Thule Islands

Not to be confused with Thule Island.

The Thule Islands (60°42′S 45°37′W / 60.700°S 45.617°WCoordinates: 60°42′S 45°37′W / 60.700°S 45.617°W) are a group of small islands and rocks lying 0.25 nautical miles (0.5 km) southwest of Balin Point in the northwestern part of Borge Bay, Signy Island, in the South Orkney Islands off Antarctica. The name "Thule Rocks" was used as early as 1916, and appears to refer at least in part to this group. The Thule, one of the first floating factories to flense whales at sea, belonged to the Thule Whaling Company of Oslo. It operated in the South Orkney Islands in 1912–13 and 1913–14 and anchored on the east side of Signy Island during January 1913. The altered form of the name was recommended by the UK Antarctic Place-names Committee following a survey by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey in 1947.[1][2]

References

  1. ↑ "Thule Islands". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
  2. ↑ Alberts, Fred G., ed. (June 1995). Geographic Names of the Antarctic (PDF) (second ed.). United States Board on Geographic Names. p. 745. Retrieved 5 April 2012.

 This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Geological Survey document "Thule Islands" (content from the Geographic Names Information System).