Jason Harbour is a
bay
A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...
wide, lying west of
Allen Bay in the north side of
Cumberland West Bay
Cumberland West Bay is a bay forming the western arm of Cumberland Bay, South Georgia. It is entered southward of Larsen Point, where it is wide, and extends in a southwest direction. It is separated from Cumberland East Bay by Thatcher Pe ...
,
South Georgia
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†...
. It was charted and named by the
Swedish Antarctic Expedition
The Swedish Antarctic Expedition of 1901–1903 was a scientific expedition led by Otto Nordenskjöld and Carl Anton Larsen. It was the first Swedish endeavour to Antarctica in the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.
Background
Otto Nordensk ...
, 1901–04, under
Otto Nordenskiöld
Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', ''Odo'', ''Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity".
The name is recorded fro ...
. The bay was previously visited by the ''
Jason
Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Medea. He w ...
'', Captain
C.A. Larsen
Carl Anton Larsen (7 August 1860 – 8 December 1924) was a Norway, Norwegian-born Whaling, whaler and Antarctic explorer who made important contributions to the exploration of Antarctica, the most significant being the first discovery of fos ...
, in 1894.
[
]
Named features
Several features in and around Jason Harbour have been charted by various Antarctic expeditions. Unless otherwise noted, the following features were charted and 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 in 1929.
Boat Harbor is a small circular harbour on the east coast of Jason Harbour. The name appears to be first used on a 1930 British Admiralty
The Admiralty was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy until 1964, historically under its titular head, the Lord High Admiral – one of the Great Officers of State. For much of it ...
chart. A group of rocks called the Breakwater Rocks extends across the south part of the entrance to Boat Harbour. The feature was initially named The Breakwater, probably by Lieutenant Commander J.M. Chaplin, 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 ...
, during his survey of Jason Harbour in 1929. 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 t ...
(SGS) of 1956–1957, reported that the name was misleading; the rocks are not in a continuous straight line forming a natural breakwater, but are in a group. The name was therefore altered to "Breakwater Rocks" 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 ...
(UK-APC) in 1957.
Wood Point marks the entrance of Little Jason Lagoon to the north. Little Jason Lagoon, a near-circular lagoon sits at the head of the harbour, separated from it by a narrow peninsula. So narrow is the channel into Little Jason Lagoon that it was initially named Nogood Lagoon by DI personnel. The SGS of 1951–1952, reported that the feature is known locally as Little Jason. The name Little Jason Lagoon was approved in order to indicate the nature of the feature, and at the same time to conform with local usage. The narrow peninsula separating the lagoon from the harbour ends in Lagoon Point, first called Bluff Point by DI but renamed on a 1930 British Admiralty
The Admiralty was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy until 1964, historically under its titular head, the Lord High Admiral – one of the Great Officers of State. For much of it ...
chart. On the same narrow peninsula as Lagoon Point sits The Split Pin, a twin pinnacle rock formation high, also charted by DI.[
Tor Point forms the east side of the entrance to Jason Harbor. The name appears to be first used on a 1930 British Admiralty chart.][ Diamond Peak rises to the west of the harbor.]
References
Bays of South Georgia
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