Prion Island
Prion Island (54°1′S 37°15′W / 54.017°S 37.25°WCoordinates: 54°1′S 37°15′W / 54.017°S 37.25°W) is an island 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north-northeast of Luck Point, lying in the Bay of Isles, South Georgia. Charted in 1912-13 by Robert Cushman Murphy, American naturalist aboard the brig Daisy, and so named because he observed petrels of the genus Prion on the island.
The island has been designated as a Specially Protected Area by the South Georgia Government, due to its rat-free status and breeding wandering albatross population. Visit is by permit, in that the island must be specifically named on the visit application and permit. A boardwalk with two viewing platforms was built in February/March 2008 to prevent erosion of the access gulley and trampling of prion burrows.
Visits are restricted as described in the GSGSSI Information For Visitors document as follows:
- Closed between 20 November and 7 January (Inclusive), to prevent disturbance of breeding fur seals at the landing beach.
- A maximum of two visits per day
- Landing at the designated beach only and all visitors to stay on the boardwalk
- Commercial visits to maintain a 1:10 staff to passenger ratio
- Maximum 50 people ashore at any time
- A visit is not to exceed 5 hours
- Thorough biosecurity checks to be made before landing
The island is rat free and therefore a breeding area for pipits and burrowing prions/petrels.
Annual wandering albatross population counts are taken on the island.
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This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Geological Survey document "Prion Island" (content from the Geographic Names Information System).
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