Moe Island is an island long in the

South Orkney Islands The South Orkney Islands are a group of islands in the Southern Ocean, about north-east of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

, separated from the south-west end of

Signy Island Signy Island is a small subantarctic island in the South Orkney Islands of Antarctica. It was named by the Norwegian whaler Petter Sørlle (1884–1933) after his wife, Signy Therese. The island is about long and wide and rises to above se ...

by Fyr Channel. It was charted by Captain

Petter Sørlle Petter Sørlle (February 16, 1884 – May 29, 1933) was a Norwegian whaling captain and inventor. Biography Petter Martin Mattias Koch Sørlle was born at Tune (now Sarpsborg) in Østfold, Norway. Both his father and grandfather had been sailors ...

in 1912–13, and named after M. Thoralf Moe of

Sandefjord Sandefjord () is a city and the most populous municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The municipality of Sandefjord was established on 1 January 1838. The municipality of Sandar was merged into Sandefjord on 1 January 1969. On 1 ...

, Norway, a contemporary whaling captain who worked in this area. The northernmost point of the island is Spaull Point, named by

United Kingdom 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) after

Vaughan W. Spaull Vaughan () (2021 population 323,103) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Regional Municipality of York, just north of Toronto. Vaughan was the fastest-growing municipality in Canada between 1996 and 2006 with its population increas ...

British Antarctic Survey The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is the United Kingdom's national polar research institute. It has a dual purpose, to conduct polar science, enabling better understanding of global issues, and to provide an active presence in the Antarctic on ...

(BAS) biologist on

, 1969.

Antarctic Specially Protected Area

The island has been designated an Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA 109) mainly for its biological values, especially the banks of '' Chorisodontium''–''

Polytrichum ''Polytrichum'' is a genus of mosses — commonly called haircap moss or hair moss — which contains approximately 70 species that cover a cosmopolitan distribution. The genus ''Polytrichum'' has a number of closely related sporophytic character ...

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hor ...

turf and ''

Andreaea ''Andreaea'' is a genus of rock mosses described by Johann Hedwig in 1801. They are small, delicate acrocarpous mosses (meaning that the capsules are formed at the tips of vertical branches) that form dark brown or reddish cushions on wet silic ...

''–''

Usnea ''Usnea'' is a genus of mostly pale grayish-green fruticose lichens that grow like leafless mini-shrubs or tassels anchored on bark or twigs.Field Guide to California Lichens, Stephen Sharnoff, Yale University Press, 2014, The genus is in the f ...

fellfield A fellfield or fell field comprises the environment of a slope, usually alpine or tundra, where the dynamics of frost (freeze and thaw cycles) and of wind give rise to characteristic plant forms in scree interstices. Soil dynamics The freeze-thaw ...

. The

cryptogam A cryptogam (scientific name Cryptogamae) is a plant (in the wide sense of the word) or a plant-like organism that reproduces by spores, without flowers or seeds. The name ''Cryptogamae'' () means "hidden reproduction", referring to the fact ...

ic flora is diverse, though in places the moss turf is subject to damage by

Antarctic fur seal The Antarctic fur seal (''Arctocephalus gazella''), is one of eight seals in the genus ''Arctocephalus'', and one of nine fur seals in the subfamily Arctocephalinae. Despite what its name suggests, the Antarctic fur seal is mostly distributed i ...

s. The

mite Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods). Mites span two large orders of arachnids, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari, but genetic analysis does not show clear evid ...

s '' Stereotydeus villosus'' and ''

Gamasellus racovitzai ''Gamasellus'' is a genus of mites in the family Ologamasidae. There are more than 60 described species in ''Gamasellus''. Species These 69 species belong to the genus ''Gamasellus'': * '' Gamasellus acutus'' Karg, 1997 * '' Gamasellus alexand ...

'', as well as the

springtail Springtails (Collembola) form the largest of the three lineages of modern hexapods that are no longer considered insects (the other two are the Protura and Diplura). Although the three orders are sometimes grouped together in a class called Ento ...

Cryptopygus antarcticus The Antarctic springtail, ''Cryptopygus antarcticus'', is a species of springtail native to Antarctica and Australia. ''Cryptopygus antarcticus'' average long and weigh only a few micrograms. Like other springtails, the Antarctic springtai ...

'', are common beneath stones.

Important Bird Area

Moe Island has 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 ...

(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 breeding colonies of

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

s. Some 11,000 pairs of chinstrap penguins were recorded in 1978–79, though subsequently their numbers have declined with only about 100 pairs present in January 2006. Other birds recorded nesting at the site include Cape petrels,

Antarctic prion The Antarctic prion (''Pachyptila desolata'') also known as the dove prion, or totorore in Māori, is the largest of the prions, a genus of small petrels of the Southern Ocean. Taxonomy The Antarctic prion was formally described in 1789 by ...

s and

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 s ...

References

Islands of the South Orkney Islands Important Bird Areas of Antarctica Seabird colonies Antarctic Specially Protected Areas Penguin colonies {{SouthOrkneys-geo-stub

Antarctic Specially Protected Area

Important Bird Area

See also

References