The Danger Islands () are a group of 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. Location ...

near the tip of the

Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic Peninsula, known as O'Higgins Land in Chile and Tierra de San Martin 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 Antarctica. ...

Location

The Danger Islands are in the

Joinville Island group Joinville Island group is a group of antarctic islands, lying off the northeastern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, from which Joinville Island group is separated by the Antarctic Sound. Location The Joinville Island group lies in Graham La ...

, which lies in

Graham Land Graham Land is the portion of the Antarctic Peninsula that lies north of a line joining Cape Jeremy and Cape Agassiz. This description of Graham Land is consistent with the 1964 agreement between the British Antarctic Place-names Committee ...

to the east of the tip of

Trinity Peninsula Trinity Peninsula is the northernmost part of the Antarctic Peninsula. It extends northeastward for about 130 km (80 mi) to Cape Dubouzet from an imaginary line connecting Cape Kater on the north-west coast and Cape Longing on the sou ...

, which is itself the tip of the

. The Danger Islands are to the east-southeast of Joinville Island.

Discovery and name

The Danger Islands 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 explorer of both the northern and southern polar regions. In the Arctic, he participated in two expeditions led by his uncle, Sir John Ross, John ...

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

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 i ...

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 peng ...

colonies and

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

s. 751,527 pairs of Adélie penguins (1.5 million individuals) have been recorded in at least five distinct colonies as of March 2018. The survey used drones adapted to the cold.

Islands

Beagle Island

. An island lying northeast of Darwin Island in the Danger Islands. 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) an ...

(UK-APC) in 1963 after HMS ''Beagle'' (Captain Fitzroy), due to its proximity to Darwin Island.

Darwin Island

. The largest of the Danger Islands lying east-southeast of the east tip of Joinville Island, off the northeast end of Antarctic Peninsula. Discovered in 1842 by a British expedition under

, and named by him for

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

, noted naturalist.

Dixey Rock

. A rock rising high above sea level, southeast of Darwin Island in the Danger Islands. Mapped by FIDS in 1953-54 and 1956–58, and photographed from the air by FIDASE, 1956-57. Named by UK-APC in 1980 after David J. Dixey, Head, Nautical Branch 5, Hydrographic Department.

Earle Island

. A small island southwest of Darwin Island and marking the southwest end of Danger Islands. Following work in the area from HMS ''Endurance'', 1977–78, it was named after

Augustus Earle Augustus Earle (1793–1838) was a British painter. Unlike earlier artists who worked outside Europe and were employed on voyages of exploration or worked abroad for wealthy, often aristocratic patrons, Earle was able to operate quite indepen ...

(born about 1790), artist in HMS ''Beagle'', in association with Beagle Island and other names in the group.

Heroína Island

. A small island marking the northeast end of Danger Islands. Named by the

Argentine Antarctic Expedition Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

, 1948–49, after the expedition ship ''Heroína Island''. Approved by the United States

Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names The Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (ACAN or US-ACAN) is an advisory committee of the United States Board on Geographic Names responsible for recommending commemorative names for features in Antarctica. History The committee was established ...

(US-ACAN) in 1993.

Peine Island

. A small island west of Beagle Island in the Danger Islands. The descriptive name "Islote Peine" (comb island) was given by Ministerio de Defensa, Argentina, 1978. The US-ACAN approved the name in 1993 with the generic term Island.

Plato Island

. A small island lying east of Darwin Island in the Danger Islands. The descriptive name "Islote Plato" (plate island) was given by Ministerio de Defensa, Argentina, 1977. The term island is appropriate and replaces "islote" (islet) in the name approved by the US-ACAN in 1993.

References

Sources

* * * * * * {{Important Bird Areas of Antarctica Islands of the Joinville Island group Important Bird Areas of Antarctica Penguin colonies