Haswell Island is the largest of the

Haswell Islands The Haswell Islands are a group of rocky coastal islands lying off Mabus Point, Antarctica, and extending about seaward. They were charted by the Australasian Antarctic Expedition under Douglas Mawson (1911–14), who applied the name "Rookery ...

, lying off the coast of Antarctica, about north of

Mabus Point Mabus Point is a point on the coast of Antarctica lying just south of the Haswell Islands, marking the eastern limit of McDonald Bay. It stands 1 nautical mile(2 km) Northwest of Morennaya Hill."Morennaya Hill". ''Geographic Names Information Syste ...

Queen Mary Land Queen Mary Land or the Queen Mary Coast () is the portion of the coast of Antarctica lying between Cape Filchner, in 91° 54' E, and Cape Hordern, at 100° 30' E. It is claimed by Australia as part of the Australian Antarctic Territory. It w ...

. It was discovered by the

Western Base Party The Western Base Party was a successful exploration party of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition. The eight-man Western Party was deposited by the SY ''Aurora'' on the Shackleton Ice Shelf at Queen Mary Land. The leader of the team was Fran ...

of the

Australasian Antarctic Expedition The Australasian Antarctic Expedition was a 1911–1914 expedition headed by Douglas Mawson that explored the largely uncharted Antarctic coast due south of Australia. Mawson had been inspired to lead his own venture by his experiences on Ernest ...

, 1911–14, under

Mawson Sir Douglas Mawson OBE FRS FAA (5 May 1882 – 14 October 1958) was an Australian geologist, Antarctic explorer, and academic. Along with Roald Amundsen, Robert Falcon Scott, and Sir Ernest Shackleton, he was a key expedition leader durin ...

, and named by him for Professor William A. Haswell, a zoologist at

Sydney University The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's six ...

and a member of the expedition's Advisory Committee.

Birds

The island is a unique site for almost all bird species breeding in East Antarctica, including

Antarctic petrel The Antarctic petrel (''Thalassoica antarctica'') is a boldly marked dark brown and white petrel, found in Antarctica, most commonly in the Ross and Weddell Seas. They eat Antarctic krill, fish, and small squid. They feed while swimming but can d ...

s, Antarctic fulmars, Cape petrels,

snow petrel The snow petrel (''Pagodroma nivea'') is the only member of the genus ''Pagodroma.'' It is one of only three birds that has been seen at the Geographic South Pole, along with the Antarctic petrel and the south polar skua, which have the most so ...

Wilson's storm petrel Wilson's storm petrel (''Oceanites oceanicus''), also known as Wilson's petrel, is a small seabird of the austral storm petrel family Oceanitidae. It is one of the most abundant bird species in the world and has a circumpolar distribution mainly ...

south polar skua The south polar skua (''Stercorarius maccormicki'') is a large seabird in the skua family, Stercorariidae. An older name for the bird is MacCormick's skua, after explorer and naval surgeon Robert McCormick, who first collected the type specimen. ...

s and

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 ...

s. To the south-east of the island, there is a large

colony In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the ''metropole, metropolit ...

emperor penguin The emperor penguin (''Aptenodytes forsteri'') is the tallest and heaviest of all living penguin species and is endemic to Antarctica. The male and female are similar in plumage and size, reaching in length and weighing from . Feathers of th ...

s breeding on

fast ice Fast ice (also called ''land-fast ice'', ''landfast ice'', and ''shore-fast ice'') is sea ice that is "fastened" to the coastline, to the sea floor along shoals or to grounded icebergs.Leppäranta, M. 2011. The Drift of Sea Ice. Berlin: Springer ...

. The island and the adjacent emperor penguin rookery site are protected under the

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 ...

Antarctic Specially Protected Area An Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA) is an area on the continent of Antarctica, or on nearby islands, which is protected by scientists and several different international bodies. The protected areas were established in 1961 under the Antarct ...

(ASPA) No.127. The same 500 ha site, comprising the whole island as well as the adjoining sea ice where the emperor penguins breed, has been designated 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 ...

(IBA) by

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 ...

. The area also supports five species of

seals Seals may refer to: * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impress an emblem, used as a means of a ...

, including

Ross seal The Ross seal (''Ommatophoca rossii'') is a true seal (family Phocidae) with a range confined entirely to the pack ice of Antarctica. It is the only species of the genus ''Ommatophoca''. First described during the Ross expedition in 1841, it is ...

References

External links

* Important Bird Areas of Antarctica Islands of Queen Mary Land Antarctic Specially Protected Areas Seabird colonies Penguin colonies {{QueenMaryLand-geo-stub

Birds

See also

References

External links