Willis Islands

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The Willis Islands are a small archipelago to the west of South Georgia Island in the South Georgia Islands. They are Script error: No such module "convert". west of Bird Island, separated by the Stewart Strait.[1][2] They were discovered on 14 January 1775 by Captain James Cook and named for Cook's midshipman Thomas Willis, the crew member who first sighted them.[1] The Willis Islands were charted in greater detail and individually named by Discovery Investigations (DI) personnel between 1926 and 1930.[3][4]

Geography

Main Island

File:Main Island - Willis Islands.svg

The archipelago's largest island is called Main Island, so-named because at Template:Cvt long and Template:Cvt high, it is the principal island in the group.[3]

Its southwestern point is called Johannesen Point, originally "All Johannesens Point," likely by DI personnel. Following a survey of the island in 1951–52, the South Georgia Survey (SGS) reported that the cumbersome name was seldom used locally. On that basis, the UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee (UK-APC) recommended the present shortened form of the name.[5]

West and south of Main Island

West of Main Island are several named rocks, groups of rocks, and shoals.

Acorn Rock rises Script error: No such module "convert". above sea level, Script error: No such module "convert". northwest of Main Island. The descriptive name was applied during a hydrographic survey from Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". in 1960–61.[6] Template:Cvt northwest of Main Island is Holgate Shoal, an area of shoals named by the UK-APC for Able Seaman Ralph A. Holgate of the Owen, which charted the shoal in 1961.[7] A pair of rocks named the Tiger Rocks are located Template:Cvt west of Main Island, southwest of the shoal. The descriptive name was applied during the surveys from the Owen.[8] The westernmost point of the Willis Islands is a group of three barren rocks called the Ramp Rocks, Template:Cvt northwest of Johannesen Point on Main Island. The largest of them was originally called laavebrua ("threshing floor ramp") by Norwegian whalers, but to avoid confusion with Låvebrua Island, UK-APC named the trio the Ramp Rocks.[9]

Template:Cvt west-southwest of the south end of Main Island is a small group of rocks named the Bryde Rocks. Positioned by the SGS between 1951 and 1957, the group was named by UK-APC for Thorleif Bryde, a gunner of the South Georgia Whaling Co.[10]

Pugh Shoal is an area of shoal Template:Cvt south of Main Island, named by UK-APC for Able Seaman Peter J. Pugh of the Owen, which charted this shoal in 1961.[11]

East of Main Island

Heron Passage separates Main Island from Vaughan Island close to the east, and Trinity Island Template:Cvt to the northeast.[12][4][13] The existence of the passage was first reported in the 1930s, and confirmed by HMS Owen during a hydrographic survey of the area in 1961. It was named by UK-APC after one of the Owen's survey motor boats, the Heron.[12]

Vaughan Island is a small, conical tussock-covered island close east of Main Island. It was named by UK-APC for Lieutenant Commander Hugh L.F. Vaughan, Royal Navy, First Lieutenant of the Owen.[4] The much larger Trinity Island was so-named by DI because it has three peaks.[13] To the southeast are a pair of small tussock-covered islands called the Verdant Islands, descriptively named "Verdant Island" by DI. The name was amended in 1985 to reflect that there were actually two islands there.[14] To the east is Hall Island, small, steep-sided, and tussock-covered. It was named by UK-APC after Commander Geoffrey P.D. Hall of the Royal Navy, Commanding Officer of the Owen.[15] The easternmost island in the group is Proud Island, a small, relatively high, tussock-covered island, rising to a peak at its northern end. It was descriptively named by UK-APC, the expression "standing proud" in naval parlance being the equivalent of "sticking up."[16]

Fauna

The Willis Islands are a significant breeding ground for Antarctic fur seals.[17]

See also

References

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Further reading

  • Stonehouse, B (ed.) Encyclopedia of Antarctica and the Southern Oceans (2002, Template:ISBN)

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