Kazak Island lies 1 km south of

Hawker Island Hawker Island is an irregularly shaped island about long, lying some 7 km south-west of Davis Station between Mule Island and Mule Peninsula, Vestfold Hills, in the eastern part of Prydz Bay, Antarctica. It was mapped by Norwegian cartograp ...

and 0.5 km west of the Mule Peninsula, in Prydz Bay on the

Ingrid Christensen Coast The Ingrid Christensen Coast is that portion of the coast of Antarctica lying between Jennings Promontory, in 72°33′E, and the western end of the West Ice Shelf in 81°24′E. It is located in the western half of Princess Elizabeth Land, just e ...

of Princess Elizabeth Land, Antarctica. The nearest permanent research station is Australia's

Davis Davis may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Davis (Antarctica) * Davis Island (Palmer Archipelago) * Davis Valley, Queen Elizabeth Land Canada * Davis, Saskatchewan, an unincorporated community * Davis Strait, between Nunavut and Gre ...

, some 10 km to the north-east on Broad Peninsula, Vestfold Hills.

Discovery and naming

The island was mapped from aerial photographs taken by the Lars Christensen Expedition (1936–37) and also photographed by the

USN The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

’s

Operation Highjump Operation HIGHJUMP, officially titled The United States Navy Antarctic Developments Program, 1946–1947, (also called Task Force 68), was a United States Navy (USN) operation to establish the Antarctic research base Little America IV. The opera ...

(1946–47), the Soviet Antarctic Expedition of 1956, and by

ANARE The Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE ) is the historical name for the Australia: Antarctic Program#Australian Antarctic program, Australian Antarctic Program (AAp) administered for Australia by the Australian Antarctic D ...

in 1957 and 1958. It was named ''Ostrov Kazak'' ('Cossack Island') by the Soviet Expedition.

Important Bird Area

A 167 hectare site, which comprises all of Kazak Island, neighbouring

Zolotov Island Zolotov Island lies 1 km south of Hawker Island and 0.5 km west of the Mule Peninsula, in Prydz Bay on the Ingrid Christensen Coast of Princess Elizabeth Land, Antarctica. The nearest permanent research station is Australia's Davis, so ...

and the intervening marine area, 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 ...

because it supports about 23,000 breeding pairs of

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, based on estimates made in 1981/82.

References

Important Bird Areas of Antarctica Penguin colonies Islands of Princess Elizabeth Land {{PrincessElizabethLand-geo-stub