Quaker Harbour

Location of Weddell Island (left) in the Falkland Islands
Satellite image of Weddell Island

Quaker Harbour is the irregularly shaped bay indenting for 3.7 km the north coast of Weddell Island in the Falkland Islands.[1] It is centred at 51°48′59″S 61°04′28″W / 51.81639°S 61.07444°W / -51.81639; -61.07444,[2][3] and has its head fed by Pitt Creek. The bay takes its name from nearby Quaker Island.

History

The British navigator and Antarctic explorer James Weddell, who visited the Falklands in 1819–1824, overwintered ashore on Weddell Island (known at that time as Swan Island) at Quaker Harbour in May–September 1823.[4] The harbour lies on the western side of Weddell Island.[5] Two Hispanicized versions exist for Quaker Harbour; either Bahia de la Plata or Peurto de Ximenez.[6][7]

Several islands lay in Quaker Harbour and the waters just beyond including Pitt island,[8] Lock's Island,[9] Low Island, Penn Island, Fox Island, Barclay island and Quaker Island.[10] These islands and Weddell island itself, were the haunt of American whaling ships, amny of whom were Quakers, and the sailors upon them lent their names to the islands, such as Penn (after William Penn), Fox Island (after George Fox), and Quaker Island which was named for their faith.[11]

A prominent hill at 51°48′52″N 61°05′58″W / 51.8145°N 61.0995°W / 51.8145; -61.0995 on Weddell Island overlooks the bay.[12] The hill is 300 metres (980 ft) and was renamed in 2022 as Jones Hill in honour of a serviceman killed in the Falklands War.[13] The naming was a project commissioned in 2022 as part of the 40th anniversary commemorations where over 250 landforms were identified and named after those who had died in the conflict.[14][15][16]

Comerson's Dolphins have been observed in the bay.[17]

Maps

  • The Falkland Islands. Scale 1:401280 map. London: Edward Stanford, 1901
  • Falkland Islands Explorer Map. Scale 1:365000. Ocean Explorer Maps, 2007
  • Falklands Topographic Map Series. Scale 1:50000, 29 sheets. DOS 453, 1961-1979
  • Falkland Islands. Scale 1:643000 Map. DOS 906. Edition 3-OS, 1998
  • Map 500k--xm20-4. 1:500000 map of Weddell Island and part of West Falkland. Russian Army Maps (for the world)
  • Approaches to the Falkland Islands. Scale 1:1500000 chart. Gps Nautical Charts, 2010
  • Illustrated Map of Weddell Island

Notes

  1. ↑ Quaker Harbour. Falkland Islands. GeoNames Geographical Database
  2. ↑ "Antarctic Names - Gazetteer - AADC". data.aad.gov.au. Retrieved 8 May 2026.
  3. ↑ "Quaker Harbour, Falkland Islands". www.mindat.org. Retrieved 8 May 2026.
  4. ↑ J. Weddell. A Voyage Towards the South Pole, Performed in the Years 1822–24. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orne, Brown and Green, 1825. p. 77
  5. ↑ Montgomery, Martin Robert (1857). The British colonies : their history, extent, condition and resources. London: J. & F. Tallis. p. 361. OCLC 2017364.
  6. ↑ "Quaker Harbour". fk.geoview.info. Retrieved 8 May 2026.
  7. ↑ "The toponymy of the Falkland Islands as recorded in maps and gazetteers" (PDF). www.pcgn.org.uk. 2006. p. 17. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2026.
  8. ↑ Poncet, Sally; Passfield, Ken (July 2011). "Island Visit Reports for 35 tussac islands surveyed between 2009 and 2011" (PDF). falklandsconservation.com. p. 85. Retrieved 8 May 2026.
  9. ↑ Barnard, Charles H (1836). A narrative of the sufferings and adventures of C.H.B., in a recent voyage round [sic] the world. New York: Callendar. p. 94. OCLC 36700025.
  10. ↑ Wheeler, Tony (2004). The Falklands & South Georgia Island. London: Lonely Planet. p. 135. ISBN 9781740596435.
  11. ↑ "Swan or Weddell Island" (PDF). nationalarchives.gov.fk. p. 1. Retrieved 8 May 2026.
  12. ↑ "Falkland's 40 – Place Names" (PDF). www.assembly.gov.fk. 2021. p. 29. Retrieved 8 May 2026.
  13. ↑ "2023 GOR IP JonesP – South Atlantic Medal Association (82)". sama82.org.uk. Retrieved 8 May 2026.
  14. ↑ "Falkland Island landmarks named after 238 fallen in 1982". hmsardent.org. Retrieved 8 May 2026.
  15. ↑ "Freedom of the Falkland Islands". assembly.gov.fk. Retrieved 8 May 2026.
  16. ↑ "Falklands map with the names of British fallen during the 1982 Liberation of the Islands". MercoPress. 26 November 2022. Retrieved 8 May 2026.
  17. ↑ Weir, Sally (September 2018). "A preliminary assessment of endangered sei whales (Balaenoptera borealis) in two candidate Key Biodiversity Areas in West Falkland" (PDF). falklandsconservation.com. p. 47. Retrieved 8 May 2026.

References

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