Larsen Islands

They were discovered by Captains George Powell and Nathaniel Palmer on the occasion of their joint cruise in December 1821.

This scheme was found to be confusing, so Larsen Island was renamed in 1954 by the UK Antarctic Place-names Committee (UK-APC) for the sloop James Monroe, which was commanded by Captain Palmer at the time of discovery and anchored in this vicinity in December 1821.

Sphinx Rock lies immediately off the southwest end of Monroe Island.

[3][4] The Larsen Islands, together with neighbouring Moreton Point and an adjacent area of ice-free land to the west, have been identified as a 1580 ha Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports large breeding colonies of seabirds, including some 125,000 pairs of chinstrap penguins and 125,000 pairs of southern fulmars.

[5] This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Geological Survey.