Chionis Island is an island lying south of Awl Point,

Trinity Island Trinity Island or Île de la Trinité or Isla Trinidad is an island long and wide in the northern part of the Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica. It lies east of Hoseason Island, south of Deception Island in the South Shetland Islands, and nor ...

, in the

Palmer Archipelago Palmer Archipelago, also known as Antarctic Archipelago, Archipiélago Palmer, Antarktiske Arkipel or Palmer Inseln, is a group of islands off the northwestern coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. It extends from Tower Island in the north to Anvers ...

. The name Snow Island was used for this feature by whalers in the area in the 1920s, but has not been used on any published map. Since Snow Island in the

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 195 ...

lies just across

Bransfield Strait Bransfield Strait or Fleet Sea ( es, Estrecho de Bransfield, Mar de la Flota) is a body of water about wide extending for in a general northeast – southwest direction between the South Shetland Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula. History ...

, a new name has been substituted for this feature. Chionis Island was so named by 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 ...

in 1960 after the sheathbill (''

Chionis albus The snowy sheathbill (''Chionis albus''), also known as the greater sheathbill, pale-faced sheathbill, and paddy, is one of two species of sheathbill. It is usually found on the ground. It is the only land bird native to the Antarctic continent. ...

''), a common bird in this region. The Minerva Rocks are a small group of rocks lying off Chionis Island. They were so named by whalers because the ''Minerva'', one of the whale catchers of the British factory ship ''Pythia'', went aground on these rocks in March 1922. The catcher was abandoned and, because of the heavy swell, became a total wreck.

References

Islands of the Palmer Archipelago {{PalmerArchipelago-geo-stub

See also

References