Cape Shirreff is a prominent cape at the north end of the rocky peninsula which separates Hero Bay and Barclay Bay on the north coast of Livingston Island, in the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica. The cape was named by Edward Bransfield in 1820 after Captain William H. Shirreff, the British commanding officer in the Pacific at that time.
The seasonal scientific field station Doctor Guillermo Mann Base has been operated by Chile since 1991 and the Shirreff Base (now Holt Watters Field Camp) by the USA since 1996.
Situated on a small, 3.22 km2 (1.24 sq mi) [1] ice-free peninsula forming the northern extremity of Ioannes Paulus II Peninsula, which is protected by the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources Ecosystem Monitoring Programme and requires a permit to enter. [2] It is 24 km north-east of Essex Point, 34 km west-south-west of Williams Point and 21 km north-west of Siddins Point. Lying also 809 km south-south-east of Cape Horn, Cape Shirreff is the locality in the Antarctic Treaty area that is closest to a non-Antarctic territory. [3]
The cape has been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports a large breeding colony of up to about 10,000 pairs of chinstrap penguins. Other birds nesting at the site in smaller numbers include gentoo penguins, kelp gulls, brown skuas, snowy sheathbills, Antarctic terns, imperial shags, Wilson's and black-bellied storm petrels, and Cape petrels. The site also contains the largest number of breeding Antarctic fur seals in the Antarctic Peninsula region. [4]
The cape, with nearby San Telmo Island, has also been designated an Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA 149) for the diversity of its plant and animal life, especially its penguin and fur seal breeding colonies. [5]
Rugged Island is an island 3 miles (4.8 km) long and 1 mile (1.6 km) wide, lying west of Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands. Its surface area is 10.4 square kilometres (4.0 sq mi). The island's summit San Stefano Peak rises to 256 metres (840 ft) above sea level. Rugged Island is located at 62°38′S61°15′W. Rugged Island was known to both American and British sealers as early as 1820, and the name has been well established in international usage for over 100 years.
Boyana Glacier in Levski Ridge, Tangra Mountains on Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands in Antarctica is situated southeast of Macy Glacier and west-southwest of Srebarna Glacier. It is bounded by Vazov Rock on the west, St. Naum Peak, Starosel Gate, Silistra Knoll and Kotel Gap on the north, and Christoff Cliff on the east. The glacier extends 3 km in east-west direction and 1.6 km in north-south direction, and flows southeastward into the Bransfield Strait between Vazov Point and Aytos Point.
Hesperides Hill is a ridge linked by a saddle of elevation 52 m with the northern slopes of Atlantic Club Ridge on Hurd Peninsula, eastern Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. The hill surmounts the South Bay coast north of Johnsons Dock to the southwest, and Bulgarian Beach to the northeast and is bounded to the southwest by Sea Lion Glacier. The ridge extends 420 m in south-southeast to north-northwest direction and is 250 m wide and narrowing towards north-northwest. Hesperides Hill has two heights, 94 and 63 m, the latter surmounting Hespérides Point. The hill is snow-free in summer months and is named from the adjacent Hespérides Point.
Magura Glacier on the southeast side of Tangra Mountains on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is located to the north of M'Kean Point, northeast of Srebarna Glacier, south of Iskar Glacier and southwest of Dobrudzha Glacier. It is bounded by Great Needle Peak to the west, Vitosha Saddle, Vihren Peak and Helmet Peak to the northwest, Plovdiv Peak and Shishman Peak to the north, and Devin Saddle and Kuber Peak to the northeast. The glacier extends 3.5 km in southwest-northeast direction and 1.9 km in northwest-southeast direction, and flows southeastward into Bransfield Strait.
Osogovo Bay, "named after the Osogovo region in western Bulgaria," is bounded by the south coast of Rugged Island, by Astor Island, and by the west coast of the Byers Peninsula south of Laager Point, Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica.
Spanish Knoll has a highest point of elevation 48 m located on Bulgarian Beach on Hurd Peninsula, eastern Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica.
Spanish Point is located on Bulgarian Beach on Hurd Peninsula, eastern Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica formed by an offshoot of Spanish Knoll.
Start Point is a point marking the northwest end of Byers Peninsula, Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica and forming the southwest side of the entrance to Svishtov Cove and the northeast side of the entrance to the New Plymouth bay. Discovered by Edward Bransfield in January 1820, and so named by him because of its resemblance to a point on the south coast of England by the same name and because it was the place where his operations began.
Desolation Island is one of the minor islands in the South Shetlands archipelago, Antarctica situated at the entrance to Hero Bay, Livingston Island. The island is V-shaped with its northern coast indented by Kozma Cove. Surface area is 3.12 square kilometres (1.20 sq mi).
McFarlane Strait is a strait lying between Greenwich Island and Livingston Island, in the South Shetland Islands off Antarctica. It is 24 kilometres (13 nmi) long and 3 kilometres (1.6 nmi) wide. The name appears on an 1822 chart by Captain George Powell, a British sealer, and is now well established in international usage.
Renier Point is a narrow point forming the east extremity of both Burgas Peninsula and Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. The feature was known to sealers as Point Renier as early as 1821. The name ‘Pin Point’, given by Discovery Investigations personnel on the Discovery II in 1935, has been rejected in favor of the original name.
Williams Point is the point forming both the north extremity of Varna Peninsula and the northeast tip of Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. Separated from Zed Islands to the north by Iglika Passage.
Hurd Peninsula lies between South Bay and False Bay on the south coast of Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. The Spanish Juan Carlos I Antarctic Base and the Bulgarian St. Kliment Ohridski Base are situated on its west coast.
Hero Bay is a bay, 17 nautical miles (31 km) wide, which indents for 6 nautical miles (11 km) the northern side of Livingston Island between Cape Shirreff and Williams Point, in the South Shetland Islands. The glaciers Saedinenie Snowfield, Tundzha, Berkovitsa, Medven and Urdoviza feed the bay.
Barclay Bay is a bay in the Drake Passage between Cape Shirreff and Essex Point on the north side of Livingston Island, in the South Shetland Islands. Its head is fed by Etar Snowfield. The name appears on an 1825 chart of the British sealing expedition under James Weddell, and is now established in international usage.
New Plymouth is a bay bordered by an extensive line of beaches, lying south of Start Point and between Rugged Island and the west end of Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica.
Blythe Bay is an anchorage at the southeast side of Desolation Island, lying north of Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. The bay is bounded by Craggy Island to the northeast, Desolation Island to the northwest, the Miladinovi Islets to the west and Wood Island to the south.
Essex Point is a point at the northwest end of Byers Peninsula, Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. It forms the west side of the entrance to Barclay Bay and the northeast side of the entrance to Svishtov Cove, and is surmounted by Drong Hill.
Window Island is a small ice-free island off the north coast of Ray Promontory in the northwest of Byers Peninsula, Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. The island has a surface area of 23 hectares and rises to 72 m (236 ft). It was known to the early 19th century sealers operating on Byers Peninsula.
Eddystone Rocks is a group of two rocks lying to the northwest of Rugged Island off western Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica.