Pearl Rocks (29472)
Antarctica, Antarctica
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Year of last assessment: 2015
National site name: Pearl Rocks
Central coordinates: Latitude: -63.5833, Longitude: -59.9158
System: marine, terrestrial
Area of KBA (km2): 5.30397
KBA classification: Regional
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: Pearl Rocks lie several km offshore from the western coast of Tower Island, Palmer Archipelago, ~25 km from the Davis Coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. The IBA qualifies on the basis of the Imperial Shag (Phalacrocorax [atriceps] bransfieldensis) colony present. The IBA is defined as an elliptical area centered on the approximate position of the northernmost of the three highest islets in the Pearl Rocks group. The nearest permanent scientific stations are Gabriel de Castilla (ESP) and Decepción (ARG), located ~80 km to the northwest at Port Foster, Deception Island. These summer-only stations have a combined capacity of ~90 people.
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Additional biodiversity: Approximately 170 breeding pairs of Imperial Shag were recorded in 1987 (unpublished data S. Poncet pers. comm. 2005). Smaller numbers of Imperial Shags also breed on the islets of Pearl Rocks further to the south, although not in sufficient numbers to qualify as IBAs in their own right. No other birds are known to breed at Pearl Rocks, although several colonies of Chinstrap Penguins (Pygoscelis antarctica), Southern Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialoides) and Cape Petrel (Daption capense) breed on nearby Tower Island. Non-bird biodiversity: None known.
Delineation rationale: 1.26 km radius around point.
Threats
Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: None known.