Current view: Text account
Site description (2015 baseline):
Site location and context
Litwin Bay is situated between Davey Point and Stigant Point on the northern coast of King George Island. The IBA qualifies on the basis of the concentration of seabirds present (in particular Chinstrap Penguin (
Pygoscelis antarctica)) and comprises the islets in Litwin Bay, the adjacent coastline of King George Island and the intervening marine area.
The nearest permanent scientific station is Comandante Ferraz (Brazil) which operates year-round on the northern shoreline of Admiralty Bay, located ~14 km to south, and which accommodates a maximum of ~40 people in the summer (COMNAP, Antarctic Facilities, accessed 24/08/2010).
The site at Litwin Bay originally encompassed the ice free ground at Davey Point (Harris
et al. 2011). However, it has since been determined that only ~560 breeding pairs of Chinstrap Penguin were present at Davey Point in 1980/81, while 8500 pairs were present at a small peninsula southwest of Davey Point and a further 12 630 pairs were present on a number of islets situated in eastern Litwin Bay (Jablonski 1984). The IBA boundary has therefore been adjusted to cover the area of Litwin Bay where the penguins are concentrated, rather than the ice free ground at Davey Point where relatively few penguins are known to breed. Shuford & Spear (1988b) reported an estimated 12 500 breeding pairs in the Davey Point area, however it is not clear over which area this count was aggregated. Information on other bird species in the area is not available.
Non-bird biodiversity: None known.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
None known.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Eastern Litwin Bay, King George Island (Antarctica). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/eastern-litwin-bay-king-george-island-iba-antarctica on 26/12/2024.
