The Shag Rocks () are six small

islet An islet ( ) is generally a small island. Definitions vary, and are not precise, but some suggest that an islet is a very small, often unnamed, island with little or no vegetation to support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/ ...

s in the westernmost extreme of

South Georgia South Georgia is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic Ocean that is part of the British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It lies around east of the Falkland Islands. ...

, west of the main island of South Georgia and off the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...

. The Shag Rocks are located at . further southeast is Black Rock, which is located at . The Shag Rocks cover a total area of less than . Situated on the South Georgia Ridge, they have a peak elevation above sea level of , and stand in water approximately deep. Temperatures average , rarely climbing above . There is no significant vegetation, but the rocks are covered by the

guano Guano (Spanish from ) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. Guano is a highly effective fertiliser due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. Guano was also, to a le ...

of seabirds. The main wildlife found on the rocks are the South Georgia shags, prions and

wandering albatross The snowy albatross (''Diomedea exulans''), also known as the wandering albatross, white-winged albatross, or goonie, is a large seabird from the family Diomedeidae Albatrosses, of the biological family (biology), family Diomedeidae, are la ...

es.

History

The Shag Rocks were discovered by Jose de la Llana in 1762 with the Spanish ship ''

Aurora An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...

'', and originally named the Aurora Islands, after his ship. They were visited by the Spanish ship ''San Miguel'' in 1769, again by the ''Aurora'' in 1774, and in 1779 by the Spanish ships ''Princesa'' and ''Dolores''. In 1794 the Auroras were finally mapped by the Spanish corvette '' Atrevida''. However, the Aurora Islands are considered by many to have been a mistaken sighting that was coincidentally near the Shag Rocks, which were known to sealers prior to 1823. They were later rediscovered by James P. Sheffield and given their current name, probably because shags and other seabirds frequent them. They were 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, ...

personnel on the ''

William Scoresby William Scoresby (5 October 178921 March 1857) was an English whaler, Arctic explorer, scientist and clergyman. Early years Scoresby was born in the village of Cropton near Pickering south-west of Whitby in Yorkshire. His father, Willia ...

'' in 1927. The first known landing was made in 1956 when Argentine geologist Mario Giovinetto was lowered from a helicopter to collect rock samples.

Government

The Shag Rocks form part of the

British overseas territory The British Overseas Territories (BOTs) or alternatively referred to as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs) are the fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom that, ...

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (SGSSI) is a British Overseas Territory in the southern Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote and inhospitable collection of islands, consisting of South Georgia and a chain of smaller islands known as the ...

. Before 1985 they came within the

Falkland Islands Dependencies The Falkland Islands Dependencies was the constitutional arrangement from 1843 until 1985 for administering the various British territories in List of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic islands, Sub-Antarctica and Antarctica which were governed from t ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

lays claim to the Shag Rocks and Black Rock. Black Rock and Shag Rocks are on the route from the Falkland Islands to South Georgia Island, on a

seamount A seamount is a large submarine landform that rises from the ocean floor without reaching the water surface (sea level), and thus is not an island, islet, or cliff-rock. Seamounts are typically formed from extinct volcanoes that rise abruptly a ...

Scotia Ridge The Scotia Arc is the island arc system forming the north, east and south border of the Scotia Sea. The northern border, the North Scotia Ridge, comprises (from west to east): Isla de los Estados at the tip of Tierra del Fuego, the Burdwood, D ...

. Britain in 1985 formed its overseas territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, which includes Black Rock and Shag Rocks. It now assumes responsibility for preservation and defence of the area.

References

External links

CIA World Factbook Entry ''South Georgia''The Shag Rocks, South Atlantic Ocean at Britlink.ONC U-19 South Georgia; South Sandwich Islands
(map including the Shag Rocks) {{SGSSI Uninhabited islands of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Islands of South Georgia

History

Government

See also

References

External links