Saunders Island is a crescent-shaped island 8.8 km (5.5 mi) long, lying between Candlemas Island

Candlemas Island

Candlemas Island is a small uninhabited island of the Candlemas Islands in the South Sandwich Islands. It lies about from Vindication Island, separated by the Nelson Channel....

 and Montagu Island

Montagu Island

Montagu Island is the largest of the South Sandwich Islands, located in the Weddell Sea off the coast of Antarctica. It is a part of the British Overseas Territory, the South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and has the only active volcano in the United Kingdom...

 in the South Sandwich Islands

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands is a British overseas territory and overseas territory of the European Union in the southern Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote and inhospitable collection of islands, consisting of South Georgia and a chain of smaller islands, known as the South Sandwich...

, apart of the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. It is a volcanic island composed of an active stratovolcano

Stratovolcano

A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a tall, conical volcano built up by many layers of hardened lava, tephra, pumice, and volcanic ash. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile and periodic, explosive eruptions...

, 990 metres (3,248 ft) Mount Michael. It's known to have erupted explosively in 1819, and has erupted repeatedly since 2000, most recently in 2005. The 700 m (2,297 ft) diameter summit crater is thought to possibly contain an active lava lake

Lava lake

Lava lakes are large volumes of molten lava, usually basaltic, contained in a volcanic vent, crater, or broad depression. The term is used to describe both lava lakes that are wholly or partly molten and those that are solidified...

, one of only a handful in the world.

Saunders Island was discovered in 1775 by Captain James Cook

James Cook

Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...

, who named it for Sir Charles Saunders

Charles Saunders (admiral)

Admiral Sir Charles Saunders, KB was a Royal Navy officer in the Royal Navy during the Seven Years' War and later served as First Lord of the Admiralty. He was appointed to the Privy Council in 1766.-Early career:...

, First Lord of the Admiralty. It was charted in greater detail by Bellingshausen

Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen

Fabian Gottlieb Thaddeus von Bellingshausen was an officer in the Imperial Russian Navy, cartographer and explorer, who ultimately rose to the rank of Admiral...

 in 1819, and in 1930 by DI

Discovery Investigations

The Discovery Investigations were a series of scientific cruises and shore-based investigations into the biology of whales in the Southern Ocean. They were funded by the British Colonial Office and organised by the Discovery Committee in London, which was formed in 1918...

 personnel on the Discovery II. ^{[clarification needed]}