Feature Name (see definition): Whales, Bay of

Feature Class (see definition): Bay

Country Code (see definition): AQ (Antarctica)

Feature ID (see definition): 16490

Primary Latitude in degrees, minutes, and seconds (see definition): 78° 30' 00" S

Primary Longitude in degrees, minutes, and seconds (see definition): 164° 20' 00" W

Primary Latitude in decimal degrees (see definition): -78.5

Primary Longitude in decimal degrees (see definition): -164.3333333

Elevation (see definition): No data

Decision Year (see definition): 01/01/1947

Description (see definition): An iceport indenting the front of Ross Ice Shelf just northward of Roosevelt Island. A natural ice harbor which generally forms here, it served as the base site for Amundsen's successful dash to the South Pole, 1911, the Byrd Antarctic Expeditions of 1928-30 and 1933-35, and for the West Base of U.S. Antarctic Service, 1939-41. The configuration of the iceport is continuously changing. A survey by the Byrd expedition in 1934 determined that the feature lay at the junction of two separate ice systems, the movements of which are influenced by the presence of Roosevelt Island. Commander Glen Jacobsen, U.S. Navy (USN), who visited in the Atka in January 1955, found that calving of the ice shelf rendered the iceport temporarily unusable. The feature was so named by Ernest Shackleton in the Nimrod, January 24, 1908, because of the large number of whales seen in it.

Date Created (see definition): No data

Date Edited (see definition): No data