Skilling Island is a small

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 ...

immediately north of

Atriceps Island Atriceps Island is the southernmost of the Robertson Islands, lying south of the south-east end of Coronation Island in the South Orkney Islands of Antarctica. The island has been identified as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International ...

, in the

Robertson Islands The Robertson Islands or Robertsons Islands are a group of islands extending 6 km southward of the south-eastern extremity of Coronation Island in the South Orkney Islands of Antarctica. They were discovered and roughly charted by Captains ...

group of the

South Orkney Islands The South Orkney Islands are a group of islands in the Southern Ocean, about north-east of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula 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 ...

. Although roughly charted at a much earlier date, the island was first surveyed in 1933 by DI personnel. It was named by the

United Kingdom Antarctic Place-Names Committee The UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee (or UK-APC) is a United Kingdom government committee, part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, responsible for recommending names of geographical locations within the British Antarctic Territory (BAT) and ...

(UK-APC) for Charles J. Skilling (1931–52) of the

Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is the United Kingdom's national polar research institute. It has a dual purpose, to conduct polar science, enabling better understanding of global issues, and to provide an active presence in the Antarctic on ...

(FIDS), general assistant at Signy Island in 1949, and member of the sledge party which visited the Robertson Islands the same year. Skilling died aboard the ''John Biscoe'' on 17 April 1952.

Important Bird Area

The island is part of the Robertson Islands North

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), identified as such 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 substantial breeding colonies of chinstrap penguins.

References

Islands of the South Orkney Islands Important Bird Areas of Antarctica Penguin colonies {{SouthOrkneys-geo-stub

Important Bird Area

See also

References