Jordan Cove

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Jordan Cove ( 54°0′S38°3′W / 54.000°S 38.050°W / -54.000; -38.050 ) is a small cove which is the principal indentation in the south side of Bird Island, off the west end of South Georgia, near Antarctica.

It was surveyed by the South Georgia Survey in the period of 1951–57. The UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee (UKAPC) named the cove for David Starr Jordan, an American naturalist and the first president of Stanford University from 1891 to 1913. From 1896–97 Jordan was commissioner in charge of fur seal investigations in the North Pacific, and subsequently, a powerful advocate of fur seal protection by international agreement. Fur seals breed on Bird Island, particularly in the vicinity of this cove. [1]

The western arm of Jordan Cove is called Main Bay. UKAPC has found that this descriptive name has been in local use at least since 1957. [2]

Barracouta Rock lies submerged 0.4 nautical miles (0.7 km) south of the entrance to Jordan Cove. It was first charted by personnel on HMS Owen in 1961, and named by the UKAPC for one of Owen's survey motor boats. [3]

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Freshwater Inlet is the small eastern arm of Jordan Cove on the south side of Bird Island, South Georgia, with Wanderer Valley to the southwest. It was charted by the South Georgia Survey in the period 1951–57 and was named in 1956 by W.N. Bonner, a British government biologist and sealing inspector, because the feature is fed by freshwater streams.

Gazella Peak is a peak rising over 120 metres (390 ft) between Roche Peak and the Cordall Stacks on the north side of Bird Island, South Georgia. It was charted by the South Georgia Survey in the period 1951–57, and was named by the UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee in 1963 after the species name of the Antarctic fur seal, which breeds in considerable numbers on Bird Island.

Stejneger Peak is a conspicuous rocky peak, 190 m, at the head of Evermann Cove on Bird Island, South Georgia. Surveyed by the South Georgia Biological Expedition, 1958–59. Named by the United Kingdom Antarctic Place-Names Committee (UK-APC) in 1960 for Leonhard Stejneger (1851–1943), American zoologist who made important investigations of fur seals and birds in the islands of the Bering Sea at the end of the 19th century; member of the Joint British-American Commission for Fur Seal Investigation in the Bering Sea, 1896.

Hornaday Rock is a rock lying in Bird Sound, 0.6 nautical miles (1.1 km) west-southwest of Cape Alexandra at the west end of South Georgia. The feature appears on charts dating back to the 1930s. It was recharted by the South Georgia Survey in the period 1951–57, and named by the UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee for William T. Hornaday, an American zoologist who was Director of the New York Zoological Park, 1896–1926. From 1907 he was a leader in the fight to introduce protective legislation for fur seals; fur seals breed on nearby Bird Island.

References

  1. "Jordan Cove". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior . Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  2. "Main Bay". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior . Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  3. "Barracouta Rock". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior . Retrieved 19 May 2011.

PD-icon.svg This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Geological Survey .