Saddleback Point is a headland on the northern coast of

Elephant Island Elephant Island is an ice-covered, mountainous island off the coast of Antarctica in the outer reaches of the South Shetland Islands, in the Southern Ocean. The island is situated north-northeast of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, west-so ...

, in the

South Shetland Islands The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the nearest point of the South Orkney Islands. By the Antarctic Treaty of 195 ...

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 site lies to the west of

Point Wild Point Wild is a point west of Cape Valentine, east of Saddleback Point, and directly adjacent to the Furness Glacier on the north coast of Elephant Island. It was named Cape Wild by the Shackleton Endurance expedition 1914–16, but Point W ...

Ecological significance

A 65 ha tract of ice-free land at the point 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 ...

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 large breeding colony of about 10,000 pairs of chinstrap penguins.

References

Important Bird Areas of Antarctica Penguin colonies Headlands of the South Shetland Islands Elephant Island {{ElephantIsland-geo-stub