Adelie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae), walking

Worley Point is a narrow, flat and rocky headland extending about 1 km along the north-western coast of

Shepard Island Shepard Island or John Shepard Island is an island about long, lying west of Grant Island off the coast of Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica. Shepard Island is ice capped except at its northern, seaward side, and is almost wholly embedded in the G ...

Marie Byrd Land Marie Byrd Land (MBL) is an unclaimed region of Antarctica. With an area of , it is the largest unclaimed territory on Earth. It was named after the wife of American naval officer Richard E. Byrd, who explored the region in the early 20th centur ...

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 ...

. As with

Grant Island Grant Island is an ice-covered island, long and wide, lying east of the smaller Shepard Island off the coast of Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica. Like Shepard Island, Grant Island is surrounded by the Getz Ice Shelf on all but the north side. Gran ...

, 9 km eastward, Shepard Island is surrounded by the

Getz Ice Shelf The Getz Ice Shelf is the largest Antarctic ice shelf along the SE Pacific-Antarctic coastline, over long and from wide, bordering the Hobbs and Bakutis Coasts of Marie Byrd Land between the McDonald Heights and Martin Peninsula. Several larg ...

except on its northern side. The point was named by the

Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names The Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (ACAN or US-ACAN) is an advisory committee of the United States Board on Geographic Names responsible for recommending commemorative names for features in Antarctica. History The committee was established ...

(US-ACAN) for Lieutenant Richard J. Worley,

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

Medical Officer A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the ...

South Pole Station South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

in 1969.

Important Bird Area

An 8 ha site comprising all ice-free ground at the point has been designated 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 a breeding colony of about 10,000

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, as estimated from 2010 satellite imagery.

References

Important Bird Areas of Antarctica Penguin colonies Headlands of Marie Byrd Land {{MarieByrdLand-geo-stub

Important Bird Area

See also

References