Franklin Island is an island

Island

An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

 7 miles (11.3 km) long, lying in the Ross Sea

Ross Sea

The Ross Sea is a deep bay of the Southern Ocean in Antarctica between Victoria Land and Marie Byrd Land.-Description:The Ross Sea was discovered by James Ross in 1841. In the west of the Ross Sea is Ross Island with the Mt. Erebus volcano, in the east Roosevelt Island. The southern part is covered...

 about 80 miles east of Cape Hickey

Cape Hickey

Cape Hickey is a cape on the coast of Victoria Land, just east of Charcot Cove and Marin Glacier. It forms the outer, north portal of the re-entrant through which Mawson Glacier flows to the Ross Sea. Mapped by United States Geological Survey from ground surveys and Navy air photos. Named by...

, Victoria Land

Victoria Land

Victoria Land is a region of Antarctica bounded on the east by the Ross Ice Shelf and the Ross Sea and on the west by Oates Land and Wilkes Land. It was discovered by Captain James Clark Ross in January 1841 and named after the UK's Queen Victoria...

. It was discovered on January 27, 1841 by James Ross

James Clark Ross

Sir James Clark Ross , was a British naval officer and explorer. He explored the Arctic with his uncle Sir John Ross and Sir William Parry, and later led his own expedition to Antarctica.-Arctic explorer:...

, and named for Sir John Franklin, the noted Arctic

Arctic

The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...

 explorer

Exploration

Exploration is the act of searching or traveling around a terrain for the purpose of discovery of resources or information. Exploration occurs in all non-sessile animal species, including humans...

, who as Governor of Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania

Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...

) had royally entertained the expedition on its way south at Hobart

Hobart

Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...

 in 1840. Though located just 80 kilometres north of Beaufort Island

Beaufort Island

Beaufort Island is an island in Antarctica's Ross Sea. It is the northernmost feature of the Ross Archipelago, lying north of Cape Bird, Ross Island. It is approximately in area. It was first charted by James Clark Ross in 1841...

 and appearing at first glance to be part of the same group, Franklin Island is not usually considered to be part of the Ross Archipelago

Ross Archipelago

Ross Archipelago is a convenient name for that group of islands which, together with the ice shelf between them, forms the eastern and southern boundaries of McMurdo Sound. The most northerly is Beaufort Island, then comes Ross Island, the Dellbridge Islands, and Black Island and White Island...

.

Bernacchi Head (76°8′S 168°20′E) is a precipitous cliff forming the south extremity of Franklin Island. It was named "Cape Bernacchi" by the British Antarctic Expedition (1898–1900) for Louis C. Bernacchi, a member of the expedition. The generic has been changed to "Head" by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names

Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names

The Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names is an advisory committee of the United States Board on Geographic Names responsible for recommending names for features in Antarctica...

 (US-ACAN) to avoid duplication with Cape Bernacchi

Cape Bernacchi

Cape Bernacchi is a rocky cape between Bernacchi Bay and New Harbour on the coast of Victoria Land. Discovered by the Discovery expedition, 1901–04, under Scott, and named by him for Louis C. Bernacchi, physicist with the expedition....

 on the coast of Victoria Land.

The Franklin Shoals (76°0′S 169°0′E) are shoal

Shoal

Shoal, shoals or shoaling may mean:* Shoal, a sandbank or reef creating shallow water, especially where it forms a hazard to shipping* Shoal draught , of a boat with shallow draught which can pass over some shoals: see Draft...

s close to Franklin Island.

The island is colonized by a large group of brooding

Offspring

In biology, offspring is the product of reproduction, of a new organism produced by one or more parents.Collective offspring may be known as a brood or progeny in a more general way...

 Adelie Penguin

Adelie Penguin

The Adélie Penguin, Pygoscelis adeliae, is a species of penguin common along the entire Antarctic coast. They are among the most southerly distributed of all seabirds, as are the Emperor Penguin, the South Polar Skua, the Wilson's Storm Petrel, the Snow Petrel, and the Antarctic Petrel...

s.

See also

• Composite Antarctic Gazetteer
• List of Antarctic islands south of 60° S
• SCAR
  Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research
  The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research is an interdisciplinary body of the International Council for Science . It was established in February 1958 to continue the international coordination of Antarctic scientific activities that had begun during the International Geophysical Year of 1957-58...
  
  
• Territorial claims in Antarctica