Yankee Harbour is a small inner harbour entered from

Shopski Cove Shopski Cove ( bg, Шопски залив, Shopski zaliv, ) is a 2.6 km wide cove indenting for 1.9 km the southwest coast of Greenwich Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica, between Triangle Point and the westernmost extre ...

between Glacier Bluff and Spit Point, indenting the south-west side of

Greenwich Island Greenwich Island (variant historical names ''Sartorius Island'', ''Berezina Island'') is an island long and from (average ) wide, lying between Robert Island and Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands. Surface area . The name Greenwic ...

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 1 ...

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 cont ...

. It is long in west-south-west to east-north-east direction, and wide, and is bounded by

Provadiya Hook Provadiya Hook ( bg, Провадийска коса, Provadiyska Kosa, ) is a gravel barrier spit separating the inner Yankee Harbour in Greenwich Island, Antarctica from the outer Shopski Cove and McFarlane Strait. Boomerang-shaped, extend ...

to the south-west, Parvomay Neck to the north and east, and Kladara Beach to the south.

History

Yankee Harbour was known to both American

sealers Sealer may refer either to a person or ship engaged in seal hunting, or to a sealant; associated terms include: Seal hunting * Sealer Hill, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica * Sealers' Oven, bread oven of mud and stone built by sealers around 18 ...

and the British (who called it ''Hospital Cove'') as early as 1820, and this name is now established in international usage.

Port Foster Port Foster is one of the safest harbours in Antarctica, located in Deception Island in the South Shetland Islands. History The harbour was known to sealers as early as 1820, and in its early history was called ''Port Williams'', after Captain ...

, the crater harbour of

Deception Island Deception Island is an island in the South Shetland Islands close to the Antarctic Peninsula with a large and usually "safe" natural harbor, which is occasionally troubled by the underlying active volcano. This island is the caldera of an acti ...

, has at times also been referred to as Yankee Harbour.

Historic site

plaque Plaque may refer to: Commemorations or awards * Commemorative plaque, a plate or tablet fixed to a wall to mark an event, person, etc. * Memorial Plaque (medallion), issued to next-of-kin of dead British military personnel after World War I * Pl ...

commemorating the achievements of Captain Andrew MacFarlane, who in 1820 explored the Antarctic Peninsula area in the brigantine ''Dragon'', has been designated a Historic Site or Monument (HSM 57), following a proposal by Chile and the United Kingdom to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting.

Flora and fauna

As well as mosses, lichens and algae, the flowering plants Antarctic hairgrass and

Antarctic pearlwort ''Colobanthus quitensis'', the Antarctic pearlwort, is one of two native flowering plants found in the Antarctic region. It has yellow flowers and grows about 5 cm (two inches) tall, with a cushion-like growth habit that gives it a moss-like appe ...

occur. The site has been identified as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International because it supports a breeding colony of about 5000 pairs of

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 ea ...

Skuas The skuas are a group of predatory seabirds with seven species forming the genus ''Stercorarius'', the only genus in the family Stercorariidae. The three smaller skuas, the long-tailed skua, the Arctic skua, and the pomarine skua are called jae ...

Wilson's storm petrel Wilson's storm petrel (''Oceanites oceanicus''), also known as Wilson's petrel, is a small seabird of the austral storm petrel family Oceanitidae. It is one of the most abundant bird species in the world and has a circumpolar distribution mainly ...

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. ...

s are also thought to nest there.

Southern elephant seal The southern elephant seal (''Mirounga leonina'') is one of two species of elephant seals. It is the largest member of the clade Pinnipedia and the order Carnivora, as well as the largest extant marine mammal that is not a cetacean. It gets its ...

Weddell seal The Weddell seal (''Leptonychotes weddellii'') is a relatively large and abundant true seal with a circumpolar distribution surrounding Antarctica. The Weddell seal was discovered and named in the 1820s during expeditions led by British seali ...

s and

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 ...

s regularly haul out on the beaches.

Maps

Chart of South Shetland including Coronation Island, &c.
from the exploration of the sloop Dove in the years 1821 and 1822 by George Powell Commander of the same. Scale ca. 1:200000. London: Laurie, 1822 * L.L. Ivanov. Antarctica: Livingston Island and Greenwich, Robert, Snow and Smith Islands. Scale 1:120000 topographic map. Troyan: Manfred Wörner Foundation, 2010. (First edition 2009. )
Antarctic Digital Database (ADD).
Scale 1:250000 topographic map of Antarctica. Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). Since 1993, regularly upgraded and updated. * L.L. Ivanov. Antarctica: Livingston Island and Smith Island. Scale 1:100000 topographic map. Manfred Wörner Foundation, 2017.

Notes

References

Bulgarian Antarctic Gazetteer.
Antarctic Place-names Commission. (details in Bulgarian
basic data
in English) Bays of Greenwich Island Important Bird Areas of Antarctica Ports and harbours of the South Shetland Islands Seabird colonies Historic Sites and Monuments of Antarctica Penguin colonies {{GreenwichIsland-geo-stub