Current view: Text account
Site description (2015 baseline):
Site location and context
The West Ice Shelf lies on the King Leopold and Queen Astrid Coast, Princess Elizabeth Land, between the Davis Sea and Prydz Bay. The ice shelf, one of the largest in East Antarctica, extends ~350 km between Barrier Bay in the west and Posadowsky Bay in the east and up to 120 km northward from the continental margin.
The IBA qualifies on the basis of the Emperor Penguin (
Aptenodytes forsteri) colony present on sea ice, and is entirely marine.
The nearest permanent station is Davis (AUS), ~280 km to the southwest on Broad Peninsula in the Vestfold Hills, Prydz Bay.
An Emperor Penguin colony is situated on fast ice near the northwestern margin of the West Ice Shelf. An incomplete count made in Nov 2011 recorded at least 3436 chicks (Wienecke 2012). The vast majority of these were observed on the sea ice, although it was noted that a few had made their way onto the top of the ice shelf via a snow ramp (Wienecke 2012).
A large emperor colony of ~15 000 birds was recorded in the region around 160 km north of the West Ice Shelf by Russian expeditions undertaken in the late 1950s – early 1960s. There have been substantial changes to an ice tongue and the ice shelf in the region since this time, and a colony has not been re-observed in that original location since. However, the northern West Ice Shelf colony is a probable descendant that has moved in accordance with the ice and favourable breeding conditions. A smaller colony of Emperor Penguins (1156 chicks counted Nov 2011; Wienecke 2012) is situated on the western side of the ice shelf in Barrier Bay, ~77 km southwest from the northern West Ice Shelf colony, and (speculatively) this may also be a descendant from the larger colony earlier observed by Russian expeditions; however it is not included within the IBA because of its distance from the larger aggregation.
Non-bird biodiversity: None known.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
None known.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: West Ice Shelf (Antarctica). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/west-ice-shelf-iba-antarctica on 18/12/2024.
