The Southern Powell Island and adjacent islets Specially Protected Area is a 2688 ha site encompassing part of southern

Powell Island Powell Island is a narrow island long and wide, lying between Coronation and Laurie Islands in the central part of the South Orkney Islands of Antarctica. Its southern end lies 7 km east of the south-western extremity of Coronation Islan ...

in 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 ...

. It includes neighbouring Christoffersen,

Fredriksen Fredriksen is a Norwegian patronymic surname which may refer to: People * Aslaug Fredriksen (1918-2000), Norwegian politician * Britt Fredriksen (born 1945), Norwegian Playmate *Jan-Henrik Fredriksen (1956-2020), Norwegian politician *John Fr ...

Michelsen Michelsen is a Danish-Norwegian patronymic surname meaning "son of Mikkel/ Michael". There are related English, German, Swedish and other spellings of this name. People with the name Michelsen include: People * Albert Michelsen (1893-1964), Americ ...

and

Grey Islands The Canadian Grey Islands consist of two islands, Bell Island and Groais Island, located off Newfoundland's Great Northern Peninsula to the east in the Atlantic Ocean. Largest of them is the southern Bell Island with an area of 88 km2. T ...

, along with some other (unnamed) offshore islets. It was designated an

Antarctic Specially Protected Area An Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA) is an area on the continent of Antarctica, or on nearby islands, which is protected by scientists and several different international bodies. The protected areas were established in 1961 under the Antarct ...

(ASPA 111, formerly SPA 15) because of its biological values as it supports many plants and animals that exemplify the natural ecology of the South Orkney Islands. It is also a breeding site for

Antarctic fur seal The Antarctic fur seal (''Arctocephalus gazella''), is one of eight seals in the genus '' Arctocephalus'', and one of nine fur seals in the subfamily Arctocephalinae. Despite what its name suggests, the Antarctic fur seal is mostly distributed i ...

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 several significant

seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same enviro ...

breeding colonies. Birds nesting there include

gentoo penguin The gentoo penguin ( ) (''Pygoscelis papua'') is a penguin species (or possibly a species complex) in the genus ''Pygoscelis'', most closely related to the Adélie penguin (''P. adeliae'') and the chinstrap penguin (''P. antarcticus''). The ear ...

s (8000 pairs),

Adélie penguin The Adélie penguin (''Pygoscelis adeliae'') is a species of penguin common along the entire coast of the Antarctic continent, which is the only place where it is found. It is the most widespread penguin species, and, along with the emperor p ...

s (16,750 pairs), chinstrap penguins (28,100 pairs) and small numbers of

macaroni penguin The macaroni penguin (''Eudyptes chrysolophus'') is a species of penguin found from the Subantarctic to the Antarctic Peninsula. One of six species of crested penguin, it is very closely related to the royal penguin, and some authorities conside ...

s, as well as

southern giant petrel The southern giant petrel (''Macronectes giganteus''), also known as the Antarctic giant petrel, giant fulmar, stinker, and stinkpot, is a large seabird of the southern oceans. Its distribution overlaps broadly with the similar northern giant pet ...

s (600 pairs),

snow petrel The snow petrel (''Pagodroma nivea'') is the only member of the genus ''Pagodroma.'' It is one of only three birds that has been seen at the Geographic South Pole, along with the Antarctic petrel and the south polar skua, which have the most so ...

s, Cape petrels,

imperial shag The imperial shag or imperial cormorant (''Leucocarbo atriceps'') is a black and white cormorant native to southern South America, primarily in rocky coastal regions, but locally also at large inland lakes. Some taxonomic authorities, including ...

kelp gull The kelp gull (''Larus dominicanus''), also known as the Dominican gull, is a gull that breeds on coasts and islands through much of the Southern Hemisphere. The nominate ''L. d. dominicanus'' is the subspecies found around South America, par ...

brown skua The brown skua (''Stercorarius antarcticus''), also known as the Antarctic skua, subantarctic skua, southern great skua, southern skua, or hākoakoa (Māori), is a large seabird that breeds in the subantarctic and Antarctic zones and moves furth ...

s and

snowy sheathbill The snowy sheathbill (''Chionis albus''), also known as the greater sheathbill, pale-faced sheathbill, and paddy, is one of two species of sheathbill. It is usually found on the ground. It is the only land bird native to the Antarctic continent. ...

References

Antarctic Specially Protected Areas Important Bird Areas of Antarctica South Orkney Islands Seabird colonies Penguin colonies {{SouthOrkneys-geo-stub