The Danger Islands is a group of small islands lying east-south-east of

Joinville Island Joinville Island is the largest island of the Joinville Island group, about long in an east-west direction and wide, lying off the northeastern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, from which it is separated by the Antarctic Sound. Joinville Island ...

near the tip of the

Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic Peninsula, known as O'Higgins Land in Chile and Tierra de San Martín in Argentina, and originally as Graham Land in the United Kingdom and the Palmer Peninsula in the United States, is the northernmost part of mainland Antarctic ...

. They were discovered on 28 December 1842 by a British expedition under

James Clark Ross Sir James Clark Ross (15 April 1800 – 3 April 1862) was a British Royal Navy officer and polar explorer known for his explorations of the Arctic, participating in two expeditions led by his uncle John Ross, and four led by William Edwa ...

, who so named them because, appearing among heavy fragments of ice, they were almost completely concealed until the ship was nearly upon them. The Danger Islands comprise: *

Beagle Island The Beagle Island, part of the Badger Group within the Furneaux Group, is a unpopulated low, flat granite island, located in Bass Strait, lying west of the Flinders and Cape Barren islands, Tasmania, south of Victoria, in south-eastern Aust ...

Darwin Island Darwin Island (Spanish: ''Isla Darwin'') is among the smallest in the Galápagos Archipelago with an area of just . It is named in honour of English scientist Charles Darwin. With no dry landing sites, Darwin Island's main attractions are fo ...

Earle Island Earle Island is a small ice-free island south-west of Darwin Island which marks the south-western end of the Danger Islands. Following hydrographic work in the area from HMS ''Endurance'' in 1977–78, it was named, in association with Beagl ...

Heroína Island Heroína Island is a small island in Antarctica, marking the northeast end of the Danger Islands, east-southeast of Joinville Island. It was named by the Argentine Antarctic Expedition, 1948–49, after the expedition ship ''Heroína'', the nam ...

Peine Island Peine Island is a small island west of Beagle Island in the Danger Islands, southeast of Joinville Island off the Antarctic Peninsula. The descriptive name "Islote Peine" (meaning "Comb Island") was given by the Argentine Ministry of Defense ...

Plato Island Plato Island is a small island lying east of Darwin Island in the Danger Islands off the Antarctic Peninsula. The descriptive name ''Islote Plato'' (plate island) was given by the Argentine Ministry of Defense in 1977. The term island is appropr ...

Use by birds

The Danger Islands have been identified as an

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 Int ...

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 ...

because it supports

Adélie penguin The Adélie penguin (''Pygoscelis adeliae'') is a species of penguin common along the entire coast of the Antarctic continent, which is the only place where it is found. It is the most widespread penguin species, and, along with the emperor p ...

colonies and

seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same enviro ...

s. 751,527 pairs of Adélie penguins (1.5 million individuals) have been recorded in at least five distinct colonies as of March 2018.

References

Islands of the Joinville Island group Important Bird Areas of Antarctica Penguin colonies {{JoinvilleIsland-geo-stub

Use by birds

See also

References