Duroch Islands

Duroch Islands
Location in Antarctica
Geography
Location Antarctica
Coordinates 63°18′S 57°54′W / 63.300°S 57.900°W / -63.300; -57.900Coordinates: 63°18′S 57°54′W / 63.300°S 57.900°W / -63.300; -57.900
Area 5 km2 (1.9 sq mi)
Country
None
Demographics
Population Uninhabited
Additional information
Administered under the Antarctic Treaty System

The Duroch Islands are a group of islands and rocks which extend over an area of about 5 km2 (1.9 sq mi), centred about 1 km (0.62 mi) off Cape Legoupil on the north coast of Trinity Peninsula, Antarctica. They were discovered by a French expedition under Captain Jules Dumont d'Urville, 1837–40, who gave the name "Rocher Duroch" to one of the larger islands in the group after Ensign Joseph Duroch of d'Urville's expedition ship, the Astrolabe. The Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey, which charted the islands in 1946, recommended that the name Duroch be extended to include the entire group of islands.[1] The islands are close to Chile's Bernardo O'Higgins Station at Cape Legoupil.[2]

Important Bird Area

The islands has been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because they support breeding colonies of several penguin species, including Adélies (800 pairs), chinstraps (9400 pairs) and gentoos (3500 pairs).[2]

See also

References

  1. "Duroch Islands". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2012-02-21.
  2. 1 2 "Duroch Islands". BirdLife data zone: Important Bird Areas. BirdLife International. 2012. Retrieved 2012-12-16.

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


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