Petermann Island
![]() Petermann Island from a distance | |
Geography | |
---|---|
Location | Antarctica |
Coordinates | 65°10′S 64°10′W / 65.167°S 64.167°W |
Length | 2 km (1.2 mi) |
Administration | |
Demographics | |
Population | 0 |
Additional information | |
Administered under the Antarctic Treaty System |


Petermann Island is a small, low and rounded island, lying off the northwest coast of Kiev Peninsula in Graham Land, Antarctica, a short distance south of Booth Island and the Lemaire Channel. It is a popular tourist destination.
Description
The island is 1.8 km (1.1 mi) long and 1.2 km (0.75 mi) across. It rises steeply to elevations of up to 250 m from a rocky coastline with raised pebble beaches. It has volcanic origins, with about half the land surface covered by a permanent, crevassed icecap. Ice-free areas have a sparse vegetation of mosses and lichens.[1]
Important Bird Area
The island has been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports a breeding colony of about 3000 pairs of gentoo penguins. Other birds nesting at the site in smaller numbers include Adélie penguins, imperial shags, Wilson's storm petrels and south polar skuas.[1]
History
The island was discovered by a German expedition of 1873-74, who named it after geographer August Petermann. The French Antarctic Expedition of 1908-10 wintered over aboard ship in a cove on the southeast side of the island, named Port Circumcision because it was spotted 1 January 1909, the traditional day for the Feast of the Circumcision.
Huts built by the expedition are gone, although a cairn remains, along with a refuge hut built by Argentina in 1955, and a cross commemorating three members of the British Antarctic Survey who died in a 1982 attempt to cross the sea ice from Faraday Station to Petermann.


See also
- List of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic islands
-
Antarctica portal
-
Islands portal
References
- 1 2 "Petermann Island". BirdLife data zone: Important Bird Areas. BirdLife International. 2013. Retrieved 2013-01-14.