Prion Island

Prion Island is an island 2.4 km (1.5 mi) north-northeast of Luck Point, lying in the Bay of Isles, South Georgia. It was charted in 1912-13 by Robert Cushman Murphy, American naturalist aboard the brig Daisy, and so named because he observed prions 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 albatrosses. Access 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 gully and trampling of prion burrows. Wandering Albatross population counts are conducted annually. Because it is rat-free it is a breeding area for South Georgia pipits and burrowing petrels.

Prion Island panorama

Access

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

See also

• List of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic islands

References

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
Capital: King Edward Point (Grytviken)
General	Coat of arms Commissioner Flag Foreign relations History Languages List of South Georgians Operation "Paraquet" South Georgia Museum .gs Sovereignty Invasion of South Georgia
Settlements / Whaling stations	Grytviken Godthul Husvik Leith Harbour Ocean Harbour Prince Olav Harbour Rosita Harbour Stromness Corbeta Uruguay base
South Georgia islands	Annenkov Island Bird Island Black Rock Black Rocks Clerke Rocks Cooper Island Grass Island Grassholm Kupriyanov Islands Pickersgill Islands Prion Island Saddle Island Shag Rocks South Georgia Trinity Island Welcome Islands Willis Islands
South Sandwich islands	Bellingshausen Bristol Candlemas Cook Leskov Montagu Saunders Thule Vindication Visokoi Zavodovski Traversay Islands
Landmarks	Admiralty Peak Allardyce Range Fortuna Glacier Gold Harbour Larsen Harbour Mount Baume Mount Belinda Mount Cunningham Mount Paget Mount Roots Peggotty Bluff Salisbury Plain Salvesen Range Southern Thule Thatcher Peninsula Grace Glacier Lucas Glacier Bay of Isles Point Abrahamsen Sheep Point Stromness Bay Cumberland Bay Possession Bay Sheer Point Busen Point

External links

• Film of Prion Island
• GSGSSI Information for Visitors document

 This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Geological Survey document "Prion Island" (content from the Geographic Names Information System). Coordinates: 54°1′S 37°15′W / 54.017°S 37.250°W / -54.017; -37.250