Robert McCormick (explorer)

Robert McCormick (22 July 1800 – 25 October 1890) was a British Royal Navy surgeon, explorer and naturalist.

McCormick was born in Great Yarmouth, England. He was assistant surgeon on the Hecla under William Edward Parry in 1827, surgeon on the Beagle in 1832 (when Charles Darwin was working as an unofficial naturalist; McCormick left the ship in Brazil), and surgeon on the James Clark Ross's Antarctic expedition between 1839 and 1842. On the latter voyage most of the naturalist's duties were performed by Joseph Dalton Hooker, with McCormick concentrating on geology and bird collecting.

McCormick also led an unsuccessful search party in search of John Franklin in the Forlorn Hope. His autobiography was entitled Voyages of Discovery in the Arctic and Antarctic Seas and around the World (1884).

The South Polar Skua Stercorarius maccormicki was named for him by Howard Saunders. McCormick shot the type specimen on January 12 1841, on Possession Island, Victoria Land, Antarctica.

Devon Island's Macormick Bay, near the area he explored in search of the lost Sir John Franklin expedition, is named in McCormick's honor.

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