Hooker Island

Hooker Island (Russian: остров Гукера; Ostrov Gukera) is one of the most important islands of Franz Josef Land. It is located in the central area of the archipelago at . It is administered by the Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia.

The highest point in Hooker Island is the southwestern ice dome Kupol Dzhensona (Купол Дженсона), at 576 m.

Hooker Island's northwestern cape, Mys Alberta Markgama, is named after Sir Albert Hastings Markham; the northeastern cape is called Mys Lyuis Pul. The westernmost cape is Mys Dandy and the southwestern one is Mys Ugol'nyy. The southernmost cape is called Mys Sesil Kharmswort.

On Hooker Island's western side there is a bay in an unglaciated area, Tikhaya Bay (Бухта Тихая, ). A large seabird colony exists near Tikhaya Bay at Skala Rubini (Скала Рубини, Rubini Rock, ), a spectacular rock formation on Hooker Island's shore. This place is the home of many birds.

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History

Hooker Island was named after British naturalist Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker who went with James Clark Ross' expedition on ships Erebus and Terror to Antarctica in 1839.

Remains of a plesiosaur (Peloneustes philarchus) have been found in Hooker Island. Caribou antlers have been found as well, suggesting that herds reached here up to about 1,300 years ago during a period where the earth had a warmer climate.

Tikhaya Bay was the site of a major base for polar expeditions, and the location of a meteorological station from 1929 to 1963. There is another bay in the south of the island called Zaliv Makarova and another in the east known as Ledn. Eleniy.

The island was visited by the Graf Zeppelin airship in July 1931 during a landmark aerial survey. German staff were marooned here from 1941 to 1945 during World War II. A graveyard and two modern buildings exist.

Adjacent islands

References

See also