Rookery Lake / W Long Peninsula (45196)
Antarctica, Antarctica
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Global KBA criteria: D1a
Year of last assessment: 2015
National site name: Rookery Lake / W Long Peninsula
Central coordinates: Latitude: -68.4863, Longitude: 78.1154
System: marine, terrestrial
Elevation (m): 0 to 75
Area of KBA (km2): 7.41481
KBA classification: Global
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: Long Peninsula is situated at the western extremity of the northern Vestfold Hills, in Prydz Bay on the Ingrid Christensen Coast, Princess Elizabeth Land. Adélie Penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) breed on relatively flat sites along the western coast of Long Peninsula, extending from Rookery Lake in the southwest to Bulatnaya Bay in the northwest, a distance of ~6 km. The area is mostly ice free in the summer, and comprises a number of low hills rising to a maximum elevation of 74 m. The IBA qualifies on the basis of the Adélie Penguin colony present, and comprises the area of Long Peninsula west of Williams Lake. The nearest permanent station is Davis (AUS), ~10 km to the southwest on Broad Peninsula.
Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site qualifies as a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance that meets the thresholds for at least one criterion described in the Global Standard for the Identification of KBAs.
Additional biodiversity: Whitehead & Johnstone (1990) counted 37 335 breeding pairs of Adélie Penguin on Long Peninsula from aerial photography acquired in Dec 1981. Breeding occurs at three main locations: on the coast west of Rookery Lake; on a broad, flat peninsula ~2 km northeast of Rookery Lake; and on the northern extremity of the peninsula that lies west of Bulatnaya Bay, locally known as ‘Albino Rookery'. Approximately 45 497 breeding pairs (95% CI 27 475, 73 759) of Adélie Penguin were present over this area as estimated from December 2012 satellite imagery (Lynch & LaRue 2014), indicating that numbers may be stable at this site. Lynch & LaRue (2014) refer to this site as ‘Vestfold North'. Non-bird biodiversity: The sea ice within ~1 km from the shore of the breeding area has been identified as a Weddell Seal (Leptonychotes weddellii) pupping area (Australian Antarctic Data Centre 2012).
Delineation rationale: Shortest perimeter around islands and/or ice-free areas >5km2.
Threats
Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: None known.
Additional information
References: Australian Antarctic Data Centre. 2012. Vestfold Hills Map 2 of 5, Scale 1: 50 000. Edition 6. Catalogue ID 13980. Lynch, H.J. & LaRue, M.A. 2014. First global census of the Adélie Penguin. The Auk 131(4): 457-66. doi:10.1642/AUK-14-31.1 Whitehead, M.D. & Johnstone, G.W. 1990. The distribution and estimated abundance of Adélie Penguins breeding in Prydz Bay, Antarctica. NIPR Symposium on Polar Biology: 91-98.