South West Bay
Encyclopedia
South West Bay is an open bay
indenting the west side of Heard Island
immediately north of Cape Gazert
in the southern Indian Ocean
. The bay was roughly charted on an 1860 sketch map compiled by Captain H.C. Chester, an American
sealer
. The name "S.W. Bay" appears on an 1882 chart compiled by Ens. Washington Irving Chambers
aboard the USS Marion
at Heard Island in January 1882. The bay name appears to have developed from an American sealer name, "Southwest Beach," in use about 1860 for the pebble beach at the north end of this bay.
Bay
A bay is an area of water mostly surrounded by land. Bays generally have calmer waters than the surrounding sea, due to the surrounding land blocking some waves and often reducing winds. Bays also exist as an inlet in a lake or pond. A large bay may be called a gulf, a sea, a sound, or a bight...
indenting the west side of Heard Island
Heard Island and McDonald Islands
The Heard Island and McDonald Islands are an Australian external territory and volcanic group of barren Antarctic islands, about two-thirds of the way from Madagascar to Antarctica. The group's overall size is in area and it has of coastline...
immediately north of Cape Gazert
Cape Gazert
Cape Gazert is a cape at the west end of the rocky promontory which forms the south side of South West Bay, on the west side of Heard Island in the southern Indian Ocean. This feature was known to American sealers as Green Point, as shown by Captain H.C. Chester's 1860 sketch map and other sealer...
in the southern Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
. The bay was roughly charted on an 1860 sketch map compiled by Captain H.C. Chester, an American
People of the United States
The people of the United States, also known as simply Americans or American people, are the inhabitants or citizens of the United States. The United States is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds...
sealer
Seal hunting
Seal hunting, or sealing, is the personal or commercial hunting of seals. The hunt is currently practiced in five countries: Canada, where most of the world's seal hunting takes place, Namibia, the Danish region of Greenland, Norway and Russia...
. The name "S.W. Bay" appears on an 1882 chart compiled by Ens. Washington Irving Chambers
Washington Irving Chambers
Captain Washington Irving Chambers, USN was a United States Navy officer who played a major role in the early development of Naval aviation, serving as the first officer to have oversight of the Navy's aviation program....
aboard the USS Marion
USS Marion (1839)
USS Marion was a sloop-of-war of the third rate in the Union Navy during the American Civil War.Marion was launched at the Boston Navy Yard on 24 April 1839. On 10 November 1839, she departed Boston on her first cruise, to Brazil. Sunk when heaved down in the harbor at Rio de Janeiro early in 1842,...
at Heard Island in January 1882. The bay name appears to have developed from an American sealer name, "Southwest Beach," in use about 1860 for the pebble beach at the north end of this bay.