Hope Bay

Not to be confused with Hope Bay, Jamaica or Hope Bay, Ontario.

Map of the Antarctic Peninsula and associated islands, showing Hope Bay (A)

Hope Bay (Spanish: Bahía Esperanza) on Trinity Peninsula, is 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) long and 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) wide, indenting the tip of Antarctic Peninsula and opening on Antarctic Sound. It is the site of the Argentinian Antarctic settlement Esperanza Base, established in 1952

Important Bird Area

The bay has been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports one of the largest Adélie penguin colonies in Antarctica with around 125,000 pairs. Other birds nesting at the site include gentoo penguins, brown skuas, Antarctic terns, Wilson's storm-petrels, kelp gulls and snowy sheathbills.^[1]

History

Esperanza Base, Hope Bay, January, 2016

The Bay was discovered on January 15, 1902 by the Swedish Antarctic Expedition under Otto Nordenskiöld, who named it in commemoration of the winter spent there by J. Gunnar Andersson, S.A. Duse, Toralf Grunden and José María Sobral of his expedition after his ship (the Antarctic) was crushed by the ice and lost. They were eventually rescued by Argentine corvette Uruguay.

The old British Base "D" was established here in 1945. It partially burned in 1948, with the loss of two lives,^[2] and was closed in 1964. On December 8, 1997 the British Antarctic Survey transferred the base to Uruguay, who renamed it Teniente Ruperto Elichiribehety Uruguayan Antarctic Scientific Station (ECARE).

The present Argentine Esperanza Base was established in 1952. It is operated by the Instituto Antartico Argentino and has an average of 55 inhabitants in winter. The base installations have displaced part of a penguin rookery. The first known birth of any human being in Antarctica occurred here in 1978, when Emilio Palma was born to the wife of an Argentine naval officer.

Hope Bay/Esperanza was also the scene of the first ever shots fired in anger in Antarctica in 1952 when an Argentine shore party fired a machine gun over the heads of a British Antarctic Survey team unloading supplies from the John Biscoe. The Argentines later extended a diplomatic apology, saying that there had been a misunderstanding and that the Argentine military commander on the ground had exceeded his authority.

Historic site

Swedish expedition stone hut at Hope Bay

1903 (left); 2016 (right)

The ruins of a stone hut built in January 1903 by members of the Swedish expedition can still be seen; it has been designated a Historic Site or Monument (HSM 39), following a proposal by Argentina and the United Kingdom to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting.^[3]

References

↑ "Heywood Island". BirdLife data zone: Important Bird Areas. BirdLife International. 2013. Retrieved 2013-01-07.
↑ Deaths of FIDS and BAS Staff in Antarctica
↑ "List of Historic Sites and Monuments approved by the ATCM (2012)" (PDF). Antarctic Treaty Secretariat. 2012. Retrieved 2013-12-31.

Antarctica. Sydney: Reader's Digest, 1985, p. 156-157.
Child, Jack. Antarctica and South American Geopolitics: Frozen Lebensraum. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1988, p. 73.
Lonely Planet, Antarctica: a Lonely Planet Travel Survival Kit, Oakland, CA: Lonely Planet Publications, 1996, 302-304.
Stewart, Andrew, Antarctica: An Encyclopedia. London: McFarland and Co., 1990 (2 volumes), p. 469.
U.S. National Science Foundation, Geographic Names of the Antarctic, Fred G. Alberts, ed. Washington: NSF, 1980.

External links

British Antarctic Survey Hope Bay Station

Historic Sites and Monuments in Antarctica

South Pole	South Pole

Coats Land	Belgrano II Station

Queen Maud Land	Dakshin Gangotri Humboldt Mountains Schirmacher Oasis Showa Station

Enderby Land	Proclamation Island

Kemp Land	Pole of Inaccessibility

Mac. Robertson Land	Cape Bruce

Princess Elizabeth Land	Tryne Islands Vostok Station Walkabout Rocks

Queen Mary Land	Buromskiy Island Mirny Station

Wilkes Land	A.B. Dobrowolski Station

Adélie Land	Débarquement Rock Petrel Island Port Martin

George V Land	Cape Denison

Victoria Land	Cape Adare Cape Geology Cape Wadworth Foyn Island Hells Gate Moraine Inexpressible Island Mount Dockery

Ross Sea	Cape Crozier Cape Evans Cape Royds Discovery Hut Hut Point Peninsula Lewis Bay McMurdo Station Mount Betty Mount Erebus Observation Hill Scott Base Scott's Hut

Edward VII Land	Scott Nunataks

Graham Land	Bernardo O'Higgins Station Damoy Point Detaille Island Esperanza Station Hope Bay Horseshoe Island Lambda Island Megalestris Hill Metchnikoff Point Paradise Harbor Paulet Island Port Charcot Port Lockroy San Martin Station Seymour Island Snow Hill Island Stonington Island Waterboat Point Winter Island

South Shetlands	Antarctic Treaty Monument Arturo Prat Station Great Wall Station Half Moon Beach Henryk Arctowski Station Lame Dog Hut Maxwell Bay Pendulum Cove Point Wild Potter Cove Whalers Bay Yankee Harbour

South Orkneys	Scotia Bay

Important Bird Areas of Antarctica

Graham Land	Apéndice Island Armstrong Reef Arthur Harbour Avian Island Bates Island Breaker Island Brown Bluff Cape Evensen Cape Wollaston Cierva Point Cockburn Island Cormorant Island Cuverville Island D'Urville Monument Danger Islands Devil Island Dion Islands Dream Island Duroch Islands Eden Rocks Elephant Rocks Gerlache Island Ginger Islands Gourdin Island Guépratte Island Hope Bay Humble Island Joubin Islands Litchfield Island Madder Cliffs Midas Island Moss Islands Murray Island Norsel Point Paulet Island Pearl Rocks Penguin Point Petermann Island Pursuit Point Snow Hill Island Stonington Island Torgersen Island Trinity Island Tupinier Islands Uruguay Island

South Shetlands	Admiralty Bay Ardley Island Aspland Island Baily Head Barnard Point Byers Peninsula Cape Bowles Cape Garry Cape Hooker Cape Lookout Cape Melville Cape Shirreff Cape Wallace Chinstrap Cove Davey Point Eadie Island East of Nelly Point Escarpada Point False Round Point Fur Seal Point Gibbs Island Half Moon Island Harmony Point Heywood Island Jameson Point Kellick Island Lions Rump Milosz Point Mount Elder North Foreland O'Brien Island Owen Island Penguin Island Point Wordie Potter Peninsula Pottinger Point Saddleback Point Seal Islands Stigant Point Stinker Point Tartar Island Vapour Col Yankee Harbour

South Orkneys	Atriceps Island Buchanan Point Cape Davidson Cape Geddes Cape Hansen Cape Robertson Cape Whitson Cheal Point Christoffersen Island Eillium Island Ferguslie Peninsula Ferrier Peninsula Fraser Point Fredriksen Island Gibbon Bay Gosling Islands Graptolite Island Grey Island Inaccessible Islands Larsen Islands Matthews Island Michelsen Island Moe Island Moreton Point Pirie Peninsula Point Martin Return Point Robertson Islands Signy Island Skilling Island Southern Powell Island Watson Peninsula

Coordinates: 63°23′S 56°59′W / 63.383°S 56.983°W / -63.383; -56.983

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