covered islands called the Verdant Islands, descriptively named "Verdant Island" by DI. The name was amended in 1985 to reflect that there were actually two islands there. To the east is Hall Island, small, steep-sided, and tussock-covered. It was named by UK-APC after Commander Geoffrey P.D. Hall of the

Commanding Officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

of the ''Owen''. The easternmost island in the group is Proud Island, a small, relatively high, tussock-covered island, rising to a

peak Peak or The Peak may refer to: Basic meanings Geology * Mountain peak ** Pyramidal peak, a mountaintop that has been sculpted by erosion to form a point Mathematics * Peak hour or rush hour, in traffic congestion * Peak (geometry), an (''n''-3)-di ...

at its northern end. It was descriptively named by UK-APC, the expression "standing proud" in naval parlance being the equivalent of "sticking up."

Fauna

The Willis Islands are a significant breeding ground for

Antarctic fur seal The Antarctic fur seal (''Arctocephalus gazella''), is one of eight seals in the genus ''Arctocephalus'', and one of nine fur seals in the subfamily Arctocephalinae. Despite what its name suggests, the Antarctic fur seal is mostly distributed i ...

Geography

Main Island

West and south of Main Island

East of Main Island

Fauna

See also

References

Further reading