![Powell-Chart-1822](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Powell-Chart-1822.png)
Yankee Harbour is a small inner
harbour
A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...
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
Spit Point () is the east tip of the long Elephant Spit, a conspicuous spit at the eastern end of Heard Island
The Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands (HIMI) is an Australian external territory comprising a volcanic group of mos ...
, 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 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 ...
. 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 180 ...
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 act ...
, has at times also been referred to as Yankee Harbour.
Historic site
A
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
* Pla ...
commemorating the achievements of Captain Andrew MacFarlane, who in 1820 explored the
Antarctic Peninsula
The Antarctic Peninsula, known as O'Higgins Land in Chile and Tierra de San Martín in Argentina, and originally as Graham Land in the United Kingdom and the Palmer Peninsula in the United States, is the northernmost part of mainland Antarctic ...
area in the
brigantine
A brigantine is a two-masted sailing vessel with a fully square-rigged foremast and at least two sails on the main mast: a square topsail and a gaff sail mainsail (behind the mast). The main mast is the second and taller of the two masts.
Older ...
''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
moss
Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hor ...
es,
lichen
A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.[algae
Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular mic ...]
, 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
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 ...
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 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 ear ...
s.
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 it ...
s,
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 sealing ...
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
The Antarctic Place-names Commission was established by the Bulgarian Antarctic Institute in 1994, and since 2001 has been a body affiliated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria.
The Commission approves Bulgarian place names in ...
. (details in Bulgarian
basic datain 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
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