Gold Harbour

:"This page is for the bay on the island of South Georgia. For the former mining town in the Queen Charlotte Islands of British Columbia, Canada, see Gold Harbour, British ColumbiaGold Harbour (coord|54|37|S|35|56|W|) is a small bay 5 miles (8 km) south-southwest of Cape Charlotte, with Bertrab Glacier at its head, along the east end of South Georgia. During the early 1900's the feature was variously called Anna's Bay, Gold-Hafen, or Sandwich Bay; the latter name has also been used for Iris Bay. The approved name appears to have taken root through common usage by sealers and whalers and is now well established. It is so called because the sun's rays make the cliffs yellow with their light in the morning and evening.

Unfortunately, there is no particular historical or geological reason to give Gold Harbour its mineral name, which was in common use among the early sealers. Perhaps they were inspired by the sunsets (see stamp). The Bertram Glacier at Gold Harbour was named by Filchner's 1911-1912 German expedition after General von Bertrab, Chief Quartermaster of the German General Staff.

Wildlife

The area is a breeding ground for penguins include kings and gentoos, and elephant seals also breed here, especially at the west end of the beach, where a glacial stream flows. Sooty albatrosses also breed here.

References

Child, Jack. "Antarctica and South American Geopolitics: Frozen Lebensraum". New York: Praeger Publishers, 1988, 13-14, 27-28.

Lonely Planet, "Antarctica: a Lonely Planet Travel Survival Kit", Oakland, CA: Lonely Planet Publications, 1996, pp. 275-281.

U.S. National Science Foundation, "Geographic Names of the Antarctic", Fred G. Alberts, ed. Washington: NSF, 1980.

External links

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBLyb7box9E&mode=related&search= Video of Gold Harbour]
* [http://www.panoramio.com/photo/611020 Picture of Gold Harbour]