Hersilia Cove
Encyclopedia
Hersilia Cove is the 650 m wide cove indenting for 800 m the north coast of Rugged Island
in the South Shetland Islands
, Antarctica west of Herring Point
. It was the starting point of Antarctic sealing
south of 60º south latitude, when the ship Espirito Santo with English
crew under Captain Joseph Herring and chartered in Buenos Aires
arrived to the cove on Christmas Day of 1819.
The cove was named in February 1820 by Captain James Sheffield, Master of the brig Hersilia in 1819-20 and 1820–21, the first American sealer known to have visited the South Shetlands.
Rugged Island (South Shetland Islands)
Rugged Island is an island long and wide, lying west of Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands. Surface area . The island's summit San Stefano Peak rises to above sea level. Rugged Island is located at...
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...
, Antarctica west of Herring Point
Herring Point
Herring Point is a point on the north coast of Rugged Island off the west coast of Byers Peninsula of Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica forming the east side of the entrance to Hersilia Cove....
. It was the starting point of Antarctic sealing
Seal hunting
Seal hunting, or sealing, is the personal or commercial hunting of seals. The hunt is currently practiced in five countries: Canada, where most of the world's seal hunting takes place, Namibia, the Danish region of Greenland, Norway and Russia...
south of 60º south latitude, when the ship Espirito Santo with English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
crew under Captain Joseph Herring and chartered in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
arrived to the cove on Christmas Day of 1819.
The cove was named in February 1820 by Captain James Sheffield, Master of the brig Hersilia in 1819-20 and 1820–21, the first American sealer known to have visited the South Shetlands.
Location
Hersilia Cove is centred at 62°37′29.5"S 61°12′31"W (US mapping in 1821, British mapping in 1943 and 1968, Argentine mapping in 1958 and 1980, Chilean mapping in 1971, detailed Spanish mapping in 1992, and Bulgarian mapping in 2005 and 2009).Maps
- Península Byers, Isla Livingston. Mapa topográfico a escala 1:25000. Madrid: Servicio Geográfico del Ejército, 1992.
- L.L. Ivanov. Antarctica: Livingston Island and Greenwich, Robert, Snow and Smith Islands. Scale 1:120000 topographic map. Troyan: Manfred Wörner Foundation, 2009. ISBN 978-954-92032-6-4
