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unusual facts about Cook Island, South Sandwich Islands



60th parallel south

The closest land is a group of rocks north of Coronation Island (Melson Rocks or Governor Islands) of the South Orkney Islands, which are about 54 km south of the parallel, and Cook Island of the South Sandwich Islands, which is about 57 km north of the parallel.

Arnold Wienholt Hodson

During his tenure, a mountain - Mount Hodson (56°42'S, 27°13'W) - the summit of Visokoi Island in the South Sandwich Islands - was named after him.

Augustus Hervey, 3rd Earl of Bristol

Bristol Island, a five mile long ice-covered quake-prone chain of volcanos in the South Sandwich Islands, was also named in honor of Hervey by Captain James Cook.

Chinstrap Penguin

The Chinstrap Penguin (Pygoscelis antarctica) is a species of penguin which is found in the South Sandwich Islands, Antarctica, Deception Island, the South Orkneys, South Shetland,South Georgia, Bouvet Island and Balleny.

Cyclone Wasa-Arthur

The system was first noted on December 3, as a shallow tropical depression embedded within the monsoon trough to the north of the Cook Island: Rarotonga.

Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute

This was expanded in 1908, when in addition to South Georgia claimed in 1775, and the South Shetland Islands claimed in 1820 the UK unilaterally declared sovereignty over more Antarctic territory south of the Falklands, including the South Sandwich Islands, the South Orkney Islands, and Graham Land, grouping them into the Falkland Islands Dependencies.

Londonderry Island

Nearby islands include Gilbert Island and Stewart Island to the northwest, O'Brien Island, Chile to the north, and Cook Island (or London Island) and Thompson Island to the east.

Seafarers

Recent maternal mitochondrial DNA analysis suggests that Polynesian seafarers, including Tongans, Samoans, Niueans, Cook Islanders, Tahitians, Hawaiians, Marquesans and Māori, are genetically linked to indigenous peoples of parts of Southeast Asia, including those of Taiwan.

Southern Fulmar

There are colonies on a number of the islands around Antarctica such as the South Sandwich Islands, South Orkney Islands, South Shetland Islands, Bouvet Island and Peter I Island.


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