View source for Lemaire Channel

{{Short description|Strait in Antarctica}}
{{About|the sea passage off Antarctica|the passage along Tierra del Fuego (South America)|Le Maire Strait}}
[[File:Ant-pen-map-Kiev.PNG|thumb|Location of Kyiv Peninsula in Graham Land, Antarctic Peninsula.]]
'''Lemaire Channel''' is a [[strait]] off [[Antarctica]], between [[Kyiv Peninsula]] in the mainland's [[Graham Land]] and [[Booth Island]]. Nicknamed "Kodak Gap" by some, it is one of the top [[tourism|tourist]] destinations in Antarctica; steep cliffs hem in the [[iceberg]]-filled passage, which is {{cvt|11|km}} long and just {{convert|600|metres}} wide at its narrowest point.

It was first seen by the German expedition of 1873-74, but not traversed until December 1898, when the ''[[RV Belgica (1884)|Belgica]]'' of the [[Belgian Antarctic Expedition]] passed through. Expedition leader [[Adrien de Gerlache]] named it for [[Charles Lemaire (explorer)|Charles Lemaire]] (1863-1925), a Belgian explorer of the Congo.

The channel has since become a standard part of the itinerary for [[Cruising (maritime)|cruising]] in Antarctica; not only is it scenic, but the protected waters are usually as still as a lake, a rare occurrence in the storm-wracked southern seas, and the north-south traverse delivers vessels close to [[Petermann Island]] for landings. The principal difficulty is that icebergs may fill the channel, especially in early season, obliging a ship to backtrack and go around the outside of Booth Island to reach Petermann.
<gallery>
File:Lemaire Channel entry.jpg|In the north entry of Lemaire Channel looking south, from the deck of the [[MS Hanseatic|''Hanseatic''.]]
Image:Lemaire Channel Antarctica.jpg|Glaciers and cliffs reflected in still waters at the south end of the channel.
File:Cruise ship in Lemaire Channel.jpg|Russian cruise ship ''[[Akademik Sergey Vavilov]]'' in the Lemaire Channel
File:Unas_tits_2014.jpg|[[Una Peaks]]
File:Icebergs_in_the_Lemaire_Channel,_Antarctica.jpg|Icebergs in the channel
</gallery>
==Features==
{{copernix|-64.01382091847981,-65.13466770614846,11}}
Features of the southeast coast of the channel include, from north to south, [[False Cape Renard]], [[Humphries Heights]], [[Loubat Point]], [[Deloncle Bay]], [[Hotine Glacier]], [[Glandaz Point]], [[Una Peaks]], [[Mount Cloos]], [[Cape Cloos]], [[Leay Glacier]], [[Mount Scott (Antarctica)]], [[Duseberg Buttress]].

==See also==
*[[Nimrod Passage]]
*[[Una Peaks]]

==References==
* [http://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/gaz/scar/ SCAR Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica].

{{commonscat|Lemaire Channel}}
{{coord|65.133|S|64.000|W|display=title|source:dewiki}}

[[Category:Straits of Antarctica]]
[[Category:Graham Coast]]
[[Category:Tourism sites in Antarctica]]