December 15, 2015 ~ Antarctica Day 4
Hope Bay (Bahía Esperanza) on Trinity Peninsula, is 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) long and 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) wide, indenting the tip of Antarctic Peninsula and opening on Antarctic Sound. It is the site of the Argentinian Antarctic settlement Esperanza Base, established in 1952.
The bay has been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports one of the largest Adélie penguin colonies in Antarctica with around 125,000 pairs. Other birds nesting at the site include gentoo penguins, brown skuas, Antarctic terns, Wilson’s storm-petrels, kelp gulls and snowy sheathbills.
Esperanza base
Esperanza base (“Hope Base”) is a permanent, all year-round Argentine research station in Hope Bay, Trinity Peninsula. It is one of only two civilian settlements on Antarctica (the other being the Chilean Villa Las Estrellas). The Base’s motto is “Permanencia, un acto de sacrificio” (“Permanence, an act of sacrifice”).
