Wilhelmina Bay is a bay wide between the Reclus Peninsula and Cape Anna along the west coast of

Graham Land Graham Land is the portion of the Antarctic Peninsula that lies north of a line joining Cape Jeremy and Cape Agassiz. This description of Graham Land is consistent with the 1964 agreement between the British Antarctic Place-names Committee and ...

on the

Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic Peninsula, known as O'Higgins Land in Chile and Tierra de San Martín in Argentina, and originally as Graham Land in the United Kingdom and the Palmer Peninsula in the United States, is the northernmost part of mainland Antarctic ...

. It was discovered by the

Belgian Antarctic Expedition The Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1897–1899 was the first expedition to winter in the Antarctic region. Led by Adrien de Gerlache de Gomery aboard the RV ''Belgica'', it was the first Belgian Antarctic expedition and is considered the firs ...

of 1897-99 led by

Adrien de Gerlache Baron Adrien Victor Joseph de Gerlache de Gomery (; 2 August 1866 – 4 December 1934) was a Belgian officer in the Belgian Royal Navy who led the Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1897–99. Early years Born in Hasselt in eastern Belgium as t ...

. The bay is named for Wilhelmina,

Queen of the Netherlands The monarchy of the Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy. As such, the role and position of the monarch are governed by the Constitution of the Netherlands. Consequently, a large portion of it is devoted to the monarch. Roughly a third of ...

, who reigned from 1890 to 1948. Wilhelmina Bay is dubbed "Whale-mina Bay" for its large number of

humpback whales The humpback whale (''Megaptera novaeangliae'') is a species of baleen whale. It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae) and is the only species in the genus ''Megaptera''. Adults range in length from and weigh up to . The hump ...

. It is a popular destination for tourist expedition ships to Antarctica thanks to its abundant whale population and spectacular scenery. The bay is surrounded by steep cliffs full of snow and glaciers. An almost perfect pyramid-shaped peak towers over the water.Whalewatching in Wilhelmina Bay -- TravelPod
/ref>

References

File:WilhelminaBay02.JPG, A kayaker watches whales in Wilhelmina Bay File:WilhelminaBay07.JPG, Kayakers in Wilhelmina Bay File:WilhelminaBay10.JPG, Nautical chart showing Wilhelmina Bay File:WilhelminaBay11.JPG, Expedition vessel Akademik Ioffe sailing into Wilhelmina Bay in January 2014 File:WilhelminaBay13.JPG, Wilhelmina Bay File:WilhelminaBay43.JPG, A tourist Zodiac has a close encounter with a humpback whale in Wilhelmina Bay File:WilhelminaBay50.JPG, Tourists watch a humpback whale dive in Wilhelmina Bay File:WilhelminaBay57.JPG, A kayaker watches a humpback whale in Wilhelmina Bay Bays of Graham Land Danco Coast {{DancoCoast-geo-stub

See also

References