__NOTOC__ Prion Island is an

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

north-northeast of Luck Point, lying in the

Bay of Isles The Bay of Isles is a bay wide and receding , lying between Cape Buller and Cape Wilson along the north coast of South Georgia. It was discovered in 1775 by a British expedition under James Cook and so named by him because numerous islands ...

, South Georgia. It was charted in 1912-13 by

Robert Cushman Murphy The whaling ship, ''Daisy'', which Murphy traveled on to the Antarctic Robert Cushman Murphy (April 29, 1887 – March 20, 1973) was an American ornithologist and Lamont Curator of birds at the American Museum of Natural History. He went on numer ...

, American naturalist aboard the brig ''Daisy'', and so named because he observed

prions Prions are misfolded proteins that have the ability to transmit their misfolded shape onto normal variants of the same protein. They characterize several fatal and transmissible neurodegenerative diseases in humans and many other animals. It i ...

on the island. The island has been designated as a Specially Protected Area by the South Georgia Government, due to its rat-free status and breeding

wandering albatross The wandering albatross, snowy albatross, white-winged albatross or goonie (''Diomedea exulans'') is a large seabird from the family Diomedeidae, which has a circumpolar range in the Southern Ocean. It was the last species of albatross to be desc ...

es. Access is by permit, in that the island must be specifically named on the visit application and permit. A boardwalk with two viewing platforms was built in February/March 2008 to prevent erosion of the access gully and trampling of prion burrows. Wandering Albatross population counts are conducted annually. Because it is rat-free it is a breeding area for

South Georgia pipit The South Georgia pipit (''Anthus antarcticus'') is a sparrow-sized bird only found on the South Georgia archipelago off the Antarctic Peninsula. It is the only songbird in Antarctica, South Georgia's only passerine, and one of the few non-seab ...

s and burrowing

petrel Petrels are tube-nosed seabirds in the bird order Procellariiformes. Description The common name does not indicate relationship beyond that point, as "petrels" occur in three of the four families within that group (all except the albatross f ...

Access

Visits are restricted as described in the GSGSSI ''Information For Visitors'' document as follows: * Closed between 20 November and 7 January (Inclusive), to prevent disturbance of breeding fur seals at the landing beach. * A maximum of two visits per day * Landing at the designated beach only and all visitors to stay on the boardwalk * Commercial visits to maintain a 1:10 staff to passenger ratio * Maximum 50 people ashore at any time * A visit is not to exceed 5 hours * Thorough biosecurity checks to be made before landing

References

External links

Film of Prion Island

GSGSSI Information for Visitors document
Islands of South Georgia Seabird colonies {{SouthGeorgia-geo-stub

Access

See also

References

External links