Salisbury Plain, South Georgia

This article is about the coastal plain in South Georgia. For the chalk plateau in England, see Salisbury Plain. For the Australian suburb, see Salisbury Plain, South Australia.

A colony of up to 60,000 King penguins on Salisbury Plain (Aptenodytes patagonicus).

Salisbury Plain (Spanish: Llanura de Salisbury) (54°3′S 37°21′W / 54.050°S 37.350°W / -54.050; -37.350) is a broad coastal plain found with the Bay of Isles on the north coast of South Georgia. It lies between the mouths of Grace and Lucas glaciers on the southern coast of the bay, with Mount Ashley south of it.[1] Best known as the breeding site for as many as 60,000 King penguins, its beaches are also covered with many Southern elephant seals and Antarctic fur seals.[2]

American ornithologist Robert Cushman Murphy made the first detailed study of the birds in the area in 1912–13. He named nearby Grace Glacier after his wife.[3]

The name appears to have been first used on a 1931 British Admiralty chart.

References

  1. ^ "Mount Ashley". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  2. ^ Government of South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands. "Visitor Management Plan: Salisbury Plain" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
  3. ^ Shirihai, Hadoram (2002). The Complete Guide to Antarctic Wildlife. Princeton University Press. p. 382. ISBN 0691114145.

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from "Salisbury Plain, South Georgia". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.  Edit this at Wikidata


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