Bluff Island (29435)
Antarctica, Antarctica
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Year of last assessment: 2015
National site name: Bluff Island
Central coordinates: Latitude: -64.3552, Longitude: -61.5519
System: marine, terrestrial
Elevation (m): 0 to 250
Area of KBA (km2): 0.89109
KBA classification: Regional
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: Bluff Island (also known as Murray Island) is located in Hughes Bay, Gerlache Strait, 500 m from the Danco Coast on the western Antarctic Peninsula. The IBA qualifies on the basis of the Imperial Shag (Phalacrocorax [atriceps] bransfieldensis) colony present and comprises the ice free area on a peninsula on the northern coast of Bluff Island. The nearest permanent station is Primavera (ARG), located ~36 km to the northeast.
Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site qualifies as a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance that was identified using previously established criteria and thresholds for the identification of Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) and for which available data indicate that it does not meet global KBA criteria and thresholds set out in the Global Standard.
Additional biodiversity: Approximately 180 breeding pairs of Imperial Shag were recorded on the western coast of a small peninsula at the north of Bluff Island in 1989 (unpublished data S. Poncet pers. comm. 2005). Information on other bird species present at the site is not available. Non-bird biodiversity: None known.
Delineation rationale: 1.26 km radius around point, truncated at coastline.
Threats
Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: None known.