Okol Rocks ( bg, скали Окол, ‘Skali Okol’ ska-'li o-'kol) is a group of rocks in the north of

Aitcho Islands The Aitcho Islands (''‘Aitcho’'' standing for ''‘H.O.’'' i.e. ''‘Hydrographic Office’'') are a group of minor islands on the west side of the north entrance to English Strait separating Greenwich Island and Robert Island in the Sou ...

group on the west side of

English Strait English Strait is the 10.5-mile (17-km) long and 1.2-mile (2-km) wide strait lying between Greenwich Island and Robert Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. Trending southeast-northwest, and entered between Santa Cruz Point and Edward ...

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 ...

. The principal feature in the group is ''Lambert Island'' (). ''Passage Rock'' () is lying east of Okol Rocks and west by south of Fort William,

Robert Island Robert Island or Mitchells Island or Polotsk Island or Roberts Island is an island long and wide, situated between Nelson Island and Greenwich Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. Robert Island is located at . Surface area . T ...

, with ''Cheshire Rock'' () lying south by east of Passage Rock, southwest of Fort William, northeast of

Jorge Island Jorge Island is an ice-free island in the Aitcho group on the west side of English Strait in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. Extending , surface area .L.L. IvanovAntarctica: Livingston Island and Greenwich, Robert, Snow and Smith Islan ...

and east-southeast of Okol Rocks.Cheshire Rock.
SCAR

Composite Antarctic Gazetteer The Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica (CGA) of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) is the authoritative international gazetteer containing all Antarctic toponyms published in national gazetteers, plus basic information about t ...

. The area was visited by early 19th century

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 ...

operating from nearby

Clothier Harbour Clothier Harbour is the 1.5 km wide bay indenting for 1 km the north coast of Robert Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica between Hammer Point on the northeast and Onogur Islands on the southwest. The harbour was used as a ...

. Okol Rocks are named after the settlements of Gorni (Upper) Okol and Dolni (Lower) Okol in western

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

. Lambert Island is named after Rear Admiral Nick Lambert, national hydrographer (2010–2012) and commanding officer of HMS ''Endurance'' (2005–2007). Passage Rock was charted by

Discovery Investigations The Discovery Investigations were a series of scientific cruises and shore-based investigations into the biology of whales in the Southern Ocean. They were funded by the British Colonial Office and organised by the Discovery Committee in London, wh ...

personnel in 1935 and later descriptively named for being a leading mark for ships entering English Strait. Cheshire Rock is named after Lieutenant Commander Peter Cheshire, leader of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

Hydrographic Survey Unit in the area in 1967.

Location

Okol Rocks are centred at , which is north of Jorge Island, east of

Kilifarevo Island Kilifarevo Island ( bg, остров Килифарево, Ostrov Kilifarevo, ) is an ice-free island in the Aitcho group on the west side of English Strait in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. The island is situated northwest of Jorge ...

and west of Fort William Point,

(British mapping in 1935, 1948, 1961, 1968 and 1974, Argentine in 1953, French in 1954, Chilean in 1961, 1962 and 1971, and Bulgarian in 2009).

Maps

* L.L. Ivanov
Antarctica: Livingston Island and Greenwich, Robert, Snow and Smith Islands.
Scale 1:120000 topographic map. Troyan: Manfred Wörner Foundation, 2009.

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 data
in English)

External links

Okol Rocks.
Copernix satellite image Rock formations of Greenwich Island Bulgaria and the Antarctic {{GreenwichIsland-geo-stub

Location

See also

Maps

Notes

References

External links