Matha Strait is a strait lying between Adelaide Island

Adelaide Island

Adelaide Island or Isla Adelaida or Isla Belgrano is a large, mainly ice-covered island, long and wide, lying at the north side of Marguerite Bay off the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. The island lies within the Argentine, British and Chilean Antarctic claims, at .Adelaide Island was...

 and the south end of the Biscoe Islands

Biscoe Islands

Biscoe Islands is a series of islands, of which the principal ones are Renaud, Rabot, Lavoisier and Watkins, lying parallel to the W coast of Graham Land and extending some in a NE–SW direction...

. The strait takes its name from Matha Bay, the name originally applied by Charcot, leader of the French Antarctic Expedition

French Antarctic Expedition

French Antarctic Expedition refers to several French expeditions in Antarctica.-First expedition:Yves-Joseph de Kerguelen-Trémarec was a French explorer....

, 1908–10, to the water feature as he conceived it. The British Graham Land Expedition

British Graham Land Expedition

A British expedition to Graham Land led by John Lachlan Cope took place between 1920 and 1922. The British Graham Land Expedition was a geophysical and exploration expedition to Graham Land in Antarctica between 1934 to 1937. Under the leadership of John Riddoch Rymill, the expedition spent two...

 (BGLE) under Rymill, 1934–37, recognizing that it is really a strait rather than a bay

Bay

A bay is an area of water mostly surrounded by land. Bays generally have calmer waters than the surrounding sea, due to the surrounding land blocking some waves and often reducing winds. Bays also exist as an inlet in a lake or pond. A large bay may be called a gulf, a sea, a sound, or a bight...

, changed the name to Matha Strait. Named for Lieutenant A. Matha, second-in-command of the French Antarctic Expedition, 1903–05, under Charcot.