Île des Manchots / Empereur Island (45207)
Antarctica, Antarctica
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Year of last assessment: 2015
National site name: Île des Manchots / Empereur Island
Central coordinates: Latitude: -66.8105, Longitude: 141.4077
System: marine, terrestrial
Area of KBA (km2): 2.82897
KBA classification: Regional
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: Île des Manchots and Empereur Island lie within two km of Cape Margerie, Terre Adélie. Port-Martin is an anchorage adjacent to Cape Margerie, from which the station established on the cape by the French Antarctic Expedition of 1949-50 takes its name. Port-Martin station was destroyed by fire in January 1952, was designated Historic Site & Monument No. 46 in 1985, and has since been designated as ASPA No. 166. The purpose of the protected area is conservation of the site's historic values, rather than the large colonies of birdlife present in the adjacent area. The IBA qualifies on the basis of the Adélie Penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) colony present, and includes Mont du Sabbat and Mont du Sphinx on the eastern coast of Cape Margerie, Île des Manchots, Empereur Island and Pointe de Cézembre and the intervening marine area. The closest permanent station is Dumont d'Urville (FRA), ~65 km to the west at Pointe Géologie.
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: Barbraud et al. (1999) counted 20 171 breeding pairs of Adélie Penguin at Cape Margerie and Île des Manchots in 1997/98, although at this time none were breeding on Empereur Island (C. Barbraud pers. comm. 2015). More recently, approximately 35 000 breeding pairs (95% CI: 23 475, 62 350) of Adélie Penguin were present within the IBA area, as estimated from February 2011 satellite imagery (Lynch & LaRue 2014). The majority (~24 000 pairs) occupy Île des Manchots, with ~7100 pairs estimated on Empereur Island, ~3500 pairs on Cape Margerie, and ~250 pairs at Pointe de Cézembre (unpublished data H. Lynch & M. LaRue, pers. comm. 2014). The Barbraud et al. (1999) survey also recorded six pairs of South Polar Skuas (Catharacta maccormicki) and confirmed the presence of breeding Wilson's Storm-petrels (Oceanites oceanicus). Non-bird biodiversity: None known.
Delineation rationale: Shortest perimeter around island groups and/or ice-free areas ≤ 5 km2, including marine areas as appropriate.
Threats
Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: Three tourist visits to the Cape Margerie area have been reported in the ten years from 2004-14: all 48 people landed on a visit by Spirit of Enderby in 2008/09, and in the same year visits were made by Bremen (116 passengers) and Orion (192 passengers) although landings were not made (IAATO Tourism Statistics, accessed: 18/12/2014).
Additional information
References: Barbraud, C., Delord, K.C., Micol, T. & Jouventin, P. 1999. First census of breeding seabirds between Cap Bienvenue (Terre Adélie) and Moyes Islands (King George V Land), Antarctica: new records for Antarctic seabird populations. Polar Biology 21: 146-50 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