Ardery Island is a steep, rocky island, about long, lying west of

Odbert Island Odbert Island is a rocky island, long, between Ardery Island and Robinson Ridge in the Windmill Islands of Antarctica. History The island was first mapped from air photos taken in the course of the US Navy's Operations Highjump and Windmill in ...

in the

Windmill Islands The Windmill Islands are an Antarctic group of rocky islands and rocks about wide, paralleling the coast of Wilkes Land for immediately north of Vanderford Glacier along the east side of Vincennes Bay. Kirkby Shoal is a small shoal area with de ...

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 ...

History

The island was first mapped from air photos taken by the

US 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 of ...

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 ...

and Operation Windmill in 1947 and 1948. It was named by the US

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) for Major E. R. Ardery, an Army Corps of Engineers observer who assisted Windmill parties in establishing astronomical control stations between

Wilhelm II Coast Wilhelm may refer to: People and fictional characters * William Charles John Pitcher, costume designer known professionally as "Wilhelm" * Wilhelm (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname Other uses * Moun ...

and Budd Coast during the 1947–48 season. Cave Ravine is a ravine in the western part of the island. It was first mapped by Operation Highjump and later visited in 1961 by M. N. Orton, a medical officer at

Wilkes Station Wilkes Station was an Antarctic research station established 29 January 1957 by the United States as one of seven U.S. stations established for the International Geophysical Year (IGY) program in Antarctica. It was taken over by Australia on ...

. It was so named by the Antarctic Names Committee of Australia (ANCA) for a cave in the western wall of the ravine. Cave Landing is an

ice foot Ice is water freezing, frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of Impurity, impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a ...

near Cave Ravine which affords a boat landing in spring and summer. It was discovered by Orton during his visit to Cave Ravine, and named by ANCA. Orton Cave is a cave in the western wall of Cave Ravine, also discovered by Orton, for whom it was named by ANCA. Mast Point is the westernmost point of the island. It was named by US-ACAN for Clarence W. Mast, a member of the Wilkes Station party of 1958. Hiegel Passage is the sea passage between Ardery Island and Holl and Ford Islands to the south. It was named by the US-ACAN for Commander James A. Hiegel, leader of Mobile Construction Battalion Number One, who supervised the construction of Wilkes Station in February 1957.

Antarctic Specially Protected Area

Ardery Island, along with nearby

, is protected under the

Antarctic Treaty System russian: link=no, Договор об Антарктике es, link=no, Tratado Antártico , name = Antarctic Treaty System , image = Flag of the Antarctic Treaty.svgborder , image_width = 180px , caption ...

Antarctic Specially Protected Area An Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA) is an area on the continent of Antarctica, or on nearby islands, which is protected by scientists and several different international bodies. The protected areas were established in 1961 under the Antarct ...

(ASPA) No.103 because they support several breeding species of petrel and provide examples of their habitat, notably that of

Antarctic petrel The Antarctic petrel (''Thalassoica antarctica'') is a boldly marked dark brown and white petrel, found in Antarctica, most commonly in the Ross and Weddell Seas. They eat Antarctic krill, fish, and small squid. They feed while swimming but can d ...

s and

southern fulmar The southern fulmar (''Fulmarus glacialoides'') is a seabird of the Southern Hemisphere. Along with the northern fulmar, ''F. glacialis'', it belongs to the fulmar genus ''Fulmarus'' in the family Procellariidae, the true petrels. It is also kno ...

s. The site has also 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 ...

on the basis of the numbers of seabirds present.

References

{{Portal bar, Birds, Islands, Geography, Earth sciences, Weather Important Bird Areas of Antarctica Windmill Islands Antarctic Specially Protected Areas Seabird colonies

History

Antarctic Specially Protected Area

See also

References