Half Moon Island (South Shetland Islands)
Encyclopedia
Half Moon Island is a minor Antarctic
island
, lying 1.35 km (0.838853194477239 mi) north of Burgas Peninsula
, Livingston Island in the Antarctic Peninsula
region. Surface area 51 hectares (126 acre).
Half Moon Island has a sizable rookery of chinstrap penguin
s as well as nesting Antarctic tern
s and kelp gull
s. Whale
s are often seen patrolling the shores, and this small island offers stunning views of surrounding mountains.
The Argentine
station Cámara Base
is located on the island.
In September 2010, Google
added Street View imagery of Half Moon Island to its Google Earth
and Google Maps
services. As the island has no roads, the images appear to have been taken with a handheld camera. The shadow of the photographer can clearly be seen if one were to move the view so as to look at the ground. Also, the iconic Pegman from Google was replaced with a Penguin, due to the island's use as a breeding colony by them.
Antarctic
The Antarctic is the region around the Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica and the ice shelves, waters and island territories in the Southern Ocean situated south of the Antarctic Convergence...
island
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
, lying 1.35 km (0.838853194477239 mi) north of Burgas Peninsula
Burgas Peninsula
Burgas Peninsula is a predominantly ice-covered peninsula forming the east extremity of Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica extending 10 km in the east-northeast direction towards Renier Point and 4.7 km wide...
, Livingston Island in the Antarctic Peninsula
Antarctic Peninsula
The Antarctic Peninsula is the northernmost part of the mainland of Antarctica. It extends from a line between Cape Adams and a point on the mainland south of Eklund Islands....
region. Surface area 51 hectares (126 acre).
Half Moon Island has a sizable rookery of chinstrap penguin
Chinstrap Penguin
The Chinstrap Penguin is a species of penguin which is found in the South Sandwich Islands, Antarctica, the South Orkneys, South Shetland, South Georgia, Bouvet Island and Balleny...
s as well as nesting Antarctic tern
Arctic Tern
The Arctic Tern is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae. This bird has a circumpolar breeding distribution covering the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of Europe, Asia, and North America...
s and kelp gull
Kelp Gull
The Kelp Gull , also known as the Dominican Gull, breeds on coasts and islands through much of the southern hemisphere. The race L. d. vetula occurs around southern Africa, and nominate L. d...
s. Whale
Whale
Whale is the common name for various marine mammals of the order Cetacea. The term whale sometimes refers to all cetaceans, but more often it excludes dolphins and porpoises, which belong to suborder Odontoceti . This suborder also includes the sperm whale, killer whale, pilot whale, and beluga...
s are often seen patrolling the shores, and this small island offers stunning views of surrounding mountains.
The Argentine
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
station Cámara Base
Cámara Base
Cámara Base is a seasonal station operated by Argentina opened in 1953. Situated on Half Moon Island in McFarlane Strait off the east coast of Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica....
is located on the island.
In September 2010, Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
added Street View imagery of Half Moon Island to its Google Earth
Google Earth
Google Earth is a virtual globe, map and geographical information program that was originally called EarthViewer 3D, and was created by Keyhole, Inc, a Central Intelligence Agency funded company acquired by Google in 2004 . It maps the Earth by the superimposition of images obtained from satellite...
and Google Maps
Google Maps
Google Maps is a web mapping service application and technology provided by Google, free , that powers many map-based services, including the Google Maps website, Google Ride Finder, Google Transit, and maps embedded on third-party websites via the Google Maps API...
services. As the island has no roads, the images appear to have been taken with a handheld camera. The shadow of the photographer can clearly be seen if one were to move the view so as to look at the ground. Also, the iconic Pegman from Google was replaced with a Penguin, due to the island's use as a breeding colony by them.
See also
- Composite Antarctic Gazetteer
- List of Antarctic islands south of 60° S
- Livingston Island
- SCARScientific Committee on Antarctic ResearchThe Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research is an interdisciplinary body of the International Council for Science . It was established in February 1958 to continue the international coordination of Antarctic scientific activities that had begun during the International Geophysical Year of 1957-58...
- Territorial claims in Antarctica
Map
- L.L. Ivanov et al., Antarctica: Livingston Island and Greenwich Island, South Shetland Islands (from English Strait to Morton Strait, with illustrations and ice-cover distribution), 1:100000 scale topographic map, Antarctic Place-names Commission of Bulgaria, Sofia, 2005