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Site description (2015 baseline)

Kloa Point lies ~6 km north of Cape Gotley and ~9 km south of Cape Boothby, both of which lie north of Edward VIII Gulf, Kemp Coast, Kemp Land. The permanent ice cap of the King Edward Plateau lies to the west. An Emperor Penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) colony breeds on fast ice that forms on the southern coast of Kloa Point.

The IBA qualifies on the basis of the Emperor Penguin colony present and is entirely marine.

There are no research stations nearby. The closest permanent station is Mawson (AUS), ~270 km to the east in Holme Bay, Mawson Coast.

Key biodiversity

A field party of four members of the Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition visited Kloa Point on 21 September 1985, when each member carried out a ground count of Emperor Penguins present, which were gathered in five distinct groups; the total number of chicks and adults from the four counts were averaged to give 4310 individuals (Unpublished ANARE field report data, reviewed by B. Wienecke pers. comm. 2015). Subsequent analysis of photographs taken of the colony on 21 September 1985 gave a rough count of ~2000 adults present at the time, (B. Wienecke pers. comm. March 2015), highlighting that the earlier count method potentially significantly inflated numbers by including both chicks and adults. This compares with approximately 3283 Emperor Penguins present in 2009, as estimated from satellite imagery acquired 13 November 2009 (Fretwell et al. 2012). Uncertainty remains over the size of the Kloa Point colony, although a conservative view has been taken that numbers probably exceed the threshold and therefore the IBA has been retained.

Other birds observed although not breeding in the area include Adélie Penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae), South Polar Skua (Catharacta maccormicki), Southern Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialoides), Snow Petrel (Pagodroma nivea), Wilson's Storm-petrel (Oceanites oceanicus) and Antarctic Tern (Sterna vittata) (Todd et al. 1999).

Non-bird biodiversity: Weddell Seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) have been reported in the area (Todd et al. 1999).

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Kloa Point (Antarctica). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/kloa-point-iba-antarctica on 18/12/2024.