Chinstrap Cove is a

cove A cove is a small type of bay or coastal inlet. Coves usually have narrow, restricted entrances, are often circular or oval, and are often situated within a larger bay. Small, narrow, sheltered bays, inlets, creeks, or recesses in a coast are o ...

north-east of

Escarpada Point Escarpada Point, also known as Craggy Point (''escarpada'' is Spanish for "craggy"), is the rocky, rugged south-west point of Clarence Island in the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica. The descriptive name was given in the course of Argentine ...

on the north-west coast of Clarence Island,

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 ...

entered northeast of

Vaglen Point Vaglen Point ( bg, нос Въглен, ‘Nos Vaglen’ \'nos 'v&-glen\) is the rock-tipped point on the southwest side of the entrance to Chinstrap Cove on the northwest coast of Clarence Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. The po ...

. The cove 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 a large breeding colony of about 20,000 pairs of chinstrap penguins, after which it was named by the UK Joint Services Expedition which visited the site in 1970–1971. The 74 ha IBA includes the ice-free area south of the cove, extending 2 km along the coast.

References

Coves of Antarctica Important Bird Areas of Antarctica Penguin colonies {{ClarenceIsland-geo-stub