O'Brien Island

This article is about South Shetland Islands. For Chilean Island at Cape Horn, see O'Brien Island, Chile.
O'Brien Island
Location in Antarctica
Geography
Location Antarctica
Coordinates 61°30′S 55°58′W / 61.500°S 55.967°W / -61.500; -55.967Coordinates: 61°30′S 55°58′W / 61.500°S 55.967°W / -61.500; -55.967
Highest elevation 540 m (1,770 ft)
Administration
None
Demographics
Population Uninhabited
Additional information
Administered under the Antarctic Treaty System

O'Brien Island is a small rocky island in the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica. It lies 4 kilometres (2 nmi) south-west of Aspland Island and rises to 540 m. The name dates back to at least 1822 and is now established in international usage.

Important Bird Area

The island has been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because there are records (from 1977) of it supporting large breeding colonies of chinstrap penguins (21,000 pairs) and southern fulmars (8000 pairs).[1]

See also

References

  1. "O’Brien Island". BirdLife data zone: Important Bird Areas. BirdLife International. 2013. Retrieved 2013-01-11.

 This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Geological Survey document "O'Brien Island" (content from the Geographic Names Information System).


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