Maher Island is a small horseshoe-shaped island lying north of the north-western end of
Siple Island, off the coast of
Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica. It is one of the three pieces of land closest to the Oceanic
Pole of Inaccessibility
A pole of inaccessibility with respect to a geographical criterion of inaccessibility marks a location that is the most challenging to reach according to that criterion. Often it refers to the most distant point from the coastline, implying a ...
, also known as 'Point Nemo'.
It has numerous areas of exposed rock and is mostly ice-free in summer.
[ It is claimed to be a territory of Grand Duchy of Flandrensis.
]
Discovery and naming
It was discovered and photographed from aircraft of U.S. Navy Operation Highjump, 1946–47, and was named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names for Commander Eugene Maher, U.S. Navy
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 o ...
, commanding officer of during Operation Deep Freeze
Operation Deep Freeze (OpDFrz or ODF) is codename for a series of United States missions to Antarctica, beginning with "Operation Deep Freeze I" in 1955–56, followed by "Operation Deep Freeze II", "Operation Deep Freeze III", and so on. (There w ...
, 1955–56.[
]
Important Bird Area
An 51 ha site, comprising the whole of the island, has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports about 10,000 breeding pairs of Adélie penguins, as estimated by 2011 satellite imagery.[ ]
See also
* List of Antarctic and Subantarctic islands
References
Important Bird Areas of Antarctica
Penguin colonies
Islands of Marie Byrd Land
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