Cape Shirreff is a prominent cape at the north end of the rocky peninsula which separates Hero Bay

Hero Bay

Hero Bay is a 17 mi wide bay, which indents for 6 mi the north side of Livingston Island between Cape Shirreff and Williams Point, in the South Shetland Islands. The name ‘Blythe Bay’, originally applied to a small bay on the southeast side of Desolation Island on Powell's chart of 1822...

 and Barclay Bay

Barclay Bay

Barclay Bay is a bay lying between Cape Shirreff and Essex Point on the north side of Livingston Island, in the South Shetland Islands. The name appears on an 1825 chart of the British sealing expedition under James Weddell, and is now established in international usage.-Maps:* L.L. Ivanov et al....

 on the north coast of Livingston Island, in the South Shetland Islands

South Shetland Islands

The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands, lying about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, with a total area of . By the Antarctic Treaty of 1959, the Islands' sovereignty is neither recognized nor disputed by the signatories and they are free for use by any signatory for...

. Situated on a small, 3.22 square kilometres (1.2 sq mi) ice-free peninsula forming the north extremity of Ioannes Paulus II Peninsula

Ioannes Paulus II Peninsula

Ioannes Paulus II Peninsula is an ice-covered peninsula on the north coast of Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica that is bounded by Hero Bay to the east and Barclay Bay to the west. It extends 13 km in length in north-south direction and is 8 km wide...

, which is protected by the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources Ecosystem Monitoring Programme

Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources Ecosystem Monitoring Programme

The Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources Ecosystem Monitoring Programme is a program set up in 1985 by the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources to monitor and record fishing and harvesting of marine life in and around Antarctica.The...

 and requires a permit to enter.. It serves as a breeding location for the Antarctic Fur Seal

Antarctic Fur Seal

The Antarctic fur seal is one of eight seals in the genus Arctocephalus, and one of nine fur seals in the subfamily Arctocephalinae. As its name suggests, the Antarctic fur seal is distributed in Antarctic waters. Around 95% of the world population breeds at the Island of South Georgia...

 and penguin

Penguin

Penguins are a group of aquatic, flightless birds living almost exclusively in the southern hemisphere, especially in Antarctica. Highly adapted for life in the water, penguins have countershaded dark and white plumage, and their wings have become flippers...

 colonies.

The cape was named by Edward Bransfield

Edward Bransfield

Edward Bransfield was a master of the British Royal Navy and considered the discoverer of the continent of Antarctica.-Early life:...

 in 1820 after Captain William H. Shirreff

William Shirreff

William Shirreff was a Royal Navy officer, Captain of the frigate HMS Andromache patrolling the west coast of South America in protection of the British interests in the region and support of local independence movement against Spanish authority in the early 19th century...

, the British commanding officer in the Pacific at that time.

Location

Cape Shirreff is located at 62°27′32"S 60°47′19"W which is 24.16 km northeast of Essex Point

Essex Point

Essex Point is a point at the northwest end of Byers Peninsula, Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica forming the west side of the entrance to Barclay Bay and the northeast side of the entrance to Svishtov Cove....

, 33.63 km west by south of Williams Point

Williams Point

Williams Point is the point forming both the north extremity of Varna Peninsula and the northeast tip of Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica...

 and 20.58 km northwest of Siddons Point

Siddons Point

Siddons Point is a point projecting into the middle of the head of Hero Bay on the north coast of Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica...

. Lyung also 809.4 km south-southeast of Cape Horn

Cape Horn

Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...

, Cape Shirreff is the locality in the Antarctic Treaty area that is closest to a non-Antarctic territory (British mapping in 1920, 1922, 1931 and 1968, American in 1821, Spanish in 1861, Argentine in 1953, 1957 and 1980, Chilean in 1971 and detailed mapping in 2004. Bulgarian mapping in 2005 and 2009).

Maps

• Chart of South Shetland including Coronation Island, &c. from the exploration of the sloop Dove in the years 1821 and 1822 by George Powell Commander of the same. Scale ca. 1:200000. London: Laurie, 1822.
• L.L. Ivanov et al. Antarctica: Livingston Island and Greenwich Island, South Shetland Islands. Scale 1:100000 topographic map. Sofia: Antarctic Place-names Commission of Bulgaria, 2005.