Sims Island

73°16′37″S 78°32′26″W / 73.27694°S 78.54056°W / -73.27694; -78.54056Area70 ha (170 acres)Length1.5 km (0.93 mi)Width0.8 km (0.5 mi)Highest elevation380 m (1250 ft)AdministrationAdministered under the Antarctic Treaty SystemDemographicsPopulationUninhabited

Sims Island is a small but conspicuous, largely ice-free, volcanic island lying south of Smyley Island, between the Rydberg Peninsula and Case Island, in the southern part of Carroll Inlet, off the coast of Palmer Land in the Bellingshausen Sea, Antarctica. It was discovered by pilot Ashley Snow of the United States Antarctic Service Expedition (1939–1941) on an aircraft flight on December 22, 1940. It was named for Lieutenant L.S. Sims of the United States Marine Corps (USMC), a surgeon on the expedition.

Important Bird Area

The whole of the 70 ha island has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports a colony of about 15,000 pairs of Adélie penguins, based on 2012 satellite imagery, which breed along the beach on the north-eastern coast. South polar skuas also breed on the island.^[1]

See also

• List of Antarctic and Subantarctic islands

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from "Sims Island". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.