White Islands is a group of ice-covered islands extending north-south for about 10 miles. They lie at the east margin of Swinburne Ice Shelf

Swinburne Ice Shelf

Swinburne Ice Shelf , is an ice shelf just north of Edward VII Peninsula and the Alexandra Mountains in the southern part of Sulzberger Bay, Antarctica. The ice shelf is 20 miles long and 5 miles wide and extends from Fisher Island to White Islands. It was photographed from aircraft and mapped by...

 and near the terminus of Butler Glacier

Butler Glacier

Butler Glacier is a broad glacier draining the north side of Edward VII Peninsula in the vicinity of Clark Peak, and flowing generally northeastward through the Alexandra Mountains to its terminus in Sulzberger Bay. It was mapped from surveys by the United States Geological Survey and from U.S...

 in the south part of Sulzberger Bay

Sulzberger Bay

Sulzberger Bay is a bay between Fisher Island and Vollmer Island, along the coast of King Edward VII Land. Discovered by the Byrd Antarctic Expedition on December 5, 1929, and named by Byrd for Arthur H...

. This feature is rudely delineated on the map of the Byrd Antarctic Expedition, 1928–30, as "low ice cliffs" that rise above the level of the ice shelf

Ice shelf

An ice shelf is a thick, floating platform of ice that forms where a glacier or ice sheet flows down to a coastline and onto the ocean surface. Ice shelves are only found in Antarctica, Greenland and Canada. The boundary between the floating ice shelf and the grounded ice that feeds it is called...

. The islands were mapped in detail by United States Geological Survey

United States Geological Survey

The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology,...

 (USGS) from surveys and U.S. Navy air photos, 1959-65. The name was applied by 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) at the suggestion of Admiral R.E. Byrd. Named for Dr. Paul Dudley White

Paul Dudley White

Paul Dudley White , American physician and cardiologist, was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, the son of Herbert Warren White and Elizabeth Abigail Dudley. White's interest in medicine was sparked early in life, when he accompanied his father, a family practitioner, on rounds and house calls in a...

, internationally renowned specialist on heart diseases, who was a consultant on medical matters in regard to U.S. Navy Operation Highjump, 1946–47, led by Byrd.