The Pearl Rocks are a group of rocks covering an area by close to the west coast of

Tower Island Tower Island is an Antarctic island long and high. It marks the north-east extent of Palmer Archipelago. It lies north-east of Trinity Island, separated by Gilbert Strait. Both islands are separated from the Davis Coast to the south by ...

in the Palmer Archipelago of

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 ...

. The name was given by

Falkland Islands and Dependencies Aerial Survey Expedition The Falkland Islands and Dependencies Aerial Survey Expedition (FIDASE) was an aerial survey of the Falkland Islands Dependencies and the Antarctic peninsula which took place in the 1955–56 and 1956–57 southern summers. Funded by the Colonial ...

(FIDASE) (1955–57) and is descriptive of the numerous snow-covered rocks in the group.

Important Bird Area

The site 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 a breeding colony of about 170 pairs of

Antarctic shag The Antarctic shag (''Leucocarbo bransfieldensis''), sometimes referred to as the imperial cormorant, king cormorant, imperial shag, blue-eyed shag or Antarctic cormorant, is the only species of the cormorant family found in the Antarctic. It is s ...

References

Rock formations of the Palmer Archipelago Important Bird Areas of Antarctica Seabird colonies {{PalmerArchipelago-geo-stub