Honkala Island is a rocky 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...

, 0.75 nautical miles (1.4 km) long, at the southeast side of Burnett Island

Burnett Island

Burnett Island is a rocky island, long in an east-west direction, which lies north of Honkala Island and is the central feature in the Swain Islands. First photographed from the air by U.S. Navy Operation Highjump, 1946–47, it was included in a 1957 survey of the Swain Islands by Wilkes Station...

, in the Swain Islands

Swain Islands

Swain Islands is a group of small islands and rocks about in extent, lying north of Clark Peninsula at the northeast end of the Windmill Islands. Delineated from aerial photographs taken by U.S. Navy Operation Highjump in February 1947. Named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names for...

. First mapped from air photos taken by U.S. Navy Operation Highjump, 1946–47, and observed by Wilkes Station

Wilkes Station

Wilkes Station was an Antarctic research station established 29 January 1957 by the United States as one of seven U.S. stations established for the International Geophysical Year program in Antarctica...

 personnel who conducted a 1957 survey of Swain Islands under C.R. Eklund

Carl R. Eklund

Carl R. Eklund was a leading American specialist in ornithology and geographic research in both the north and south polar regions.From 1939-41 he served as ornithologist at the East Base of the U.S. Antarctic Service. This was the first modern US. Government-sponsored expedition to Antarctica, and...

. Named by Eklund for Rudolf A. Honkala, chief meteorologist with the US-IGY wintering party of 1957 at Wilkes Station.